Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

A very interesting look at the world of films and just how powerful the role of influence is in Hollywood. I don’t know about you but I found some of those Star Wars comparison shots to be fascinating.

You can find a further look at this idea (along with more great videos like this one) over at everythingisaremix.info.

Thanks to Daring Fireball for the link.

I think all of us can point to cinematic moments that will stay with us forever.  From Luke’s triumphant run on the Death Star to Superman and Lois Lane’s romantic flight over Metropolis, these moments use the latest in technology to help us believe in the fantastic.  Today, Director James Cameron uses the latest in digital technology to bring the fantasy world of Avatar to life.  The end result is perhaps one of the visually stunning things I have ever experienced on screen. 

James Cameron is no stranger to cutting edge visual effects.  In the 90s he used computer graphics to bring the menacing T1000 to life. The results were so amazing that everybody was asking, “how did he do that?”  And nearly every science fiction movie afterward has incorporated CGI to some varying degree (some more effectively than others).  Today, Cameron’s latest film is a triumph of 3D viewing and stereoscopic filmmaking with cameras that were specially designed for the film.  By now we’ve all seen the new 3D movies.  Usually they are relegated to animated films that can easily disguise any limitation that the production may have. They provide depth and the occasional sight gag, but that’s about it.  The difference in Avatar is the 3D is so good, so engrossing, that you actually feel like you are part of the action.  It’s so good in fact that about an hour into the film you actually forget you’re watching a 3D movie; you’re too involved in what’s going on. 

The story comes from a 114 page manuscript that Cameron wrote back in 1994.  Cameron admits he was inspired by every science fiction book he read as a kid and so many themes feel very familiar to us.  The year 2154, and the RDA corporation is mining Pandora, a lush, Earth-like moon for a rare mineral known as Unobtanium.  The local inhabitants called the Na’vi oppose the mining and destruction of their forest home.  To help ensure the mining continues, Parker Selfridge, (Giovanni Ribisi) employs former marines as mercenaries to provide security for the operation. 

Enter Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic marine who is seeking a second chance in the Avatar program.  You see, humans cannot breathe Pandora’s atmosphere, and in an attempt to educate the natives and win their favor, scientists have genetically engineered human/Na’vi hybrid bodies called Avatars, which are controlled by genetically matched human operators. Jake’s twin brother was supposed to pilot the Avatar but was murdered.  And since Jake shared the same genetic code, he is the perfect replacement.   Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), head of the Avatar Program, considers Jake an inadequate replacement for his brother, relegating him to a bodyguard role.

While Jake is escorting Augustine and biologist Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) in their Avatar forms, the group is attacked by a large predator, and Jake becomes separated and lost. Attempting to survive the night in Pandora’s dangerous jungles, he is rescued by Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), a female Na’vi. Neytiri brings Jake back to Hometree, which is inhabited by Neytiri’s clan, the Omaticaya. Mo’at, (C. C. H. Pounder), the Na’vi shaman and Neytiri’s mother have a vision about Jake and she instructs her to teach him their ways.  What follows is a futuristic version of Dances with Wolves as Jake becomes attached the people he has sworn to relocate. 
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