Thursday 10 November 2011

ESSAY DRAFT V2: Introduction

The 2009 blockbuster film 'AVATAR' by James Cameron is widely considered one of the best selling movies of all time, if not the best selling film, grossing over a whopping 2 billion dollars at the box office, far surpassing his previous film 'Titanic' released in 1997. While officially budgeting at 237 million dollars, other estimates put the cost between 280 and 310 million while the film also cost 150 million for promotion (the-numbers.com).

The development of Avatar began in 1994 when Cameron wrote an 80 page script of the film and the filming was intended to start after Titanic. However, the type of technology needed to create the film and its effects were not ready at the time. After having waited 15 years for this technology to be avaliable, Cameron finally managed to begin production.

One aspect of the film that is well-known by its audiences is the landscapes of Pandora. Some fans of the film itself see such beauty in the alien planet that they have said "they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora." (articles.cnn.com, Piazza: 2010). While grim as this may seem, the world of Pandora is lush, green and filled with otherworldly and beautiful plant-life and fauna.One can see how concepts and ideas for this world may have been designed with a longing to be part of this world in mind. This will be examined and studied further in depth in the essay.

A wide variety of visual effects, concept art, imaginitive ideas and innovative animation techniques were used in the film's production to bring Cameron's vision to life and this essay will explore these aspects and what it takes to combine these together in order to make a multi-billion dollar grossing film.

1 comment:

  1. Tom - this ISN'T an introduction!!! An introduction to an academic assignment has a very specific job to do. An introduction follows a general formula. Your introduction serves as mission statement and road map to the discussion ahead.

    1) You state the investigative intention of the assignment.
    2) You state the published sources used and your reasons for using them.
    3) You outline the order of the points discussed.

    Can you please take the time to read - and digest - the advice available to you in the Rough Guide - please look at the example essays. Please look at the 'Dos and Don'ts' - please look at the general guide to essay writing.

    Tom - I really need to see that you are taking practical steps to get up to speed with the reality of this programme and its expectations.

    ReplyDelete