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Product Description
Product Description
In 1995, James Cameron began work on a story that would, more than a decade later, evolve into Avatar, the blockbuster of 2009 and no less than the movie event of the decade. Opening to international critical acclaim (including nine Academy Award® nominations) and unprecedented box-office success, Avatar quickly, within a few short weeks, became the highest-grossing film on record. An epic for our times, this next-generation spectacle blends action, adventure, and romance with a timely message of ecological responsibility while using, and inventing, cutting-edge technologies to transport audiences to a lush, fully realized alien world.
No less epic, however, was the groundbreaking and exhaustive process of bringing the film to life. Early brainstorming sessions in Malibu jumpstarted a vast production effort that ultimately spanned several years and multiple continents. The Making of Avatar reveals never-before-seen illustrations and photographs, with a text that charts the technical challenges, innovations, and discoveries that made the film's breakthroughs possible. Working in tandem, artists and technicians created new tools and processes to realize the film's vision, including those for performance capture, which allows the nuances of the actors' performances to be translated faithfully to their digital characters; a virtual camera system, which empowered Cameron to direct within a virtual world with unprecedented range, generate real-time composites, and blend live action and special effects more naturally and intuitively than ever before; and stereoscopic photography, which produced the most immersive 3-D experience to date. Here is the behind-the-scenes celebration of this monumental undertaking, the official record of how Cameron, the actors, and the crew made a film, and made history.
About the Author
Jody Duncan is the editor of Cinefex magazine, which is the leading publication on special effects in the movies. She is the author of books on the making of groundbreaking films, including Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Lisa Fitzpatrick is the author of Abrams’ Art of Avatar. An award-winning editor, she has created books for a wide variety of films and television shows, including 24, Kung Fu Panda, and an anniversary edition for the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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Length:
1:07
Mins
Since I have the The Art of Avatar: James Cameron's Epic Adventure as well, I'll start by saying that this is major step-up from the art book, in terms of visuals, writeup and construction.
It's a thick 272-page hardcover filled commentary and huge pictures. Yup, the pictures are in high resolution so there's no more of that pixelation you see in the art book. The film stills, even though you know it's computer generated, is less jarring, more natural. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes photos as well as concept art sketches of the creatures on Pandora.
The writeup is extensive. It really provides an in-depth look at the technical aspect of making the movie, from the conceptualisation stage down to mixing of life-action and 3D footage. There's plenty to read about the concepts behind everything has to be visually created, like the creatures, the sculptures, environments, weapons, props, etc. It's all really detailed and carefully explained, even the captions are informative. Stuff like creating characters are broken down into several steps, such as the creation of clay sculptures (handled by Stan Winston Studio) and the actually modeling of 3D models (handled by Weta).
And then you have the motion performance part where they show how action is mapped into the movie, and all the little production tricks that are used. There are actually horses in the studios to capture the part where the Navi ride the Direhorses. And those horses are also had their bodies pasted with the little beads for motion capture.
This book is a very satisfying read. Highly recommended if you like movie production books.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
It's a thick 272-page hardcover filled commentary and huge pictures. Yup, the pictures are in high resolution so there's no more of that pixelation you see in the art book. The film stills, even though you know it's computer generated, is less jarring, more natural. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes photos as well as concept art sketches of the creatures on Pandora.
The writeup is extensive. It really provides an in-depth look at the technical aspect of making the movie, from the conceptualisation stage down to mixing of life-action and 3D footage. There's plenty to read about the concepts behind everything has to be visually created, like the creatures, the sculptures, environments, weapons, props, etc. It's all really detailed and carefully explained, even the captions are informative. Stuff like creating characters are broken down into several steps, such as the creation of clay sculptures (handled by Stan Winston Studio) and the actually modeling of 3D models (handled by Weta).
And then you have the motion performance part where they show how action is mapped into the movie, and all the little production tricks that are used. There are actually horses in the studios to capture the part where the Navi ride the Direhorses. And those horses are also had their bodies pasted with the little beads for motion capture.
This book is a very satisfying read. Highly recommended if you like movie production books.
(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A great read and an insight into the work and 'tricks' used to create the world of Pandora. A must for all fans who want to know more.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A comprehensive account of a most remarkable film for film buffs everwhere. It beggars belief that James Cameron did not receive an Osacr as best director, when this book gives you glimpse of his vision and involvement in all aspects of the films production.
The book goes into great detail about the use of the virtual camera and the processes of getting the actors performance to screen. However, I feel too much of the book is given over to photos of the actors with their dotted suits that becomes a bit repetitive. Pesonally I would have preferred to see more of the matt painting and concept art by the digital artists, but this is only a minor criticism as I really enjoyed the book. As someone else pointed out the pictures are not quite top notch, but that might be a concession by the publishers to saving the environment, since that is the major premise of the film itself.
Don't let my slightly less than enthusiastic review put anyone off buying this book, as it is an entertaining and interesting read.
The book goes into great detail about the use of the virtual camera and the processes of getting the actors performance to screen. However, I feel too much of the book is given over to photos of the actors with their dotted suits that becomes a bit repetitive. Pesonally I would have preferred to see more of the matt painting and concept art by the digital artists, but this is only a minor criticism as I really enjoyed the book. As someone else pointed out the pictures are not quite top notch, but that might be a concession by the publishers to saving the environment, since that is the major premise of the film itself.
Don't let my slightly less than enthusiastic review put anyone off buying this book, as it is an entertaining and interesting read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Making Of Avatar
The content of this book is amazing and very informative, I work in the industry and found the book handy to learn about the techniques used to make the film. thank you
Published 3 months ago by Sid
The making of Avatar
If you have come to here looking for this book you will be satisfied with it. Its a great book, hard covered, hi-res photographies (unlike the Art of Avatar). Read more
Published 10 months ago by Tauron
Perfect dissertation source
I brought this book to support my Dissertation, looking at the production of Hyperreall films. It has everything you could possibly need in it, how the 3d was done, the concepts,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by AR Scoones
avatar
very good book .the quality of the photos are not the top but very interresting informations about an exceptional filming adventure.we learn a lot of amazing details
Published 15 months ago by luc
Great in-debth making of.
This is a thorough and detailed walkthrough of the way Avatar was made, and a must for anyone interested in the techniques employed in making this film. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Willowbrook
Avatar the great
I came across this book while looking on Amazon at Avatar articles.I was really pleased to see it because I have been wanting something like this since the film came out. Read more
Published 18 months ago by malc haigh
Perfect book for AVATAR fans!
This is a fantastic book if you are an AVATAR-fan and would like to know how it was done! See the complex work behind the movie, follow the designs from beginning to the screen. Read more
Published 19 months ago by K. Sorensen
Avatar the making of
First rate book, very detailed and a treat for all who have enjoyed watching 'Avatar'.
Published 19 months ago by J. V. Brash
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