“Avatar: The Way of Water”, ten details you can't miss before watching

Do you still remember the release of James Cameron's "Avatar" in 2009, which set off a worldwide 3D technology boom in the film industry? It also broke the box office record of "Titanic", which is a miracle in the film industry.

Thirteen years later, "Avatar: The Way of Water" finally came out. Cameron also announced that he signed the contract for three more sequels of "Avatar", which will be released in 2024, 2026, and 2028 respectively. If you have not watched the first "Avatar", or you can no longer recall the story because it was so long ago, you must not miss the following ten important details before watching "Avatar: The Way of Water".

The background of the story

In the year 2154, humans exhaust the earth's natural resources and come to planet Pandora, where a rare and precious mineral is abundant. The Na'vi who are tall and blue humanoids are the aborigines of this planet.

Because the atmosphere of Pandora is toxic to human beings from the earth, they create the Na'vi body and manipulate it through human consciousness. This genetic project is called the Avatar Program. This research is not only to facilitate human beings to live a better life in Pandora but also to create better interactions with the Na'vi.

Introduction to the Story

Jake Sully is a paralyzed former marine. He is sent to Pandora to replace his dead twin brother and become one of the Avatar operators.

When Jake's avatar is attacked by wild animals in Pandora, Neytiri, one of the Na'vi, saves him and takes him to her tribe. Neytiri's mother agrees to let Jake join their tribe, thus establishing the relationship between Jake and the Na'vi.

Conflict of the Story

However, when Colonel Miles promises to restore Jake's legs, he is faced with a dilemma, because the colonel's condition is that he must provide inside information about the Hometree of Na'vi. Things are getting complicated because Jake and Neytiri fall in love as expected.

The Turning Point of the Story

When Jake confesses that he is a spy, the Na'vi lock him and Dr. Grace Augustine together. Meanwhile, the colonel leads the army to destroy the Hometree and kill many Na'vi, including Neytiri's father. They occupy the land by force and mine the rare minerals.

A human pilot named Trudy finally saves Jake. She is shocked by the colonel's cruelty so she decides to save Jake, Grace, and Norm Spellman.

The End of the Story

During the escape, Grace is shot. To save her, the Na'vi try to transfer her consciousness to the Avatar’s body permanently with the help of the Tree of Souls, but the plan fails. After the Hometree is destroyed, Jake fights side by side with the Na'vi and regains their trust.

At the same time, the colonel finds Jake’s physical body who is manipulating Avatar and tries to kill him. Neytiri arrives at the key moment, kills the colonel, and saves Jake. From the information exposed in the second film, the colonel may not be dead. Since then, Jake has permanently transferred his consciousness to the Avatar body and has truly become a member of the Na'vi.

The Highest-Grossing Film of All Time

In 2019, the title of the highest-grossing film was taken away from "Avatar" by "Avengers: Endgame”, whose box office was 2.797 billion dollars. Later on, "Avatar" was released again in China, regaining its top position, with a total box office of 2.847 billion dollars.

3D Motion Capture Technology

It is widely misunderstood that "Avatar" is the first 3D film, but it is not. It has made a great contribution to the progress of 3D films since then because it used "Motion Capture and Computer Generated Imagery" technology for the first time, which was very advanced and revolutionary at that time. It gathered the skills and efforts of more than 900 people.

Director James Cameron shot this 3D film with his special image fusion technology, which required two cameras to work together to create 3D images. In the scene showing the Na'vi tribe, Cameron used Motion Capture technology. He asked the actors to wear motion capture suits, tracked their actions with cameras, and formed motion images of movie characters synchronously.

The Na'vi Language in the Film

For Pandora, a distant planet inhabited by tall and blue humanoids, the race should have its language, for the sake of realness, so it is very necessary to "create a language". "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy used this way of creation. For this reason, Cameron especially hired a linguist to create the Na'vi language for the film.

This language eventually includes the pronunciation of Amharic and the native languages of America and Central Asia. Its grammar is like the unique combination of Persian, Mandarin, Hebrew, and Indonesian. Its vocabulary has now reached 1400 words.

Microsoft Creates New Technology for "Avatar"

James Cameron's ambition requires innovative technology to achieve. For a film shot with Motion Capture technology, a huge basic system is needed to accommodate a large amount of data and content generated during the production process.

With the help of Microsoft, Cameron has established a new digital asset management system named Gaia, which is especially for the storage of all project data.

The Voice of Creatures in the Film

You may hardly realize what sound means to film. "Avatar" shows not only the incredible visual effects but also the charm of sound. Skywalker Sound is responsible for making the ambient sound of Pandora, and the sounds of many creatures on it.

The supervisor of "Skywalker Voice" and Christopher Boyes, the sound designer of "Avatar" worked closely in the film production progress, and they shared the source of many sounds in the film. For instance, the sound of the Viperwolf comes from hyenas and coyotes. The ambient sound of Pandora is collected in places around Costa Rica and Africa.

Did you almost miss these details? What else do you want to add about the first "Avatar"? See you in the comments.