keyleedaud (REAL ESTATE)

I'm a little surprised at Cartoon Brew 's insistence than Avatar be considered an animated film. I don't know if the reason is because it is the highest grossing film in history and they want animation to have some of the glory or if it's because James Cameron is so insistent that Avatar should not be tainted with the 'A' word. In any case, there are reasons (beyond whatever anyone thinks of Avatar ) why I don't think considering it an animated film is a good thing. Those outside the film business may not be aware of the distinction between production and post-production. In a live action film - one with no animation or special effects - production is the shooting of the film. Post-production is what happens after the film is shot. Those things typically include editing, music, sound effects, dialogue looping, the sound mix and titling. When a film does include special effects, unless they are done in camera during the regular shoot, they are consider...

Ed Hooks is the author of Acting for Animators . While his own background is not in animation, he's identified many things that animators need to be thinking about while doing their work. One point that he's made is that the quality of a performance is based on the script supplying the necessary foundation for building a character. In his February 2010 newsletter (scroll down for the relevant material), he talks about the shortcomings of Avatar 's script from an acting standpoint. Zoe Saldana is Neytiri, the Na’vi female lead. She has been raised in a kind of New Age Garden of Eden. The Na’vi spend a lot of time tuning into trees, plants and their spiritual vibes. But what are Neytiri's personal values? The script really doesn’t say. In her first scenes, she's helping chase off those pesky humans. But then, in the second act of the script, she befriends the fake Jake avatar and gets romantic. And, at the very end of the story, she slays the dragon, Col Quarit...

As a follow up to my earlier post , here's James Cameron's take on what he's doing.

Updated at the bottom. (There are no spoilers below.) I saw Avatar and quite enjoyed it. Many people have pointed out similarities to Pocahontas , Ferngully and Dances with Wolves . There are also elements of Tarzan and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern . I'm sure that some enterprising person will set up a website showing all those references and many more. James Cameron's strong suit isn't originality; what he's best at is taking existing elements, weaving them into a solidly structured screenplay and then kicking it up a notch with his directing ability. Avatar doesn't break new ground from the standpoint of content, but it does deliver that content in a very satisfying manner. It's basically a fish out of water story combined with a romantic vision of simpler societies. Edgar Rice Burroughs (author of the Tarzan , John Carter and Carson of Venus stories) specialized in stories like this. In Burroughs' case, there was an underlying rac...