AVATAR - Final Notes 12.3 - Visual Hollywood

machinist and, later, a truck driver. Setting his sights on a career in film, Cameron quithis trucking job in 1978 and raised money from a consortium of local dentists to producea 35mm short film.The visual effects in this film led to work on Roger Corman’s “Battle Beyond theStars” (1980), on which he served as production designer, matte artist and visual effectsdirector of photography. Next, he became second unit director on Corman’s subsequentsci-fi thriller, “Galaxy of Terror” (1981).In 1983 Cameron wrote three scripts: “Rambo: First Blood Part 2,” “Aliens” and“The Terminator.” He directed “The Terminator,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, in1984. It became an unexpected box office hit and made Time magazine’s ten best filmsof the year list.Cameron subsequently directed “Aliens” (1986), then wrote and directed “TheAbyss” (1989). Following that, he wrote, produced and directed “Terminator 2:Judgment Day” (1991), “True Lies” (1994), and “Titanic” (1997). He also co-wrote andproduced “Point Break” (1991) and “Strange Days” (1994), and produced “Solaris”(2003).His films have blazed new trails in visual effects and set numerous performancerecords both domestically and abroad. “Titanic” currently holds both the domestic andworldwide box office records having grossed over $1.8 billion at the global box office.Cameron’s films have also earned numerous nominations and awards from a variety oforganizations, culminating in “Titanic’s” fourteen Academy Award nominations (arecord) and eleven Oscars, including Cameron’s three Oscars for Best Picture, BestDirection and Best Editing.In 1999, Cameron co-created the one-hour television series “Dark Angel.” Theshow ran for two seasons on the Fox Network and gained a loyal following and a numberof prestigious nominations and awards, including the People’s Choice Award for BestNew Television Drama. It also launched a new star: Jessica Alba.Cameron also set to work on a digital 3-D camera system, which he developedwith partner Vince Pace. The goal was to bring back the experience of deep oceanexploration with unprecedented clarity to a global audience.35