Movies

The medium of the artist, James Cameron, is film as represented by the 2009 movie Avatar. However, since Cameron also wrote the films screenplay, then literature, in particular drama, can also be considered as one of his medium. As a film director, his choice of film is not surprising however, considering the importance of visual imagery to convey the story of Avatar, film was a necessary choice. In fact, Cameron opted to wait more than ten years for the development of the necessary technology that he believed was necessary to create the visual effects and animation he envisioned for his work.

Story  Narrative Content Is there a central theme, idea or subject to the work you are studying What seems to be the story (if there is one) and how does the artist attempt to convey the ideas

The central theme of the story is the need for socio-cultural tolerance and protection. Set in the 22nd century in a moon named Pandora which is located in the Alpha Centauri system inhabited by a humanoid sentient race called Navi, Cameron points out that the conflict developed from the objective to mine a valuable mineral resource unobtanium. The film ends with Selfridges fores being expelled from Pandora Jake and surviving avatars and scientists remain on Pandora. Jake is permanently transferred into his Navi body and becomes the new chief of the Omaticaya. There are thematic parallelisms with movies like Dances with Wolves and The Last Samurai wherein a foreigner  becomes the messiah to their bid to preserve their culture or their home. Though this may imply that the plot of the movie is not original or even worse, trite, Camerons ability to create, build and sustain drama in the course of the film is sufficient to make audiences emphatic to the story and the struggles of its characters .

Colour How is colour used How does it contribute to the work Give examples of how colour (or the lack thereof) relates to the ability to tell a story or share a message.

Cameron had developed the film story in the late 1990s but held off production of the film to wait for the availability of the digital animation technology to bring to life his vision of the story. Though the main targets of the film are science fiction enthusiast, it has been very successful in attracting a wider due to the early interest in the film which even caused a crash of its official website due to the traffic of people who wanted to see early previews of the film.  To highlight the alien world of Pandora, Cameron created character that though were very human like had very distinctively blue skin tone. At the same time, the flora and fauna in Pandora has a very different scheme from the areas associated to humans. The former is represented by richness and an almost primordial quality while the latter can be described as stark and technocratic. This was critical in delineating the difference between humans and Navi which was also critical in building the conflict between the two of them.

TextureBalanceCraft How does the artist use elements of texture and compositional balance in the work Is the craft of the artist evident Is craft intentionally downplayed or disregarded Does it contribute to message  How does this relate to what the work is telling you

Texture and balance were all critical in the overall effect and story of the film. However, they were not distinct and was utilize more in a compositional sense. The film is an example of Camerons craft as a compelling dramatic story teller. As in his earlier work, Titanic, Cameron is very adept in eliciting emotional response. There is no denying the technical competence that went into the film. nor Camerons ability to create a story that is both compelling and socially relevant and effectively communicate these perspectives to his audience. The latter is a reflection of Camerons involvement in environmental and social issues The films concerns can easily be paralleled to real difficulties in balancing development and environmental protection modernization and preserving culture and spirituality over technology. Thus, the Avatar is good example of how developing technologies can open new perspectives in film, animation, art and how media can highlight social concerns and issues to promote global sensitivity and responsiveness.