I SEE YOU

How James Cameron and his Visual Effects Team Create an Otherworldly Reality in Avatar: The Way of Water

- MATT HURWITZ

“I SEE YOU.” That is the line spoken in both James Cameron’s original Avatar the incredible Avatar: The Way of Water, released this past December, when the native Na’vi characters look into each other’s eyes and see the person within. And with the Oscar®-winning visual effects (VFX) at Weta FX in New Zealand, he and his team have developed and utilized, the phrase takes on new meaning. The CG animated characters are not cartoons—they are people. And we see them, from the inside out.

For the production of the original film, the team developed and used a unique "Performance Capture" system. Rooted in a Motion Capture system, the technique captures the performance of an actor's body by recording and deciphering markers placed at key points on the body, and essentially creating a skeleton that drives those same points as the basis of an animated character. Performance Capture extends the system by adding a facial camera rig, which adds the true facial expressions of the actor in their performance of a scene.

The resultant animation from Weta is so lifelike, it can be easy for to forget one is watching alien characters, and not human actors.

Not long after the release of the first film, Cameron, his longtime producing partner Jon Landau, and the production team discussed improvements they would like to make for upcoming sequels to make the performances even more lifelike. They also brought back Virtual Production Supervisor Ryan Champney, who became part of Cameron's company, Lightstorm Entertainment.

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