Avatar Trailer

[David M]

Has any one watched the first trailer for Avatar? It’s the new film from James Cameron. I must say it looks VERY good.

Here is the link to the HD version: http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/hd/

Just want to say hello too, bout time I actually joined this site.

Topic

[Nick R]

Reviews (or at least Twitter comments) are starting to appear, skirting the NDAs in creative ways:

@slashfilm I’m not allowed to say anythng about what I thought of Avatar, but saw it in a screening room with neill blomkamp, who didn’t sign an NDA. He loved it… I will say this, it’s hard to disagree with Neil :)

This one stands out though:

@simonpegg Avatar …………………… tweetless. Just tweetless in the best possible way.

[Danny Stephenson]

I’m really looking forward to this film. As part of a university project, I’ve chosen to rescore the trailer. Not that I didn’t think the existing music isn’t fucking wonderful. I just wanted a bit of a challenge to push me. Which means ADR and Sound effects mixing. Good times!!!!

[Andrew]

Question: what do you about dialogue? Record your own? or is there some snazzy stripping to be done even with the basic trailer audio?

[Ben Paddon]

I’m still dubious, but I’ll probably wind up seeing it anyway.

[Ridley]

Can anyone confirm/deny whether it’s the ripoff of Smurfs that South Park implies?

[Ben Paddon]

South park wasn’t implying that it was a Smurf rip-off. It was implying that it’s a Dances With Wolves rip-off that features Smurfs.

[Danny Stephenson]

Question: what do you about dialogue? Record your own? or is there some snazzy stripping to be done even with the basic trailer audio?

Well we can probably strip whatever we can from what audio exists without music behind, but if there’s existing music, it’ll just clash with our own arrangements. So yeah, we have to re-record the voices ourselves.

We’re not marked on the voices and the sound effects for this module, but we need them in order to give the music come context and to show our consideration of the mix between SFX and score.

Plus it’s a great opportunity for me do try out some sound design and to havea crack at ADR, something i’ve been aiming to learn for a while now.

Should be fun!

[ori-STUDFARM]

>Should be fun!

It will be if you give them all silly accents!

Must say, First trailer I saw failed to impress. Second looked fantastic. Saw a third one at the cinema last week and I’m back in the “failing to impress me” camp. I hope there is a lot more to the story than the trailer appears to show and also hoping that the last trailer was misleading as to what the storyline actually is

[Ridley]

South park wasn?t implying that it was a Smurf rip-off. It was implying that it?s a Dances With Wolves rip-off that features Smurfs.

That’s what I said. *cough* But IS Avatar a Dance With Smurfs ripoff?

[Seb Patrick]

Don’t think I’ve seen a bad review yet; Empire five-starred it.

Meanwhile, if anyone’s interested (unless they’re interested in picking holes in it I’M LOOKING AT YOU ANDREW): http://www.channel4.com/film/gallery/index.jsp?id=33005

[Andrew]

You spoil all my fun. :(

[Tarka Dal]

A review on the Guardian website gave it two stars although like most of the criticism I’ve read so far seemed to be slagging it off for what it is, rather than whether it was any good.

[Dessie]

Saw Avatar in 3D last night. It’s fucking brilliant.

[Ben Paddon]

Here’s the thing – Avatar may well be a visual spectacle. That’s fine. I’ve no problems with that. But if it doesn’t have a good story to back it up then I may as well as watching a firework display. Wanted had some fantastic action set-pieces, for instance, but the story was predictable Hollywood shash

If the plot for Avatar doesn’t hold up then, technical wizardry aside, it’s not worth my time.

[Pete Part Three]

True. We took my friend’s 4 year old son to see The Polar Express in 3D at an IMAX theatre the other week. It looked fantastic…but was still completely uninvolving on account of it being bloody boring.

[Andrew]

> Wanted had some fantastic action set-pieces, for instance, but the story was predictable Hollywood shash

A fate-predicting loom, mass destruction by exploding rat swarm and the leading man turning professional assassin as the end of a ‘live a more interesting life’ character arc being things Hollywood does all the time?

(Yes, I love Wanted. It’s batshit insane, but it’s not the action that gives it such appeal – it’s the tone. That final, to-camera “What the fuck have you done lately?” That’s not anyone’s standard Hollywood moment.)

[Dessie]

The plot for Avatar is really good and there’s some great characters in it. It’s a long film but it flew by.

[Danny Stephenson]

I’m hopefully off to see this next wednesday! Really looking forward to it.

[Tarka Dal]

> Yes, I love Wanted. It?s batshit insane…

I really wasn’t sure what to make of Wanted. I pretty much hated it’s tone, it’s stylised violence and its lad’s mag attitude. However I begrudingly respect that it stuck to that ‘message’ and pulled no punches. The bit where he smacks the guy with the keyboard and the keys fly out to spell ‘Fuck You’ (or something similar) is a perfect example.

The bit with the loom is f*cking ridiculous though. 12 Century monks that not only have a fate predicting loom, but the ability to read binary on the fly.

[Ben Paddon]

> (Yes, I love Wanted. It?s batshit insane, but it?s not the action that gives it such appeal – it?s the tone. That final, to-camera ?What the fuck have you done lately?? That?s not anyone?s standard Hollywood moment.)

The problem I had with Wanted is that I knew how it was going to end because the plot points were being shouted, screamed, shrieked at every possible turn. Yes, that final shot isn’t a “standard Hollywood moment” but everything else in the epilogue is. Predictable, uninteresting, dull.

The point was hammered home by the fact that I’d just stepped out of another theater showing Hancock which, while not perfect, throws a real curveball at you halfway through the film. I bloody loved that. The marketing team had some real guts, not broadcasting that point in the trailers.

[Tarka Dal]

The trouble with Hancock is that whilst it throws that curveball, it also turns into an entirely different film after it. One that suddenly doesn’t seem to know where it’s going or what it’s trying to say.

The impression from reviews so far is that Avatar’s story is going to be pretty-by-the-numbers stuff. I can see why that will disappoint some people, but at the same time I think Cameron’s determined to push through his ideas about 3D as the future Hollywood standard. As a result I can see why making sure Avatar is a box office success over a critical one would take priority, and a storyline that anyone can grasp is essential.

I hope he kicks on from this into Battle Angel which would probably work better with a darker, more complex story.

[Nick R]

Here’s a 27 minute interview with James Cameron about the special effects. Some interesting stuff in there – like his discussion of why he thinks that scanning faces at higher and higher resolution (as the Matrix sequels and Superman Returns did) is the wrong path to go down, and his explanation of the problems they faced stopping the motion capture markers from interfering with the set lighting.

The impressions of the film I’ve heard so far seem to be split completely down the middle: those who think that the characters (both alien and human) are fleshed out and their relationships are convincing, and those who think that it’s a too-simple story with awful dialogue. Those who think this is a real step forward for 3D, and those who think it’s a blurry mess.

I’ll find out for myself next week! Not sure if I’ll be seeing it in IMAX 3D or Cineworld’s 3D yet, though. I’d prefer IMAX for the full Sensory Overload Event experience, but it might be hard to get seats towards the back/centre (The Dark Knight is the only IMAX film I’ve seen, and I was far too near the front for that). Also, after Coraline, I’m a bit worried about how comfortable it will be to wear the 3D glasses over my own for 3 hours (that’s including the trailers).

[ori-STUDFARM]

I’ve just been to see this movie expecting to be bored by the over-hyped and ridiculously predictable story line…along with the feeling of being swindled out of an extra couple of quid for shitty 3D effects that weren’t needed…

…I was wrong. It was trully awesome and I loved every minute of it. First time I’ve seen 3D that actually works…..apart from Freddy’s Dead (joke!)

The only thing missing was any thought provocation. I came out with absolutely no “What if?” questions. It just left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!

[Author]

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