REVEALED: Here’s how ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ director James Cameron shot all underwater scenes – Times of India

With ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, Cameron and his team offer more advanced 3D images and a visual experience unlike any other. As this film tracks the Sully family on their journey to a new land and trying to find their roots amidst a new sea-faring tribe, the team was determined to capture performances underwater, a feat that has never been done before.

Revealing the key to capturing the actors in motion and bringing their characters to life in post-production, Cameron said in a statement, “It looks real because the motion was real. And the emotion was real.”

For the shoot, the team team constructed an enormous tank that allowed the filmmaker to replicate oceanic conditions. The total dimensions of the tank stood at 120 feet long, 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The tank which held thousands of gallons of water, acted as a performance-capture stage where the team could create wave interaction with the creatures and even get the star cast to say their lines while trying to hold their breath.

To capture the footage underwater, posed another hurdle as the water had to be clear and without bubbles from the camera crew. Explaining the limitations of the technology, Cameron said that the cameras captured the dots on the actors’ faces, but the air bubbles posed as mirrors in the tank, which made it difficult for the cameras to capture accurate shots.

“Everybody who was working in the tank was holding their breath,” Cameron said and revealed that it wasn’t just the actors, but also the camera crew and even the people holding the lights.

‘Avatar’ followed a paraplegic marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who becomes an unlikely champion for the Na’vi, the 10-foot-tall and blue-skinned, sapient humanoids, in their fight for survival.

The film, which also featured Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver, was a colossal success, becoming Cameron’s second movie after ‘Titanic’ to raise over USD 2 billion at the box office. It is currently the highest-grossing title of all time.

Cameron said he considers the commercial success of a project as a parameter to measure the appreciation his work has received.

‘The Way of Water’, which released in theatres on Friday, will see Worthington’s Sully and Saldana’s Neytiri doing everything they can to keep their family together.

When unforeseen events displace them from their home, the Sullys travel across the vast reaches of Pandora, ultimately fleeing to territory held by the Metkayina clan, who live in harmony with their surrounding oceans.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ also features Lang, Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, along with newcomers Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis.