CG Cameron

Titanic director James Cameron has enlisted the help of Weta Digital for his upcoming US$200 million sci-fi epic, Avatar. Cameron also plans to shoot sections of the film at Peter Jackson’s Wellington studios with the help of local industry workers. The director is known for pushing the boundaries of technology with his use of special effects in film and his latest feature looks to be no exception. Avatar is set 150 years in the future and centres around a battle between human and alien armies on a distant planet. “This film is a true hybrid – a full live-action shoot, with CG characters in CG and live environments,” says Cameron. “Ideally, at the end of the day, the audience has no idea which they’re looking at … With the new tools, we can create a humanoid character that is anything we imagine it to be – beautiful, elegant, graceful, powerful, evocative of us, but still with an emotional connection.” Avatar is slated for release in 2009.