Avatar (Movie)??

[NWFlyer 2]

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Call me silly, but I like "the process" of making these types of things--especially if one is familiar with the actors' mannerisms. It is very different than animation-supported voices (which I also love).

Sigourney Weaver talked a lot about the process from an actor's perspective on Monday's Daily Show.

Clip here:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-december-14-2009/sigourney-weaver

Definitely interesting but still not enough to make me want to see the movie.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

Do you know where you heard about the Avatar camera setup specifically? Looking online all I can find is info about stereoscopic technology in general. I may have to wait for the blu-ray to come out so I can watch the BTS. I'm sure that wont be for a long time.

[quade 3]

Just got back from seeing it.

Amazing. The amount of detail is breath taking. I can 100% guarantee you have NEVER seen anything like this in a film. This blows every CGI anything you've ever seen completely out of the water. This is the new benchmark. Guaranteed lock on several Academy Awards for technical achievements.

The story is rock solid. I can't find a single flaw in the script other than it is perhaps a bit too perfect when it comes to following certain scriptwriting conventions, but it's a perfect script as far as I can tell when it comes to the logic and reasons behind doing everything.

Love the design of the tech. Love the design of the alien planet.

Quick tip for anyone seeing it in any version of 3D. If there looks like there is something wrong with the 3D during any of the 3D trailers playing before the film, flip your glasses left to right, wearing them upside down and try looking at it that way. The theater I just came from had the right and left images reversed. We complained -LOUDLY-, they stopped and fixed it.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jakee 1,254]

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I still do not understand the "big screen" allure.

It's got higher quality images, better sound and it'll be in 3D. Since this film is all about the visual effects, that stuff matters a lot - I don't care how good your TV is, I don't believe you'll be able to get near to the full 'wow' factor of the visuals unless you see it in the cinema.

Plus, it's bigger!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

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I still do not understand the "big screen" allure.

It's got higher quality images, better sound and it'll be in 3D. Since this film is all about the visual effects, that stuff matters a lot - I don't care how good your TV is, I don't believe you'll be able to get near to the full 'wow' factor of the visuals unless you see it in the cinema.

Plus, it's bigger!

Not necessarily. It depends if your theater is equipped for it. There is a version that is not in 3D. My theater has that one in addition to the other 2 versions.

[PhreeZone 14]

I don't remember article specifically saying Avatar was using In-three.com design, but that Cameron had looked at and and was adding it to his tool box for other 3D projects like Titanic and Aliens of the Deep.

I actually predict that Avatar will be one of the first BluRay 3D projects released since the format will be huge.

I am also very happy to have learned from Quade that the PS3 will be able to display it. That PS3 is the best damn investment I've made for entertainment!

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[quade 3]

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I am also very happy to have learned from Quade that the PS3 will be able to display it. That PS3 is the best damn investment I've made for entertainment!

You're still going to need a screen at home to display 3D images and as of yet, they aren't really available though.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[PhreeZone 14]

Yep, I've been wanting to replace the CRT in the bedroom with a LCD, now my plan is to move the LCD from my entertainment room to the bedroom and get a 3D LED once the price drops a bit more.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

I don't know much about the movie or television industries but I'm worried about all this 3D talk. IMO, right now 3D is a strong tool in the filmmakers toolbox to pull you into the story and make it that much stronger. If they start making every movie or TV show in 3D it's just going to become the next played out technology.

[billvon 2,380]

>If they start making every movie or TV show in 3D it's just going to
>become the next played out technology.

Dunno about that. Those radio and TV thingies seem to have some staying power.

[billvon 2,380]

>I just think it looks too much like looking over someones
>shoulder while they a play Video game.

I thought it would be like that too, but that was actually a pretty small part of the movie. There were big parts of the movie where I forgot it was a 3D 99% CGI movie, and was just impressed by the characters and the story. The animation really is good enough that you see the actors and not the effects.

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

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>If they start making every movie or TV show in 3D it's just going to
>become the next played out technology.

Dunno about that. Those radio and TV thingies seem to have some staying power.

I'm not referring to TV and movies. I'm referring to the 3D. Hopefully it wont get to that. Hopefully it will die out again after a few years like it's done the last 2 times it started to become popular.

[quade 3]

You've missed Bill's point. I think a better comparison though would have been the difference between black and white and color; both in film and in television.

While not an entirely new medium they do open up a sense of reality the previous version can't hope to compete with. That doesn't mean the "old" way of doing things goes completely away, but it does mean that it can involve the audience more deeply if used correctly.

There actually are reasons humans have color and depth perception. It only makes sense to use those to full benefit to try to draw people into another world.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

I guess I'm having trouble finding the correct wording for how I feel about it, but it basically boils down to one thing. I personally don't feel that 3D would add all that much to most genres of movies. "Avatar" was perfect for 3D, "The Hobbit" will also be perfect for 3D in my opinion because they are taking a world that doesn't exist and placing you in it to help you feel like you are there, and by extension, are making it more believable, much like "Avatar". I can't speak for most people but I personally could give 2 shits about being immersed in a romantic comedy. I'm sure there are some people out there who feel the same. Just my $.02.

[LongWayToFall 0]

I had no plans to see it, and honestly thought it would suck, but was invited by a couple friends so I went this afternoon. It was pretty good! I certainly feel the comment about it being a propaganda piece, but it didn't take away from the movie. The affects were cool, and it was a good movie overall.

[riddler 0]

Just got back from 3-D IMAX, and I agree it's a very good movie. Definitely worth watching a few times, the level of detail is incredible. Weakest parts were the story and dialogue, which come across as a highlights hash of a bunch of other films, with cheesy one-liners. But the other world (Pandora) is extremely immersing, and the visuals are simply stunning. The CG characters are much more believable in 3-D IMAX, they don't look as "video game" as they do in the previews.

One part that is troubling is watching the main character (a Marine) kill a lot of his fellow soldiers (even though they are employed as contractors, and they were at war with each other). It's unfortunate that the movie had to come in the wake of the recent Fort Hood shootings, and maybe I'm overly sensitive to that.

As an aside, one has to wonder how easy it is to generate $300 million dollars in production money. After watching this movie, I'm fairly certain that I'm going to go out and buy a 3-D television just to watch this movie in six months when the Blu-Ray comes out (and hopefully 3-D televisions as well). I wonder if companies like Sony, who make televisions as well as films, contributed to the production cost? I do think this is a groundbreaking movie, and we'll all be seeing a lot more of 3-D films of this type, which will make people want to go out and but a 3-D television.

Best movie I've seen in a few years.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[DSE 3]

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hmmm. I'd like to know what this person means when they say "cutting in between 3D focal points and perspective". I find stereoscopic technology interesting and would like to know what was going on. (DSE, help please?)

Center point vs establishing points in the frame can be offset, so imagine one eyeball looking squarely at someone's face while the other eyeball is looking at something behind them. If the focal points aren't rectified on the same plane of space, it will create a sense of imbalance. "Cutting" simply refers to the edit points. Not having seen "Avatar" yet, I assume they're not properly following some "simple" rules that aren't so simple. I suspect we'll see a lot more of this in the future until stereophotography is no longer an art, but rather commonplace.
Another possiblility is that they're cutting against eye-trace, which would give the brain four separate points to process at the edit. That would be a mental trainwreck.

[DSE 3]

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the tech. Love the design of the alien planet.

Quick tip for anyone seeing it in any version of 3D. If there looks like there is something wrong with the 3D during any of the 3D trailers playing before the film, flip your glasses left to right, wearing them upside down and try looking at it that way. The theater I just came from had the right and left images reversed. We complained -LOUDLY-, they stopped and fixed it.

Point of trivia...some manufacturers make the glasses backwards in order to avoid paying licensing royalties.

[quade 3]

Well, these were RealD branded. I can't for the life of me imagine them not being made correctly.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Amazon 7]

IMAX 3D






WOW

Find one and go.. I got there early.. and made sure I was dead center of the screen...the only thing that could add to it would be the smell of the alien jungle of Pandora. It is just visually stunning.

[DSE 3]

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Well, these were RealD branded. I can't for the life of me imagine them not being made correctly.

Branded correctly or no...if the theater was able to correct it by switching drives at the projector, they screwed up.
I'll still prolly take my own Proview glasses.

[DSE 3]

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I guess I'm having trouble finding the correct wording for how I feel about it, but it basically boils down to one thing. I personally don't feel that 3D would add all that much to most genres of movies. "Avatar" was perfect for 3D, "The Hobbit" will also be perfect for 3D in my opinion because they are taking a world that doesn't exist and placing you in it to help you feel like you are there, and by extension, are making it more believable, much like "Avatar". I can't speak for most people but I personally could give 2 shits about being immersed in a romantic comedy. I'm sure there are some people out there who feel the same. Just my $.02.

It's still always gonna be about the story, and you're right, some stories won't lend themselves to the "in your face" 3D technology, but 3D does afford filmmakers some very cool tools for the audience. Gimmicky 3D isn't going to improve the story.
I am looking forward to seeing Avatar, both for the story and the production value.

[peek 20]

I just saw it this afternoon in 3D. Disclaimer: I am not a huge movie buff, and had not been to a theater in years. My friends suggested it, and the weather is bad this weekend. So, I'm glad I went.

I like sci-fi movies in general and movies that make me think outside the current state of the world, so the social implications were OK with me. There was a definite similarity to the NA colonists and Native Americans.

The CGI, visuals, and 3D were very good. I have no idea what people are talking about when they compare it to video games. This is a good GCI based movie.

There are a lot of flying scenes that I think would be of interest to aviators of all types.

The only thing I did not like was how predictable the end of the movie was. It is much like a lot of other movies, where there has to be a big climax, usually a fight or a war, when the good guys (or underdogs) win.

[baronn 111]

I've been suggestiing to everyone within earshot to aggressivey buy Imax and NWS( Newscorp, the owner of 2th century FOX) The movie will be a huge hit cause everyone will have to see it for themselves. Sell the position next week. Buy again on any pullbacks. Imax will be releasing the next Twilight series July of 2010

[skittles_of_SDC 0]

I wouldn't buy either position for only a week. I doubt there will be more than a 10% change for either. IMAX is not a short position, it's a long position. That is of course unless a bunch of idiots that don't know how to do research on how a company makes its money start buying it up. It appears IMAX makes most of its money from selling large format systems. Part of the business is post. To get any kind of good return you would need to have a lot more theaters putting in an IMAX screen. I doubt many theaters will be doing that in the near future with the market the way it is. You may get a little boost from income from their post business.

Disclaimer: This is based on only 5 mins worth of research.

Edit: However should Pace or 21st Century 3D go public bet your ass I'll buy some of that stock.