Cameron Says Only ‘Avatar’ Blu-ray Left is 3D

20 Oct, 2010 By: Chris Tribbey

---

LOS ANGELES — For those worried that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is just teasing everyone with the Nov. 16 Avatar Extended Collector’s Edition and that yet another version of the top-grossing film of all time will be out later, director James Cameron says not to worry.

“There’s only one more play, maybe one, two years out, and that’s 3D [Blu-ray],” he said Oct. 19 during a press day about the new Blu-ray.

The three-disc version from Fox ($54.99) has everything that was missing from the April release, which quickly became the No. 1 high-def disc to date.

Disc one of the extended collector’s edition has three versions of the film — original theatrical, the special edition re-release seen in theaters, and a collector’s extended cut with 16 more minutes and an alternate opening — and both the original theatrical and special edition re-release include family audio track options, which remove any objectionable language from the film.

“This goes back to what Blu-ray has to offer,” the film’s producer Jon Landau. “You couldn’t do that on any other format.”

“It’s very important that the original version exist on all [releases],” Cameron said. “We’re just giving people options.”

Disc two will feature an in-depth feature about the making of Avatar, running roughly an hour and a half, dubbed “Capturing Avatar.” Cameron said they cut a full hour from the documentary because they “couldn’t have a documentary about the movie that was as long as the movie.” There are also 45 minutes worth of deleted scenes. Some of the new footage was revisited and touched up by the Avatar team just for this Blu-ray release, Cameron said.

“It’s just by the grace of God and the amount of money Avatar made that we can go back to [Fox] and say, ‘Let’s pony up a few million dollars and finish these shots,” he said.

There are also production materials included in the second disc.

He added that the “performance capture” used to make Avatar — which is explained in the bonus features — allowed him to go back and rework scenes shot months before, something unheard of with a simple live shoot.

“Even if the virtual camera misses the shot, the data is captured,” he said. “We can go back a year later and create a scene from that. Post [production] started on day one. By the time I come to camera session, the scene has been worked on for months.”

Director of photography Vince Pace said Cameron’s work with Avatar bridged live action and CG work like nothing else before.

“It’s amazing what he did,” he said, noting a dozen different types of cameras were used to make the film. “We could almost ignore the entire 3D aspect until we finished 2D.”

The third disc finds an “Open Pandora’s Box” feature that lets viewers go deeper into the creation of the film. An interactive scene deconstruction shows the various stages of production, allowing viewers to see the step-by-step of scenes with three different viewing modes.

“This is like geek heaven,” Cameron said of the feature.

Seventeen production shorts, covering stunts, 3D, the score and more are also included, as well as the “Avatar Archives, “ which includes hundred of pages about the film, including the original script treatment, a 300-page screenplay and the Pandorpedia.

That Pandorpedia also includes the roughly 1,400 word-Na’vi language that University of Southern California professor Paul Frommer created, a language every Na’vi actor had to learn.

“One of the most amazing moonlighting gigs I’ve ever had,” he said about his work on the film. “You’d be surprised what you can do with a limited language when you’re creative with it.”

Composer James Horner said they worked for more than a year and a half on creating the music and sound effects, while Robert Stromberg, art director of the film, said viewers of the bonus features will find out just how much work went into creating the world of Avatar.

“We were only asked to create an entire world, literally down to the texture of the moss,” he said. “There are no store-bought items. Everything had to be built and designed.”

The third disc will also have BD Live features, including a mockumentary about the making of the film.

While the Oct. 19, day-long event covered everything about Avatar, Cameron also revealed details about plans for the sequel … and third Avatar.

“It’s in progress,” he said, adding that Avatar II and Avatar III would be produced together and then released a year apart, a la the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Bookmark it: