AVATAR - Final Notes 12.3 - Visual Hollywood

classic and familiar. “We wanted to remove the creatures and flora from being Earth-like,just enough to remind you that you’re on another world, but at the same time, you’d findthem accessible,” says Cameron. Trees measuring over one thousand feet and mountainsthat somehow float, are among the landmarks that inspire awe for their sheer imaginationand scope – but whose designs stem from structures familiar to everyone.“James Cameron didn’t just create and make a motion picture set on a distantworld; it was if he had actually traveled there, taken copious notes, then returned and putevery detail he absorbed on paper, and then on film.” says production designer RickCarter.That was the impression the world renowned filmmaker left on his departmentheads, cast, and just about everyone who worked on AVATAR. Collaborating with manyof the industry’s top artists, Cameron oversaw the conceptual art, virtual sets, andpractical sets. He scrutinized very design detail of AVATAR – each creature, blade ofgrass, tree, mountain, cloud, vehicle, and costume.“I think Jim finished AVATAR a long time ago in his mind,” says co-productiondesigner Robert Stromberg, who oversaw much of the design of Pandora. “He brought itto us to recreate.” Rick Carter adds, “It was tough to keep up with Jim because he waspresenting a world he had seen, and not just invented. He had seen it and was reportingback to us. Jim would explain his design ideas in such detail that you would think thesefictional animals really existed. That’s how much thought he put into each and everyanimal and insect. He knows what they eat, how they sleep, and how they interact withone another.”Cameron, Stromberg, Carter, and their teams would regularly pose a key question– “Would that [design] work?” The filmmakers’ goal was to have audiences suspendtheir belief, and recognize and relate to what they were seeing on screen.Jake arrives at the human military and scientific base, Hell’s Gate, a scar carvedby the hand of man in the middle of this virgin world. As Jake soon discovers, therainforest outside Hell’s Gate is rich with exotic flora and fauna, as well as viciouswildlife. Pandora is, as Cameron describes, “the Garden of Eden with teeth and claws.”There are many Na’vi clans scattered around Pandora, but the one Jake comes toknow is the Omaticaya Clan, who have lived inside of the 1000 foot tall Hometree for18