AVATAR progress

PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
FrankLapidus said:
So its basically the script that was pretty much the one we saw in the film that was heavily influenced (some might say a rip-off) of the Pocahontas legend and Dances with Wolves?

I found this critique of the leaked script:

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Script-Review-James-Cameron-s-Avatar-7074.html

Some excerpts that give an idea of the writer's take on the leaked script:

"James Cameron’s Avatar is like Aliens meets Lord of the Rings if it were written by Al Gore, with the battle of Endor thrown in for good measure. It’s preachy, it’s repetitive, it’s derivative, and in spite of that when you see it up on a movie screen there’s a pretty good chance it’ll be the coolest thing you’ve ever seen."
"The early draft of Cameron’s script that this review is based upon, includes almost no actual lines of dialogue. Instead it’s pages are filled with lavish descriptions of places, creatures, and events. When characters must speak, the focus in the script is more on what their thinking, than in coming up with clever lines. If someone gives an impassioned speech, the script simply says “he gave an impassioned speech”, rather than telling you what he said. By contrast, Cameron has written volumes describing complicated visual sequences. It’s pretty clear he had special effects on the brain when he wrote it."

"So what the heck is this movie about? It’s pretty standard stuff really. A distant future where man has spoiled and overpopulated the Earth so badly that we’ve gone out into the cosmos searching for other planets to rape. The human race’s prime candidate is Pandora, a planet in a nearby star system inhabited by intelligent, bipedal natives."

"Once Josh gets to the planet, the script’s first 90 of its 166 pages are spent almost entirely repeating this sequence: Josh or some other humans are attacked by the vicious alien animal and plant life on Pandora. They repel/escape/die from the attack. Repeat a few times. Take a break to tell us something about the human settlement on Pandora and the horrible way in which dumb, stupid, humans are raping the planet’s environment. Another attack by the planet’s much lauded environment. More preaching about how awful the humans are for shooting everything in sight. Keep repeating this until your eyes roll back in your head."

"This will probably work better on screen, since we’ll all be much too busy being wowed by whatever amazing beasties Cameron has dreamed up to notice all the over the top (and frankly illogical in light of the planet’s hellish, anti-human nature) environmental messages we’re being clubbed to death with, or to realize that basically the movie’s just doing the same thing over and over again. At least I hope so. Otherwise, Cameron needs to step down off his soap box and then cut about 40 or 50 pages out of his script."

"The whole thing culminates quite literally in an Ewoks versus Empire style super-battle, with the natives using such familiar Ewok battle tactics such as falling rocks, log battering rams, giant nets, and bolos to fight a desperate war against the encroaching death machines of Earth’s military industrial complex."

"Avatar doesn’t turn into Quigley Down Under, it absolutely is Quigley Down Under right from the start. Cameron has just copy/pasted the entire script onto an alien planet, removed its sense of humor, and added more action sequences."

"It’s just not much of a read. The real focus of Avatar’s script is in stunning, massive, over-sized, awe-inspiring visuals and I expect the movie to deliver those in such massive quantities that the stupidity of the pages on which its based on will go almost entirely unnoticed. I think the word I’m looking for here is “spectacle”."

Clearly the leaked script is just as divisive as one we saw on screen
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There will always be critics no matter where you go and what is produced. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. My screenplay writer didn't like the original Star Wars, but I respectfully disagree with him on that. You would think he would like Star Wars because his good friend Irving Kershner directed Empire (which my instructor liked). Also, Star Wars has very good clear black and white examples of many of the principles my instructor taught, so his dislike for Star Wars makes no sense to me. For example, my instructor made such a big deal about the three act structure and how the first two acts must end with unmistakably clear turning points. Star Wars is a great example for this. The first act ends when Luke realizes there's nothing left for him on Tatooine after the deaths of his aunt and uncle and tells Obi Wan that he wants to be a Jedi, like his father. The second act ends when Obi Wan lets Vader's light saber strike him down.

Avatar's screenplay is a perfect example of everything I learned from that class. First act ends when Sigourney Weaver accepts Jake to fill in for his dead brother. The second act ends when Jake decides to fight for the Navi. Most movies I see today are not so easy to find the dividing points of acts if you're not consciously looking throughout the movie.

It's not only because I see Avatar as a text book example of a great screenplay, but also because Avatar is the number one money making movie that every studio has tried to duplicate its success. Before Avatar, the same was true for Titanic. Before Titanic, the same was true for Terminator 2. I don't know if the Avatar sequels will do as well. The Star Wars sequels may and might beat Cameron on gross Box office receipts, but mark my words Battle Angel will blow all that away. It may be the most expensive movie ever made but it will also be the biggest money maker of all time as well.
 
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danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
PeterAlt said:
I used "best screenplays never produces avatar" as the search terms
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There will always be critics no matter where you go and what is produced. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. My screenplay writer didn't like the original Star Wars, but I respectfully disagree with him on that. You would think he would like Star Wars because his good friend Irving Kershner directed Empire (which my instructor liked). Also, Star Wars has very good clear black and white examples of many of the principles my instructor taught, so his dislike for Star Wars makes no sense to me. For example, my instructor made such a big deal about the three act structure and how the first two acts must end with unmistakably clear turning points. Star Wars is a great example for this. The first act ends when Luke realizes there's nothing left for him on Tatooine after the deaths of his aunt and uncle and tells Obi Wan that he wants to be a Jedi, like his father. The second act ends when Obi Wan lets Vader's light saber strike him down.

Avatar's screenplay is a perfect example of everything I learned from that class. First act ends when Sigourney Weaver accepts Jake to fill in for his dead brother. The second act ends when Jake decides to fight for the Navi. Most movies I see today are not so easy to find the dividing points of acts if you're not consciously looking throughout the movie.

It's not only because I see Avatar as a text book example of a great screenplay, but also because Avatar is the number one money making movie that every studio has tried to duplicate its success. Before Avatar, the same was true for Titanic. Before Titanic, the same was true for Terminator 2. I don't know if the Avatar sequels will do as well. The Star Wars sequels may and might beat Cameron on gross Box office receipts, but mark my words Battle Angel will blow all that away. It may be the most expensive movie ever made but it will also be the biggest money maker of all time as well.
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That's way to early in the movie. I would say the first act ends when Jake first encounters the tribal leaders and the decide to try to teach him their ways.
 
FrankLapidus

FrankLapidus

Well-Known Member
PeterAlt said:
The Star Wars sequels may and might beat Cameron on gross Box office receipts, but mark my words Battle Angel will blow all that away. It may be the most expensive movie ever made but it will also be the biggest money maker of all time as well.
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Whatever you say.

As for Avatar, this sums up perfectly my feelings on the film:

"Avatar doesn’t turn into Quigley Down Under, it absolutely is Quigley Down Under (or Pocahontas/Dances with Wolves) right from the start. Cameron has just copy/pasted the entire script onto an alien planet, removed its sense of humor, and added more action sequences...the real focus of Avatar’s script is in stunning, massive, over-sized, awe-inspiring visuals and I expect the movie to deliver those in such massive quantities that the stupidity of the pages on which its based on will go almost entirely unnoticed. I think the word I’m looking for here is “spectacle”."
 
PeterAlt

PeterAlt

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
That's way to early in the movie. I would say the first act ends when Jake first encounters the tribal leaders and the decide to try to teach him their ways.
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Some screenwriters like very short first acts. I think this was used in Avatar. I'll look it up to see if you're right or not, but dissolves or fade outs usually indicate an end of an act.
 
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luv

luv

Well-Known Member
None of the above. Well, I suppose the "could care less" might apply, since I do, technically, care...but I'm anti-Avatarland in the AK.

Don't want it. Don't like it.
 
Mike730

Mike730

Well-Known Member
For clarification purposes, it is "I couldn't care less"

If you could care less, then that means there are things that you care about less than this.
In fact, it could mean you care quite a bit about it because theres things that you do care less about.
The point of the saying is that you care so little, nothing is below it on your list of things to care about.

...not to be a total d-bag.
 
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Californian Elitist

Californian Elitist

Well-Known Member
Mike730 said:
For clarification purposes, it is "I couldn't care less"

If you could care less, then that means there are things that you care about less than this.
In fact, it could mean you care quite a bit about it because theres things that you do care less about.
The point of the saying is that you care so little, nothing is below it on your list of things to care about.

...not to be a total d-bag.
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Thank you for this post. I'm majoring in English and planning on becoming an editor... Nothing catches my eye more than this common mistake and the misuses of "your" and "you're." People, "your" is used when talking about possessions. "You're" is derived from you are. Sentences like "Your wrong" and "Your missing the point" don't make sense, guys. I see this mistake a lot, here.

Call me what you want, but it's irritating.
 
Donald96

Donald96

Well-Known Member
raven24 said:
Thank you for this post. I'm majoring in English and planning on becoming an editor... Nothing catches my eye more than this common mistake and the misuses of "your" and "you're." People, "your" is used when talking about possessions. "You're" is derived from you are. Sentences like "Your wrong" and "Your missing the point" don't make sense, guys. I see this mistake a lot, here.

Call me what you want, but it's irritating.
Click to expand...
Now your just being rude! ;)
 

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