The Film Reader's Guide to James Cameron's Avatar PDF Download

Author: Bryn V. Young-Roberts
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 147170548X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 83

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Book Description
Director of The Terminator, Aliens and Titanic, James Cameron's latest movie, Avatar, is the most viewed cinema release of all time, yet to date receives little academic attention. Filling the gap, editor of www.DeepFocusFilm.com, Bryn V. Young-Roberts, researches Avatar's historical and cultural relevance with its first in-depth examination while simultaneously discussing the Cameron oeuvre. From the perspective of historical contextualisation and cultural analysis we decipher its socially significant subtext, encouraging a view that Avatar is not exclusively a generic entertainment spectacle. Providing foundations for future studies, we examine the film as metaphor for the Iraq War, advocator of the Internet as liberation tool, and political stance to the Bush administration. Fear of the industrial-military complex, and romantic ideals of Class are also analysed. Ultimately, the volume summarizes Avatar in relation to Cameron's other work and how it fits into our larger, contemporary society.

Author: Kevin Patrick Mahoney
Publisher: Punked Books
ISBN: 0953317250
Category : Avatar (Motion picture : 2009)
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
Avatar is the most successful movie of all time, surpassing the record held by James Cameron's previous monster hit, Titanic. It is also the most expensive movie ever. With its adoption of modern 3D techniques, Avatar is arguably the most spectacular film of all time. Kevin Patrick Mahoney explores how Avatar has reached this pinnacle of success. The film has not been universally praised; some critics have pointed to an overly simple plot and dialogue. However, Kevin reveals that there are many complex themes that lie behind such apparent simplicity. This book begins with an in-depth review of events as they happen on screen, including the many scenes deleted from the film, and then proceeds to explore some of the most interesting themes in more depth. Kevin examines how James Cameron has adapted Joseph Campbell's theory of the Hero's Journey in Avatar. The Na'vi's planet, Pandora, is very paradisiacal, so this book discusses how it's related to the Biblical Garden of Eden. In addition to this, Kevin dissects Avatar's rather confused politics, the controversial depiction of the US Marine Corps, and the accusations of racism that have hurled at the film. Since Jake Sully is introduced to us in a wheelchair, Kevin examines the representation of disabled people in Avatar and other science fiction dramas. Some of Avatar's subtle depictions of sexuality seemed to be mainly directed at adolescent boys, so this book also dissects some of the more 'blue' aspects of the movie. Moreover, Kevin Patrick Mahoney reveals how Avatar relates to James Cameron's previous blockbuster movies.

Author: Maria Wilhelm
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061801240
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 55

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Book Description
In the futuristic world of Avatar, Jake, a wounded ex-marine is thrust into an elaborate scheme to mine an exotic planet for its rare and valuable natural resources. Scientists have created Avatars -- bodies designed to look like the planet′s alien inhabitants that have to be operated by a human consciousness. Walking in his Avatar body, Jake finds himself drawn to the planet′s way of life. But as the threat of war grows ever closer, Jake finds himself torn between his human roots and the new friends he wants to protect. Ages:3 - 7

Author: Ellen Grabiner
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786490276
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
In the blockbuster film Avatar, science fiction and the technological prowess of director James Cameron meet in a heady concoction that, while visually ravishing, could easily be dismissed as "eye candy." While critics most frequently acclaimed its breakthrough 3-D technology, close scrutiny of the film raises provocative questions about the relationship between mind and body, appearance and reality. It brings into focus the relationships of humans to their technology, their planet, and each other and highlights the nature and potential of film itself. This work explores the theoretical and philosophical issues brought to bear in Avatar, exploring the spaces between human and machine; technology and nature; chick flick and action-adventure; and old-fashioned storytelling and cutting-edge technology. Central to the book's analysis is an examination of the extent to which Avatar melds the seer and the seen, illuminating an alternative visual paradigm. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Author: Maria Wilhelm
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007342446
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Describes the world of the Avatar film, written as a manual.

Author: Lisa Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 9780810982864
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This companion book to the epic 3-D action adventure film explores the developmental and conceptual art used to create the original world of "Avatar." Full-color illustrations throughout.

Author: Stephen Baxter
Publisher: Orbit
ISBN: 0316224014
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Audiences around the world have been enchanted by James Cameron's visionary Avatar, with its glimpse of the Na'vi on the marvelous world of Pandora. But the movie is not entirely a fantasy; there is a scientific rationale for much of what we saw on the screen, from the possibility of travel to other worlds, to the life forms seen on screen and the ecological and cybernetic concepts that underpin the 'neural networks' in which the Na'vi and their sacred trees are joined, as well as to the mind-linking to the avatars themselves. From popular science journalist and acclaimed science fiction author Stephen Baxter, The Science of Avatar is a guide to the rigorous fact behind the fiction. It will enhance the readers' enjoyment of the movie experience by drawing them further into its imagined world.

Author: Jody Duncan
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 9780810997066
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The story of James Cameron and his crew's journey from "Avatar's" conception to the vast production effort is examined in the first authoritative and official record in words and pictures from the most significant film of today.

Author: Bron Taylor
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
ISBN: 1554588804
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Avatar and Nature Spirituality explores the cultural and religious significance of James Cameron’s film Avatar (2010), one of the most commercially successful motion pictures of all time. Its success was due in no small measure to the beauty of the Pandora landscape and the dramatic, heart-wrenching plight of its nature-venerating inhabitants. To some audience members, the film was inspirational, leading them to express affinity with the film’s message of ecological interdependence and animistic spirituality. Some were moved to support the efforts of indigenous peoples, who were metaphorically and sympathetically depicted in the film, to protect their cultures and environments. To others, the film was politically, ethically, or spiritually dangerous. Indeed, the global reception to the film was intense, contested, and often confusing. To illuminate the film and its reception, this book draws on an interdisciplinary team of scholars, experts in indigenous traditions, religious studies, anthropology, literature and film, and post-colonial studies. Readers will learn about the cultural and religious trends that gave rise to the film and the reasons these trends are feared, resisted, and criticized, enabling them to wrestle with their own views, not only about the film but about the controversy surrounding it. Like the film itself, Avatar and Nature Spirituality provides an opportunity for considering afresh the ongoing struggle to determine how we should live on our home planet, and what sorts of political, economic, and spiritual values and practices would best guide us.

Author: Rebecca Keegan
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307460320
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
With the release of Avatar in December 2009, James Cameron cements his reputation as king of sci-fi and blockbuster filmmaking. It’s a distinction he’s long been building, through a directing career that includes such cinematic landmarks as The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, and the highest grossing movie of all time, Titanic. The Futurist is the first in-depth look at every aspect of this audacious creative genius—culminating in an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of Avatar, the movie that promises to utterly transform the way motion pictures are created and perceived. As decisive a break with the past as the transition from silents to talkies, Avatar pushes 3-D, live action, and photo-realistic CGI to a new level. It rips through the emotional barrier of the screen to transport the audience to a fabulous new virtual world. With cooperation from the often reclusive Cameron, author Rebecca Keegan has crafted a singularly revealing portrait of the director’s life and work. We meet the young truck driver who sees Star Wars and sets out to learn how to make even better movies himself—starting by taking apart the first 35mm camera he rented to see how it works. We observe the neophyte director deciding over lunch with Arnold Schwarzenegger that the ex-body builder turned actor is wrong in every way for the Terminator role as written, but perfect regardless. After the success of The Terminator, Cameron refines his special-effects wizardry with a big-time Hollywood budget in the creation of the relentlessly exciting Aliens. He builds an immense underwater set for The Abyss in the massive containment vessel of an abandoned nuclear power plant—where he pushes his scuba-breathing cast to and sometimes past their physical and emotional breaking points (including a white rat that Cameron saved from drowning by performing CPR). And on the set of Titanic, the director struggles to stay in charge when someone maliciously spikes craft services’ mussel chowder with a massive dose of PCP, rendering most of the cast and crew temporarily psychotic. Now, after his movies have earned over $5 billion at the box office, James Cameron is astounding the world with the most expensive, innovative, and ambitious movie of his career. For decades the moviemaker has been ready to tell the Avatar story but was forced to hold off his ambitions until technology caught up with his vision. Going beyond the technical ingenuity and narrative power that Cameron has long demonstrated, Avatar shatters old cinematic paradigms and ushers in a new era of storytelling. The Futurist is the story of the man who finally brought movies into the twenty-first century.