lensblog

Well, I finally got to see it last night at Montecasino… Tickets were a bit dear but, in retrospect, well worth it.

I’m not going to spoil the story for those that haven’t seen it yet, but I will elaborate on some of the elements of the movie that I really enjoyed.

Firstly, let me get the science fiction aspect out of the way. I’ve seen a lot of complaints in reviews regarding the science in the movie and it saddens me that the general concept of Hollywood science fiction has been limited to extreme sci-fi such as blasters or lasers, robots and outlandish alien spacecraft. And as for aliens… not every alien needs to be Giger-esque.

Science fiction to me has always been the vision a writer has, casting their mind’s eye forth to what they feel could be a possible and sometimes plausible future. Looking back at some of the grandmasters of sci-fi in the last century, even they admitted that if they knew then what they knew now, their stories would be very different. (I’m almost positive this was said by Arthur C Clarke…)

Science has moved in leaps and bounds in the last few years, but not so much so that we can abandon all logic when it comes to constructing a possible future scenario. Sure, some folks seem to think that given the gap in time between present and depicted future that we’d have come up with something better… Personally, I’m of the opinion that we, as a race, tend to grasp at a concept then spend the next century making it better. One needs only look at our present modes of transport. At it’s core, the mechanics are not that far removed from the original. We’ve simply made them faster, stronger, hopefully safer, more intelligent. Sure there have been some outlandish alternatives and hybrids that have been proposed over the years, but they tend to die out after a while due to various reasons such as funding, price, odd energy requirements, overall feasability or mainstream acceptance.

So, taking that into account, let’s look at some of the human science in the movie:

a) Amplified Mobility Platform or AMP Suit – yep, the big walkers that act as extensions of the pilot’s body. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to think that this might be possible considering the current exo-skeletons in research and production at present. That and I think it’s a nice tip of the proverbial hat to the power loader exo-skeleton from Aliens…

b) The Scorpion Gunship – I’ve always had a fascination with VTOL flight and VTOL/conventional flight hybrids. Helicopters are great but their design feels a little dated. The Scorpion is, to me at least, a refreshing update that borrows aspects of the aggresive Apache and Hind choppers and throws in a little UNSC Hornet VTOL gunship from Halo 3.

c) Similarly, the Samson has taken it’s cues from the old faithful multipurpose Bell UH-1 “Huey” and Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk, a design that has been echoed in Command & Conquer’s Orca bomber/fighter, Halo’s AV-14 Hornet, Fallout’s Vertibirds and Starcraft 2′s Banshee.

d) The Dragon, in my mind, is a large VTOL version of my old favourites, the versatile “death from above” C-130 Gunship. Large enough to be a troop transport or carry vehicles and other payloads or outfitted as an aerial artillery platform.

One of the big “Wow!” factors for me was the holographics. Yes, it’s been overdone so many times, but I still marvel at them. Especially if they make sense. So often, in science fiction movies, the user interface they’re tapping away at makes no sense.

Ok, enough drooling over the hardware… Onto the software!

I’m a big fan of the Adobe product suite. I’ve been Photoshopping since 1996 and it’s still my preferred image editing platform. The other programs in the suite are a bit foreign to me, but having seen their usage in this film as well as in other projects, I’m astounded at the results.

The other (and major factor in the movie) was the motion capture, specifically the facial expressions and fluidity of movements in the Na’vi. We saw what was possible with Gollum in Lord of the Rings. This… this was just better than anything I could imagine.

Finally, the mixing of CG and ‘normal’ camera work. I pride myself on being fairly critical of CG artistry, having spent many many hours, days, weeks on my own admittedly simple projects, and browsing through others’ online projects for inspiration. After a while you can spot elements that seem out of place, superimposed or added in after the fact. With Avatar, in this initial viewing at least, I could not tell the difference between real and CG. Maybe in a second or third viewing where I can ignore the action sequences and concentrate on the overall graphics… but even then, I don’t think I’ll be disappointed.

I’ll say this… this movie is not for everyone. Some, will avoid it purely because of the hype. Some, will scoff at the movie, calling it “Dances with Smurfs” or something along those lines because they feel that the story has been overdone. Others will not be able to watch it because they cannot sit through 2 and a half hours of 3D without getting a headache or eyestrain.

However, for those that do go see it and enjoy it, it’s fast becoming “that” movie that they talk about, marvel over or go to see numerous times.

If Pandora was real and the Avatar program existed, I’d sign up today! Until then, I’ll eagerly await the DVD or Blu-ray release so I can relive the adventure!

Most people that know me, know all too well that I am a creature of habit.

I like my patterns… my set routines. Some would call it a rut, others may accuse me of being inflexible. But truth be told, I am just lazy. I like my comfort zones. And I do resist change. Hell, ask Rozz… she knows better than most, having tried to get me to change some of my ways over the last 8 years she’s known me.

Like some great tree, I tend to set down roots and would rather weather the storms where I am currently than uproot and have to resettle elsewhere. That metaphor continues on beyond my residence at the time… it seems to be a common theme in my life, in my career, friendships, relationships, habits, tastes and more.

Well, lately, I’m becoming less tolerant of storms. Maybe age is finally bestowing some wisdom and experience upon me.

I had to move home recently… those that have followed my story over the last year and a half, may have heard some of the descriptions of the antics of my housemates in that time. I’ve met some truly wonderful people. And I’ve met some that I would prefer not to relate to ever again. Perhaps due to my own anachronistic intolerances or maybe I just got tired of being used and abused.

The move, for me, just like all the other moves, has had it’s fair share of pain and trauma. Uprooting everything. Packing up more than just physical belongings and having to shift from one secure space to a foreign and uncertain space. Not knowing if I can create the same sense of security and serenity that I try to create in ‘my’ space.

And yes, I am delving into the esoteric here… exploring a concept based on what I heard recently on a podcast presented by the late Alan Watts.

We are more than just the physical extremes of our bodies. We are the space we live in. Work in. Move through. We are the people we interact with. We are our actions. We are our thoughts and feelings. We are more than ‘centres of awareness, locked up in a bag of skin’. And we are not separate from the world and the people in it.

Without an environment, everything else becomes meaningless. Without a description of my environment, there is no reference for my actions on that environment. Ergo, without people, my interactions, my words and my feelings have no meaning. And so on and so forth.

We are in fact, our ‘organism-environment‘. I’ll let the biologist boffins tell you more about that term.

Getting back to ‘my’ space… the ‘organism-environment’ that I try to create for myself, is one in which I try to build a sense of security. Of isolation, when I need it, yet with enough openness that I don’t remove all chance of interaction with others. I surround myself with books and music, pictures and movies. These are my friends when I need them, when the real world becomes too much for me to deal with. And they are mechanisms whereby I interact with others… a book lent between bibliophiles, a shared passion for the music lovers, a movie to watch with friends, etc.

My home is my den. I keep in it the things I need to feel comfortable. So that when I retreat from the world, I can go to a place where I feel safe. Where the chaos of the world around me is left at the door.

And so, every time that I move, I have to dig up all of that hard work and try find that ‘space’ again. Or work to create it.

This recent move… we’ll see how it works out. So far so good, but I still have some reservations. But who knows… I’ve only been in here a week and I’m still adjusting to the new environment. It would be unfair of me not to give it a chance.

Anyway… enough serious thinking for tonight. I’ve just gotten back from going to go see the new Indiana Jones movie at Brightwater Commons and in all honesty, it was a fun little romp. A well needed break from reality.

Tomorrow night I am celebrating my birthday with Rozz and Nick and our respective friends and colleagues, as we all have our birthdays one after the other and have decided to do a joint celebration.

Good times, good company. May that feeling last the whole weekend… I need it after the week I’ve had.