The latest behind-the-scenes look at “Avatar: The Way of Water” offers a glimpse at the actors acting their hearts out within motion-capture performances.
The 249-second clip, released on 20th Century Studios’ YouTube channel, offers explicit evidence, if any such thing is still needed, that performance capture performances are still about actors honing their skills and the technology supplementing their work.
“What we’re interested in,” notes writer/director James Cameron, “is the totality of the performance. The actor creates the emotion, the actor creates the moment.”
We then see a slew of split-screen sequences where we see the actor giving the in-film performance while covered in motion-capture gear (including the facial dots which serve as guides for computer rendering and related animation) side-by-side with the finished sequence in the film. As Sam Worthington states at the 0:33 second mark, “Everything that Jake Sully as a Na’vi has done, Sam has done.”
Beyond just providing an educational and entertaining behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of the global blockbuster, the featurette serves to show off that the moments of physical strain and high emotion are rooted in old-school acting. It should go without saying, but it bears reminding and it is always fun to see the before-and-after comparisons, such as the (for example) the Blu-ray supplemental material on “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” which shows Andy Serkis performing as Supreme Leader Snoke in the flesh.
The featurette, and others like it, reminds viewers that actors and on-set performances are the first and most important building block. Producer Jon Landeau helpfully offers a brief explanation that, yes, since Pandora doesn’t exist and nine-foot-tall Na’vi don’t exist, the performance capture and volume technology allows for 100% of the actors’ physical, on-set performances to be, well, captured and replicated in the digital world.
As a secondary benefit, the later portions of this clip offers the film’s newer, younger cast members discussing their craft and their experience. While most audience members know what Zoe Saldana, Kate Winslet or Stephen Lang look in human form, this could be the first time that audiences will see Jamie Flatters (Neteyam), Britain Dalton (Lo’Ak) or Bailey Bass (Tsireya) sans their in-movie appearance.
When your big breakout role is in an “Avatar” movie, it’s not like you can send a movie still to agents or producers and say, “This is me.”
Cameron concludes the clip by stating that, while on-set, he’s most focused on the actors because “That’s all I have to worry about. I’m not distracted by the camera movement or the background extras, I’m just there for (the star performers).” As the filmmaker argues, “That’s the only way to make this film.”
And, yes, it’s amusing watching Sigourney Weaver portraying her own 14-year-old daughter.
Watch the video above.
