Director's Chair: James Cameron

Director’s Chair: James Cameron – ‘Avatar’

Posted on January 19, 2010 in Interviews | No Comments

Iain Blair sits down with acclaimed director James Cameron to discuss his new obscure arthouse film: Avatar.

…What sort of film did you set out to make?
JAMES CAMERON: “Pretty much the one we made, which was a film that’s like the stuff that played on the projection screen of my mind when I was a teenager, informed by science fiction. I used to read it voraciously, since there wasn’t so much of it in theatres back then. Except for 2001, there wasn’t anything really vivid — maybe Planet of the Apes. So every time I’d read a science-fiction novel, I wanted to see that stuff in the movies, and the only film I’ve really made so far that was a space subject was working in Ridley Scott’s house, doing the Alien sequel. And I wanted to do original stuff, all those creatures and landscapes and plants and animals that I’d been drawing and noodling with over some 20 years.

“So I looked for a wrap-up project that could do all that — start with a clean slate, a brand-new world, make it up from scratch and make up my own rules, so I could pick the color of the sky basically. Then I realized that historically there are some pretty successful examples of this, such as Star Wars and Star Trek — even The Lord of the Rings. And fans really love this kind of depth and detail, so when I began Avatar I really put a lot of energy and focus into a sense of completeness in detail of the world, for that very reason. So if we fail it all ends there, but if we are successful — and I think all your decisions should be made as if you’re going to be successful, as nothing else makes sense — don’t bet against yourself, right? — then we’ll make more films and that world will continue to flesh itself out and be a place that fans can go to.”

— Post | Read The Full Article