For this post, I hope that everyone has seen James Cameron's Avatar. Having talked with people about the movie, I found out that many did not realized the movie was more than usual computer animation. From what I've heard, the actors are real, but they were later turned into CGI characters. Lets see what the "Cloud" has to say about this information.
Yahoo Answers tells us that the actors "did all the motion stuff" and "JC" later superimposed Na'vi faces on them. This sounds pretty plausible, however, I feel like there was more to it than just superimposing a face on the actors. Another source on Yahoo Answers states that they were real people and fake aliens, kind of like on Jurassic Park.
A continued Google search resulted lots of pages, very few of which looked worth while at all. The majority of the pages seemed to be peoples opinions or renditions of articles people read with no links or excerpts from the articles. My next tactic was to try what is probably the only source of information, used by high school students, that rivals Google, Wikipedia.
A Wikipedia search for Avatar does not automatically result in the movie. Instead, the search is directly routed to a page about avatars in Hinduism. After finding the correct page, I was surprised by the amount and seeming technical knowledge of the writing. Also, there are 256 citations for this page! Wikipedia confirms that there were real actors and the use of CGI. The page paraphrases Cameron stating that there is about "60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action and environment." The source for this information is even provided: The Hollywood Reporter. Following the link provided takes the reader to the actual article on the Reporter's website. Though the name may not initially sound reliable, it meets many of the requirements put forth by the Internet Detective.
As for the technical information about turning real people into animated people or CGI Na'vi, Cameron had to wait roughly 14 years for the development of the necessary technology. The article discusses filming speeds, types of cameras, etc. However, one of the main aspects of this filming endeavor was a small camera attached to special individual caps the actors wore while filming. These cameras captured the actors' facial expressions in extreme detail and transmitted the information to computers. Cameron and others were then able to use this data to create and direct CGI characters.
This is the short description of how human-CGI characters were made for Avatar. I thank the people for all of the hard work that went into the wonderfully well documented page on Wikipedia. Collective knowledge can be a wonderful thingsometimes.
If you like the ideas, concepts, and/or possibilities presented in Avatar, check out this article by Popular Mechanics!
Zach- I love it that you applied some of the techniques that we read about in the Internet Detective Tutorial as you researched your topic. Here's what jumped out at me... #1, you took us along on your journey with you and demonstrated so clearly how aware you were of your sources as you discovered information on your topic. #2, you linked to sites so we could check them out ourselves. And #3, you informally share your sources of your information with us so there is no mistake... you definitely are not claiming all of the info and knowledge as your own!
ReplyDeleteThis would be wonderful to share with your students. It's such a clear example of the Internet research process and most students today are so unaware of the web sites they choose to use in their research.
Yes, Zach, I found this post interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is surprising that The Hollywood Reporter would come as a very informative site in the end.
It could be a useful teaching tool, as well.
Great post, Zach. I'm a big fan of Wired magazine (which you can also read online) and have read about the making of Avatar there too, such a exciting topic which you did justice to in your research.
ReplyDeleteThe way I allow Wikipedia as a source in my college classes, especially since I know my students go there almost immediately when asked to research something, is I suggest they go there first. I say, "read the article then use the sources cited to find the primary info source you want to quote". This way they cite the primary source, yet get the gist of what they want from the lay-person article in Wikipedia. In other words, no quotes allowed from Wikipedia, go to the primary source for your quotes. Thus their teacher is happy, plus this compromise works for them thus the student is happy.