2009 – Avatar (WINNER)

2009 – Avatar (WINNER)

The visual effects for this film was, hands-down, incredible.  It really deserved its Oscar win.  Not only was the photo-realistic CGI creature animation unlike anything the world had ever seen, the fantasy landscapes and digital environments were also utterly unique and amazingly rendered.  This movie pulled out all the stops and truly gave the world something phenomenal.

So, where to start?  Well, I’d say that more than half the movie was completely CGI, though through the use of new motion capture technologies and improved methods of capturing facial expressions, it is sometimes easy to forget that you are watching a completely computer-generated image on the screen… but not always.  Every now and then, the CGI animation loses a bit of its realism, and it looks a little false.  But it helped that the faces of the CGI characters, the Na’vi, and the Avatars, were created using the live performances of the actors.  The real emotion of the actors came through in the animation perfectly.

To do this, individual skull caps were made for each of the actors.  The caps had cameras attached to them that were suspended in front of the actors’ faces, capturing every facial expression and eye movement.  Other cameras recording the same performance gave the animators different angles to use as references, as well.  And as is the case with all CGI animated images, the lighting was key. 

And speaking of lighting, according to Wikipedia, a new system for lighting massive areas like Pandora’s jungle was created.  And let me just say that I think that the environment of Pandora was one of the best things about the film.  They created an incredible alien landscape that required so much imagination, that I can’t help but be impressed each and every time I watch the film.  Their use of color and lighting, especially in night-time scenes, was a huge part of that.  The vegetation glowed with an eerily beautiful phosphorescence.  The water sparkled, the grass moved, and the air was alive.  It was a magical environment that was completely computer generated.  And it was all done with that same extreme photo-realism that was so captivating in the other aspects of the film’s visuals.

But there were also the human aspects of the film as they interacted with the CGI characters.  The climax of the film was a perfect example as the Na’vi Neytiri rescues the human whose avatar she has come to love.  She cradles Jake in her arms and weeps for joy when he revives from near suffocation.  It was an incredibly emotional scene, which, from what I’ve read, was a very difficult effects shot.  But it was beautifully done, and the emotion of the scene came through wonderfully.  And less mesmerizing, but equally important to the story, was all the futuristic human technology like the air ships, the armored walkers, and all the battle sequences, were really well-done.  The destruction of the Home-tree was great.  Completely CGI, and yet, incredibly photo-realistic.  Very exciting to watch!  I guess that’s why, after the success of the film, four sequels were quickly announced.

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