Overall development
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cameron spoke of prioritizing story and character over the effects technology by explaining, "When they see a Pixar movie, they don't need to know about the hundreds of artists who slaved away at computers for years to make it. It's just: Do I like this story? Do I like the characters? I think Avatar will work that way."
Cameron explained his objective to seamlessly translate actor performances into computer-generated characters, saying, "It evolved from a couple of things: growing up on a steady diet of science fiction, imagining alien characters, and being ultimately dissatisfied with what was possible with makeup and prosthetics, with an actor having to be in the makeup chair for six hours a day. This technology isn't about replacing or marginalizing actors. It's about allowing actors to transform and empower them to be as creative as they want to be. And by the way, we did tall blue people with pointy ears here. But we could easily have done a straight human face if we'd wanted to ... If we had put the same energy into creating a human as we put into creating the Na'vi, it would have been 100 percent indistinguishable from reality."
Cameron hopes to explore the other moons in future sequels, books, and spin-offs.
Astronomy and geology
In the film, Pandora is depicted as being located in the Alpha Centauri system approximately 4.37 light years away from Earth. It is one of the many natural satellites orbiting the gas giant Polyphemus, named for the Polyphemus of Greek mythology. Pandora's atmosphere is a mix of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, xenon, ammonia, methane and hydrogen cyanide. This is an unrespiratable chemical composition for humans, forcing visitors to wear Exo-Packs at all times.
Leri Greer, a designer at Weta Workshop, explained the unusal day/night cycle experienced by the Na'vi, who inhabit a moon orbiting a planet, that in turn orbits around a star.
I actually wrote about how it causes a particular sky coloration across the visible spectrum at moments of pure dusk. And the Na'vi, depending on what elevation they live at (sea level versus higher altitudes), perceive a distinct color in narrow band at the horizon at that moment. They identify themselves, and signify in their markings, with this color. Which helps other Na'vi quickly discern at a distance what/where they are from, or what they are likely to be like (fishermen, high plains, skyriders, etc..). That pure dusk "color," combined with their other predominant color markings lets you also know how they relate to Eywa as a "religion" versus Eywa as a physical reality. And during ceremonial gatherings you can "read" a Na'vi by how they mark themselves with dyes, muds, and paints. And the environment and day/night cycle is directly responsible for the development of this social expression behavior. Again, this was an internal idea to help us design things at Weta Workshop, it's hard to say how much filtered upward to the larger production.
Pandora is covered in lush, tropical rain forests that cover much of its continents. Pandora also possesses a lesser gravitational force than Earth does. The geology of Pandora is strongly affected by the presence of Unobtanium, a mineral whose superconductive properties allow it to float in magnetic fields. This property makes it highly valued by humans, who mine it for transport back to Earth. Pandora's levitating Hallelujah Mountains contain significant quantities of Unobtanium, which allows them to ride the strong magnetic fields in their region.
Pandoran biosphere
Na'vi
Appearance
One of the challenges in designing Neytiri was making her look sufficiently alien and yet familiar and appealing enough to make Jake's attraction to her natural and convincing.
In Avatar, the Na'vi are a fictional indigenous species that live on the fictional world of Pandora. They are humanoid in appearance and are 9 to 12 feet (2.7 to 3.7 m) tall, having pairs of eyes, ears, arms, and legs like humans, as well as a nose, a mouth, and expressions recognizable to humans. The Na'vi differ from humans in having blue striped skin, pointed and mobile ears, large eyes, catlike noses and teeth, and tails. In addition, they have only four digits on their hands and feet. While taller than humans, they have narrower proportions in body frame. The Na'vi also have a distinctive tendril feature protruding from the back of their heads, surrounded by hair (resembling a long braid), feeding directly into the brain. This organ allows them to connect with the biology around them, transferring electrochemical signals such as thoughts and memories to the trees, plants, and other creatures. In the original script, Cameron refers to these as "Jubilees" although the word is not used in the film and may be changed by the time the novel is written.
The Na'vi were initially conceived to be more alien in appearance. Cameron recalled that when one of the main characters, Neytiri, was originally drawn, she had fins, gills, and other protuberances. In addition to feline features, the species was redesigned to look more like humans so audiences could relate to them better.
According to Cameron, the appearance of the Na'vi character Neytiri had some specific inspirations and requirements: she was inspired by Raquel Welch's character in Fantastic Voyage and by Vampirella, noting in the latter's case, "the fact [Vampirella] didn exist didn bother me because we have these quintessential female images in our mind, and in the case of the male mind, theye grossly distorted. When you see something that reflects your id, it works for you.... Right from the beginning I said, 'She got to have tits,' even though that makes no sense because her race, the Nai, aren placental mammals. I designed her costumes based on a taparrabo, a loincloth worn by Mayan Indians."
Cameron has described Avatar as more "science fantasy" than true science fiction and has said that he would explain in the novel for the film why in the fictional universe the Na'vi look like humans.
Culture and language
According to Entertainment Weekly, "The Na'vi can commune with animals on their planet by literally plugging their braid into the creatures' nerve systems. To become a warrior, a Na'vi must tame and ride a flying creature known as Ikran." The Na'vi also use this neural bonding system, called 'Tsahaylu', to mate with a "life partner", a bond that when made, cannot be broken in the Na'vi's lifetime.
Conceived for the film was the Na'vi language, a constructed language often spoken by the actors when they played Na'vi characters. The Na'vi language was created by linguistics professor Paul Frommer of University of Southern California. Frommer designed the language so it could be spoken by human actors, and it combines syntactic and grammatical rules from other existing languages. The professor created over a thousand words for the Na'vi language and taught the actors who played Na'vi characters to speak it for the film. When communicating to humans in the film, Na'vi characters - especially Neytiri - speak in accented and broken English.
On religion, the chief and possibly sole deity of the Na'vi is a benevolent goddess known as Eywa. The Na'vi are able to "connect" to Eywa when they use their queues to connect to The Tree of Souls and other similar flora. Eywa is said to have a connection to all things Pandoran.
Fauna
James Cameron's core idea for the Avatar's fictional creatures was for them to be "superslick and aerodynamic, and be like a race car with racing stripes". Neville Page worked on Avatar as the lead creature designer. He adapted Cameron's conceptions of the fauna into design that served three purposes: look expressive, function with animation technology, and be believable enough for audiences. He and creature designer Wayne Barlowe sought to base the design of Pandora's creatures on race cars, but they struggled to adapt the concept. Page drew on his education in automotive design, recognizing the irony that race cars were based on real-life animals in having "bone lines". Existing automotive designs drew from seashells, turtle shells, and insects, and the creature designers returned the design to the fictional creatures. They found the biggest challenge in designing most creatures to give them organic appearances since they lacked excessive skin texturing. Some creatures were also designed to have special breathing holes located in the trachea, copying how cars have intakes. Challenges that the creatures posed for visual effects technicians were to create believable "walk and run" cycles for six-legged creatures and believable flying for creatures that had four wings.
The fictional creatures are not connected telepathically according to Cameron and the designers. However, even though they discussed the idea of the creatures being part of Pandora's "Worldmind", they preferred to interpret the creatures as having heightened instincts. Page explained, "Animals are hooked up to this planet. We're the ones who are detached.... The way I dealt with it was, We have so much rich [material] here to reference, that we don't have to dream up a whole new process of animal awareness."
The fictional moon has less gravity than Earth, so the creatures' larger sizes match their environment. Most Pandoran wildlife are hexapodal, or six-legged. The fauna and the flora are also bioluminescent, which is seen in creatures on Earth, such as fireflies and algae. The aforementioned breathing holes, located on multiple parts of a creature's body other than the mouth, are similar to spiracles in some of Earth's animals. Flying reptiles have been linked to old flying reptiles and to modern Draco sumatranus.
List of fauna
Direhorse (Pa'li in Na'vi) is a bioluminescent hexapodal equine-like animal. It is scientifically known as Equidirus hoplites. The Na'vi use the Direhorse to hunt. The Direhorse was conceived and designed by Cameron and Stan Winston Studios. The Direhorse is grey with blue stripes and stands thirteen feet tall, fourteen feet long. The Na'vi "break" a Direhorse by connecting the fleshy tip of their hair to the animal's antennae. Xenobiologists call this a neural whip. Once intertwined, the Na'vi rider can communicate motor commands instantly through the neural interface; however, this connection does not lead to a life-long, exclusive bond, as it does with the Mountain Banshee. Cameron described the creature as a "six-legged alien Clydesdale with moth-like antennae". The Direhorse uses its long tongue to eat the sap out of Pitcher Plants.
Great Leonopteryx (Toruk in Na'vi, meaning last shadow) is an airborne predator native to Pandora. It is scientifically known as Gavilandora maxima. The fierce beauty and nobility of the Leonopteryx gave the species a place in central Na'vi lore and culture. Leonopteryx are scarlet with black stripes and a midnight blue crest on top of the head and on the lower jaw. It is celebrated in dance, song, and with elaborate totems that symbolizes both the fear and respect accorded to the creature. The Leonopteryx is considered crucial to the Na'vi sense of destiny and interconnectedness. Prior to the events of the film, it had only been tamed five times, and Neytiri tells Jake that the riders (Toruk Makto) brought peace among the Pandoran tribes. This makes Jake the sixth Toruk Makto. The Great Leonopteryx and the Banshee were designed with bright colors. Page based the colors on Earth's birds, poison dart frogs, and Monarch butterflies, though he altered the patterns so that their inspirations would not be so obvious to moviegoers. The skull and crest shapes appear to be derived from pterosaurs from the genus Tapejara.
Hammerhead Titanothere (ngtsk in Na'vi) is a large hexapodal herbivore whose massive, low-slung head features bony projections on either side of the skull, similar to Terran hammerhead sharks. These protrusions are often used to push and destroy objects: a single sideways thrust of the neck being sufficient to down a significantly-sized tree. It has exceedingly thick, gray skin. There is a small "fan" feather structure on the head that it flares up as a warning symbol seen in the film and in the video game. The creature, which resembles a cross between a rhinoceros and a hammerhead shark, is angered easily. Its hide is impervious to human ammunition, though firing on it is known to anger it. This massive, grazing creature travels in moderately large herds or packs of 10-20 animals. Avatar creature designer Yuri Bartoli explained to io9.com about the creature's colorful threat display:" Originally, the Hammerhead just had to be a huge creature, big enough that even a Thanator would think twice about attacking one. A threat display is meant to be seen, so it required bright colors that would stand out against it's more muted body". It is moderately social, but also extremely territorial and hierarchical. A soft ungulate mouth is protected by a rigid, beak-like jaw structure. It is scientifically known as Rhinoquadruculus hammercephali.
Hexapede (Yerik in Na'vi) are hexapodal deerlike creatures. They are dark blue herbivores, with white and yellow stripes. Twin horn structures sheathe a thin, patterned membrane structure. Their small, sloped skull is topped by this light-colored fan structure. This fan has an eye pattern on it similar to those found in Terran insects. A skin membrane hangs under the jaw and runs the length of the neck. Twin lines of dark hairlike bristles run down the Hexapede's back. The antennae are at the back at the head. As a threat display, the Hexapede flares up it's twin membrane structure like a satellite dish and retracts both lips.
Mountain Banshee (Ikran in Na'vi) is an airborne predator who lives in mountainous territory on Pandora. Na'vi warriors attempt to bond with a Banshee, a dangerous and required rite of passage. They are cousins to the Great Leonopteryx and they are scientifically known by Xenobiologists as Pterodactylus giganteus. A Banshee bonds to a Na'vi warrior for life. They are four-winged creatures that, like the Leonopteryx and Direhorse, have a biologically produced carbon fiber flexing on the skin. Neytiri had a Banshee named Seze. Page spent the most time designing the Banshee for the film so it would be convincing when it flew or perched. The designer said, "The hardest thing of all was having a Na'vi on top of it and flying it. You had to backwards engineer it. It was like designing and engineering an aircraft." Barlowe, who contributed to the Banshee's design, was influenced by manta rays and skates as well as relatively little-known pterosaurs and plesiosaurs that had "many, unique aerodynamic and hydrodynamic" characteristics. Like the color scheme for the Great Leonopteryx, color schemes based on Earth animals were used for various Banshees, though Page was inspired by Art Nouveau prints to warp the schemes so they would not look familiar to film audiences.
Prolemuris are blue, hexapodal creatures based on Earth's lemurs. They have two eyes, small nostrils, and their two upper arms are partially fused. Like most Pandoran creatures, it has a queue on the back of its head. They have lateral skin membranes on each side of the body. They are hexapods by the fact that they have four arms and two legs, but unlike any other creature seen, its four upper limbs are fused together. They have large eyes and grow 1.5 meters tall.
Thanator (Palulukan in Na'vi) is a large hexapodal land predator. It is scientifically known as Bestiapanthera ferox. Cameron personally designed the creature. The Thanator is first seen when Jake wanders off into the jungle, and touches multiple Helicoradian leaves, and they retract to reveal a family of Hammerhead Titanotheres behind. Jakes scares off the Titanotheres, revealing the Thanator behind. Neytiri later tames the Thanator. It is black with white fleshy skin under each hand. Its appearance is similar to a panther; Cameron describes the Thanator as "the panther from hell". The Thanator has ten sensory quills connected to six pads at the rear of the skull that flare up before it attacks the prey. The director explained how the Thanator is the most fearsome creature on Pandora, "The Thanator could eat a T-Rex and have the Alien for dessert."
Viperwolf (Nantang in Na'vi) is a hexapodal nocturnal carnivore. They are scientifically known as Caniferratus costatus. Bioluminescence for pack identification. Cameron described the Viperwolves, "[They are] hairless with shiny skin that looks like overlapped armor. Most disturbing are its paws, which are like leathery hands." They are vicious in combat but treat their babies in a loving, nurturing way. They are seen in the daytime caring for their babies and have green eyes. Like most Pandoran creatures, they have antennae. They have opposable thumbs allowing it to climb trees as well as stalk from the ground, thereby are able to create a three-dimensional hunting field.
Flora
The Helicoradian plants in Avatar were based on Spirobranchus giganteus, a species of tube worm common to many seas on Earth. These worms quickly withdraw into their tubes when disturbed.
Flora on Pandora are of a tropical type several times taller than that existing on Earth. Many, if not all plant and animal species have bioluminescent properties. It is also proposed that most species of flora are only able to grow in the presence of unobtanium. The flora specimens seen in the film were all designed by Jodie Holt, a professor of botany at the University of California, Riverside. According to Holt, Pandoran flora are able to communicate with each other through signal transduction and are larger in size than Earth flora due to a combination of factors such as the atmosphere on Pandora being thicker, gravity weaker and due to the fact that there is a strong magnetic field.
List of flora
Helicoradian (Loreyu in Na'vi) is a carnivorous plant that has red spiral-leaves. The plants are up to 34 metres (9.813 ft) tall and, when touched, they curl and collapse into themselves instantly. They are zooplantae, part animal, part plant. They are first seen when Jake wanders off into a forest of Helicoradia, touches multiple leaves, and they retract and coil up to reveal a Hammerhead Titanothere behind. According to Avatar designer Craig Shoji, the behavior and design of the Helicoradian was based on the Christmas tree worms, tube worms that live on coral reefs.
Obesus rotundus (Rumut in Na'vi) is a tree that looks like a puffball tree.
Pseudocycas altissima (Tsyorina'wll in Na'vi) is a plant that looks like a tall Earth cycad.
The Hometrees (Kelutrel in Na'vi) are great enough to house hundreds of clan members. The trees are honeycombed with natural hollows and alcoves in which the Na'vi sleep, eat, weave, dance, and celebrate their connection to Eywa. Adult Hometrees are more than 150 meters tall, and roughly 30 meters in diameter. The Omaticaya inhabit a Giant Hometree, standing roughly 460 meters tall. A distinguishable feature of the movie landscape, the tree itself is central to the movie story arc. Like many sacred sites on Pandora, the Giant Hometree sits above a large deposit of Unobtanium. It is destroyed by the humans using rockets and missiles, which leads to the Na'vi clans' alliance against the humans.
The Tree of Souls (Ayvitray Ramunong in Na'vi [Cameron: Vitraya Ramunong]) is a tree where the Na'vi are able to communicate with the biological network that exists throughout Pandora. Cameron described the Tree of Souls as "a big input-output station" and was inspired to design it by bioluminescence that he encountered during night diving. The tree is capable of transferring souls to other bodies.
The Tree of Voices (Utral Aymokriy in Na'vi [Cameron: Utraya Mokri]) is the most important tree to the Na'vi after the Tree of Souls. It is smaller but its appearance is similar and it too is illuminated. Neytiri tells Jake that it allows the Na'vi to hear the voices of their ancestors. It is destroyed in the bulldozer attack by the humans. This was where Jake and Neytiri chose each other as mates and mated before Eywa.
Woodsprites (Atokirina in Na'vi) are seeds of the "holy tree", appearing similar to airborne jellyfish. The Omaticaya Clan plants one of these seeds with the body of a deceased Na'vi, so the Na'vi's consciousness will become part of Eywa.
Various plants and trees that look like Earth's ferns, palm trees, mosses, grasses, bamboo, and succulents. Several forest plants of Pandora resemble the earth's zoanthid soft corals, which can be bioluminescent as in the movie.
Humans
Of interest to the humans is Pandora's reserves of unobtanium, a valuable room-temperature superconductor mineral valued at "20 million a kilo". The name is a reference to mythical materials used in engineering which are scarce but have better properties than real materials.
In the Avatar universe (set in the year 2154), humans have achieved a highly advanced post-industrial/technologically advanced society dominated by powerful corporations and industries. One of Earth's most powerful corporations is the Resources Development Administration (RDA), a quasi-governmental organization that possesses a monopoly over all resources in the Alpha Centauri system. Known RDA personnel on Pandora include head administrator Parker Selfridge, Colonel Miles Quaritch, Private Sean Fike, Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, Dr. Max Patel, Dr. Grace Augustine, Dr. Norm Spellman, and Samson 16 pilot Trudy Chacon.
Cameron developed Earth as a dystopian global urban slum in the context of cyberpunk and corrupt, nature-destroying industrialism (a reoccuring theme in his work). According to Jake, the planet is "[a] dying world" where humans have "destroyed all the green," suggesting that there is very little, if any, plant life left. By the film's timeframe, Earth faces a worldwide energy crisis (having overdeveloped its natural resources). Earth is also apparently so politically unstable that the services of Private Military Contractors PMC are in high demand thus drawing regularly on former armed services personnel from branches such as the United States Marine Corps, United States Army, Mexican Army, Canadian Army, Royal Marines, Russian Army, South African Army, Australian Army and the People's Liberation Army; Colonel Quaritch brags about serving three tours of duty in Nigeria, and notes that Jake is a veteran of an operation in Venezuela.
Technology
Technologically, humans have achieved monumental advancements by 2154: interplanetary and interstellar space travel and colonization; virtual 3D printing and holography mapping; and advanced methods of cryonics and psionics are employed. Using their capability of advanced genetic engineering, humans develop "Avatar" hybrid bodies from genetically distinct modified-human DNA and Na'vi alien genetic material. Through psionics, genetically-matched humans are then mind-linked to these "Avatars" for remote control operation. In the area of medicine, humans have developed advanced neuroregeneration technology that can "fix" Jake's paralysis. However, by 2154, it is still extremely expensive and is not covered by Veterans Affairs benefits. Thus, RDA is initially able to use Jake's desire to regain the use of his legs as leverage against him.
As with many science fiction films, many space vehicles, aircraft, ground vehicles, weapons and technologies were created to fit the story. Many were patterned after historical or contemporary technologies to give the film a sense of futuristic realism. Concept artist Ryan Church based many drawings on aerodynamic research from previously classified NASA and DARPA technical papers. Unlike the movie Aliens which employed one drop ship from de-orbit to ground combat, several vehicles cover specific roles of utility transport, gunship, and base resupply. This is similar to the specialization of aircraft and helicopters in the United States military since the Vietnam war.
Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson is a twin-rotored, ducted fan VTOL utility aircraft similar in appearance and role to the Vietnam-era UH-1 Huey or contemporary UH-60 Blackhawk. The tilting ducted fan arrangement it uses for propulsion also has similarities to the tiltrotor V-22 Osprey. It is armed with two door mounted machine guns and two pylons near the cockpit with missile pods mounted on them. The Samson uses a pair of ducted fans with coaxial propellers, increasing the lift efficiency. Both fans are capable of rotating independently backwards and forwards. Samsons move forward by rotating its fans horizontally.
Amplified Mobility Platform suit is a MK-6 class combat vehicle that is worn and controlled as a large "mech" motorized suit. They are sixteen feet tall exoskeletons powered by ceramic turbines. Soldiers at Hell's Gate use these for patrol and for battle. AMP suits are controlled via a semi-master-slave system - with the AMP's arm motion slaved to the pilot's arm motion. Motion-sensing gloves worn by the pilot are used to control the AMP arms - the result being that the AMP's arm movements exactly match the pilot's movement. AMP's are armed with 30mm GAU-90 autocannons, and the suit uses it as a rifle. There is an ammo belt that extends into the gun, into an ammo canister on the shoulder, over the arm, into a socket at the back. The GAU-90 fires 350 rounds per minute. The AMP suit has GPS, thermal imaging display, FLIR, and radar. Stan Winston Studios animator and Avatar Design Supervisor John Rosengrant described the AMP suit as "An Apache helicopter with legs". It also has a ceramic knife that is three feet long. Quaritch owns an AMP suit and has named it "Iron Lady". Its GAU-90 has a dragon painted on the ammo tube.
AT-99 Scorpion Gunship is the heavily armed gunship counterpart to Samson. Similar in role and appearance to the AH-64 Apache or Hind gunships. Dual co-axial ducted-fan rotor systems with a total of four prop-rotors each with three blades lead as the aircraft's primary proplusion. It drives on redundant fuel cells. Twin turbine generators driving counter-rotating annular ceramic motors. It is equipped with radar and sonar generators. It is armed with hex-cluster pylon-mounted .50 caliber rotary chain gun systems that can rotate a full 360 degrees with 700 rounds per minute cyclic rate of fire as close range primary weapons. The Scorpion has two pair of stub-wing pylons to carry its armament. Scorpions carry 190 TK-411 WAFAR (Wrap-Around Fin Aerial Rocket) rockets in ten 19-tube rocket launchers. The use of the rocket varies according to the warhead that can range from tactical applications to impact-based sensor systems. Eight Hawkeye NPB-9 Hellfire (Helicopter Launched Fire-and-forget) missiles are used to engage air-to-air targets in conjunction with the nose-mounted sensor suite. The tail doubles as a rear stabilizer.
C-21 Dragon Assault Ship is a large four-post ducted-fan VTOL heavily armed transport and gunship which can deliver AMP suits through drop doors. Quaritch led RDA forces with one of these. Its myriad arsenal of heavy machine guns, dozens upon dozens of rocket and missile pods, and door-gunners makes it the RDA's largest ship so far. Quad turbine generators drive the four-posted ceramic propellers. The Dragon is heavily armed with multiple weapons systems included grenades, rockets, missiles and point-defense Gatling cannons. Ability to deploy many troops and AMP suits, variety of medium automatic guns, ATG and ATA missiles, incendiary rockets, grenades, door gunners, plus dual and quad Gatling gun systems. All gun and missile systems are constrained by friendly fire avoidance codes (IFF Lockout). It has twin cockpits, dual gatling guns mounted near each. Its propellers counter-rotate to navigate, plus the nose-mounted radar suite.
G.A.V. Swan is a six wheeled terrain assault vehicle. Its full name is the Ground Assault Vehicle JL-723. It has a gyrostabilized platform so when it travels over rough terrain, the gunner platform is stabilized. The extended gunner's chair can rise up 3.6 meters above the vehicle to see over obstructions between the gun and the target, like the long neck of a swan, hence the name. This 6x6 is built for all terrain, and its permalloy armor and four turret-mounted sixty-millimeter rotary autocannons provide protection from the Pandoran environment. The wheels have little armor and are designed with a thick polymeter alloy. Swans have a gyrostabilized system that rotates a full 360 degrees. Swans also have a roll bar and four rear headlights. Swans have redundant fuel cells in the rear. When the chair extends, the ammunition storage canister is located at the back.
Hell's Gate is a secure forward operating base with airfield, comparable to Khe Sanh. Slightly more than a third of the site is taken up by the shuttle runway, VTOL pads, hangars, equipment storage areas, and garage structures. The armor bay is where vehicles come to get stored, repaired or refitted. This building is the main storage area of all AMP suits. There is also a small weight room inside a weapons locker that Quaritch uses. Designed for security and rapid force deployment, the Armor Bay is the core of Hell Gate defenses. Housed inside its large, fortified hanger and at the ready are Dragon Assault Ships configured for battle domination, Scorpion Gunships, Samson Helicopters, heavy duty, Model 10 Slash-Cutters, and an array of AMP Suits, among other attack craft, support vehicles, and assorted battle-ready machinery.
ISV Venture Star or Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star is an interstellar bulk carrier that uses antimatter propulsion systems to enable interstellar travel. It transports supplies, equipment, personnel, refined ore, and data between Earth and Pandora. The Venture Star does not land on the planetary surface, but stations itself orbit and rendezvouses with operations on Earth and Pandora via Valkyrie shuttlecraft that dock with it. The Venture Star is one of twelve RDA ISV mineral carriers, continuously travelling between the Sol and Alpha Centauri A systems. According to film designer Ben Proctor,
The huge glowing radiators mounted to the engines dissipate their heat, and the enormously long central truss, with its own protective coolers and reflectors, protects the cargo and crew modules from the engines' heat and radiation using the simple rule of r-squared attenuation rather than heavy shielding. (Yes, [James Cameron] really thinks about this kind of stuff and explains it very clearly in text and in person.) The ship has a pair of centrifugal-gravity-gen modules for the crew who remain awake for the duration, which has become a pretty typical feature of quasi-realistic ship designs in movies. But one unique feature it has which directly relates to the sub-light realistic travel is a cascade-style shield stack to protect the speeding craft from interstellar debris. Jim's [brief] completely explains this technology, apparently based on current NASA research, and how it obliterates potentially catastrophic particles by letting them slam through a series of thin, light shield surfaces.
The ship was based on designs by scientist and author Charles Pellegrino, who served as science advisor on the film, and deceased scientist and author Robert L. Forward.
Valkyrie TAV is a delta-wing space vehicle/aircraft used to transport equipment and personnel between ISV Venture Star and Hell's Gate on Pandora and its chief purpose is to bring Unobtanium to the spacecraft. The Valkyrie's official name is SSTO-TAV-37 B-class shuttlecraft. The Valkyrie has a payload of up to 60 armed troops, 25 AMP suits, 25 tonnes of refined Unobtanium and/or supplies. Two Valkyries carried by the ISV Venture Star are used for transfer of personnel and cargo between the orbiting ISV and the surface of Pandora. It has VTOL capability by swiveling its fusion engines, and like the C-130 Hercules was adapted as a bomber to drop daisy cutter bombs out of the rear cargo ramp.
Reception
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly writes, "Cameron turns Pandora into a vertiginously suspended forest landscape...Jake and the sexy tribal princess Neytiri (Zo Saldana) wow us with their fluid, prancing movements, but there's no subtext to their smoothly virtual faces." Carol Kaesuk Yoon of the New York Times wrote that Avatar "has recreated what is the heart of biology: the naked, heart-stopping wonder of really seeing the living world".
CNN reported that the film's universe has had a profound effect on the audience over their perception of Earth, and life on it, in reality. Avatar Forums posted a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible" which received "1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope" (a second thread was posted for more room). Philippe Baghdassarian, the site administrator, commented that, "I wasn't depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy, but I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don't have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed." Many have confessed to falling to depression and harbouring suicidal thoughts, while others have expressed disgust towards humanity and "disengagement with reality." Actor Stephen Lang (playing Colonel Quadritch), stated that "Pandora is a pristine world and there is the synergy between all of the creatures of the planet and I think that strikes a deep chord within people that has a wishfulness and a wistfulness to it. James Cameron had the technical resources to go along with this incredibly fertile imagination of his and his dream is built out of the same things that other peoples' dreams are made of." Psychiatrist Dr. Stephan Quentzel added that "Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far."
On January 25, 2010, local officials in Zhangjiajie, China, formally renamed the 3,544-foot (1,080 m) "Southern Sky Column" quartz-sandstone pillar to "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" to celebrate the success of the film, as this and other pillars in the area reportedly served as inspiration for the floating mountains in Avatar.
In February 2010, CNN published an article exploring the "Avatar science" (the technology linking the human mind to a remotely controlled body). Elizabeth Landau wrote, "Scientists say we are many decades, even centuries, away from making this kind of sophisticated interaction possible, if it can be done at all." A neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, Andrew Schwartz, further commented that, "[it] shouldn't be taken as anything but fantasy."
Notes
^ a b Josh Rottenberg, "James Cameron Talks Avatar: Brave Blue World," Entertainment Weekly #1081 (December 18, 2009): 51.
^ a b c d Kozlowski, Lori (January 02, 2010). "Inventing the plants of "Avatar"". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-avatar-q-and-a2-2010jan02,0,5033714.story?track=rss. Retrieved January 03, 2010.
^ As quoted in Josh Rottenberg, "James Cameron Talks Avatar: Brave Blue World," Entertainment Weekly #1081 (December 18, 2009): 48.
^ Josh Rottenberg, "James Cameron Talks Avatar: Brave Blue World," Entertainment Weekly #1081 (December 18, 2009): 48.
^ Carroll, Larry (June 29, 2006). "'Titanic' Mastermind James Cameron's King-Size Comeback: Two Sci-Fi Trilogies". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1535402/06292006/story.jhtml. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
^ Murphy, Mekado (December 21, 2009). "A Few Questions for James Cameron". http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/a-few-questions-for-james-cameron/.
^ Eric Ditzian (December 21, 2009). "James Cameron Talks 'Avatar' Sequel Plans". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1628605/story.jhtml. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
^ Although not mentioned in the movie, Polyphemus was discussed in the book James Cameron's Avatar: An Activist Survival Guide by Maria Wilhelm & Dirk Mathison. ISBN 978-0-06-189675-0. See Polyphemus in Wikia.
^ a b c Anders, Charlie Jane (February 4, 2010). "27 Avatar Questions, Answered By The Movie's Designers". io9.com. http://io9.com/5464478/27-avatar-questions-answered-by-the-movies-designers. Retrieved February 8, 2010.
^ Duncan, Jody (January 2010). "Avatar". Cinefex (120): 138.
^ a b Rottenberg, Josh (December 18, 2009). "James Cameron Talks Avatar: Brave Blue World". Entertainment Weekly (1081): 4851.
^ "James Cameron: Playboy Interview". Playboy. December 2009. http://www.playboy.com/articles/james-cameron-interview/index.html?page=2. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
^ Germain, David (December 21, 2009). "'Avatar' creator Cameron shares alien shop talk". Associated Press via Google News. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jXOYzLx-6QscSpCcZrBlfjmJ5mGAD9CNRKEG0. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Staff (January 4, 2010). "Avatar fans promised alien sex scene on DVD". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6931166/Avatar-fans-promised-alien-sex-scene-on-DVD.html. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
^ Bowes, Peter (December 11, 2009). "The language of Avatar revealed". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8408245.stm. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/us:na_vi?s[]=eywa
^ a b c d Anders, Charlie Jane (December 9, 2009). "Pandora's Creatures Were Partly Based On Cars". io9 (Gawker Media). http://io9.com/5422677/pandoras-creatures-were-partly-based-on-cars. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Cohen, David S (December 27, 2009). "'Avatar' unleashes a new kind of creative". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118013112.html. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Desowitz, Bill (December 21, 2009). "Avatar: The Game Changer". VFXWorld.com (AWN, Inc.). http://www.awn.com/articles/visual-effects/avatar-game-changer/page/4%2C1. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Choi, Charles Q. (December 21, 2009). "How much real science is in vatar?". msnbc.msn.com (MSN). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34515704/ns/technology_and_science-space/. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Richard, Michael G (February 16, 2010). "Y'Know the Flying Dragons in Avatar? Tiny Real-Life Version Discovered in Indonesia". Treehugger.com. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/tiny-dragon-indonesia-like-avatar.php. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
^ "Direhouse". Pandorapedia. 20th Century Fox. http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/direhorse.
^ a b c d e f "A Look Into the Making of Pandora for AVATAR". IESB.net. S&S Media Services. December 6, 2009. http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7872:a-look-into-the-making-of-pandora-for-avatar&catid=41:news&Itemid=71. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ a b Anders, Charlie Jane (December 10, 2009). "Those crazy color schemes are from the ocean floor and Art Nouveau". io9 (Gawker Media). http://io9.com/5423086/those-crazy-color-schemes-are-from-the-ocean-floor--and-art-nouveau. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ "Hammerhead Titanothere". Pandorapedia. 20th Century Fox. http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/hammerhead_titanothere. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ "Mountain Banshee". Pandorapedia. 20th Century Fox. http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/banshee_mountain. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ Kennedy, Gerrick (December 4, 2009). "'Avatar' designer on Jim Cameron, banshees and those nagging 'Delgo' comparisons". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/12/avatar-designer-asnwers-the-delgo-criticisms-its-so-apples-and-oranges-.html. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ "Thanator". Pandorapedia. 20th Century Fox. http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/thanator. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ a b Maher, Kevin (December 8, 2009). "Avatar: pictures of James Cameron fantastic new world". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6947527.ece. Retrieved December 27, 2009.
^ "Viperwolf". Pandorapedia. 20th Century Fox. http://www.pandorapedia.com/doku.php/viperwolf. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
^ "Video:Pandora Discovered". 2009-12-08. http://www.pandorapedia.org/doku.php.
^ "Avatar: Pandorapedia - Hometree". 2009-12-08. http://www.pandorapedia.org/doku.php/hometree.
^ "Avatar's hardware was all based on real-life stuff". io9. http://io9.com/5423083/avatars-hardware-was-all-based-on-real+life-stuff.
^ http://www.charlespellegrino.com/
^ Gleiberman, Owen (December 25, 2009). "But What About Avatar? James Cameron's 3-D epic didn't make our top 10 lists. But critic Owen Gleiberman praises its visual artistry". Entertainment Weekly (1082/1083): 84.
^ Kaesuk Yoon, Carol (January 19, 2010). "Luminous 3-D Jungle Is a Biologist's Dream". The New York Times: p. D-1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/science/19essay.html.
^ a b c d e f Piazza, Jo (January 11, 2010). "Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues". cnn.com. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html?iref=allsearch. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
^ "'Avatar' inspires China province to rename mountain". ChinaDaily.com. January 26, 2010. http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-01/26/content_9375209.htm. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^ a b c landau, Elizabeth (February 3, 2010). "Is the 'Avatar' concept really possible?". CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/03/avatar.technology.science/index.html. Retrieved February 9, 2010.
References
Fitzgerald, Lisa (2009). The Art of Avatar: James Cameron's Epic Adventure. Abrams. ISBN 0810982862.
Wilhelm, Maria; Mathison, Dirk (2009). Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora. It Books. ISBN 0061896756.
Wilhelm, Maria; Mathison, Dirk (2009). James Cameron's Avatar: The Movie Scrapbook. HarperFestival. ISBN 0061801240.
External links
Wikinews has related news: Elvish, Klingon and Na'vi: Constructed languages gain foothold in film
James Cameron's Avatar at Wikia
Pandorapedia.com
"The Tet Zoo guide to the creatures of Avatar" at Tetrapod Zoology
"The Complete History Of Pandora, According To Avatar's Designers" at io9.com
Is the 'Avatar' Concept Really Possible? by CNN
v d e
Avatar
Media
Film Video game Soundtrack ("I See You") Art book
Universe
Fictional universe Na'vi language
Related
Awards and honors Themes James Cameron Paul Frommer
Categories: Avatar (2009 film) Fantasy worlds I am an expert from Mp3 Player Manufacturers, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as abercrombie down jacket , abercrombie fur jackets.
Related Articles -
abercrombie down jacket, abercrombie fur jackets,
|
