2. Movie Explicated: Avatar
Project Contributors:
Jessica Hayes - PowerPoint Configuration, Introduction,
Video Clip
Michelle Ripley - Storyline, Major Themes, Summary
Semyon Lisun - Cultural Aspects, Characters, Technical
Aspects
3. Introduction
Directed by James Cameron
in 2009, this film attends to
issues regarding
environmental pollution,
corporate
greed/negligence, and
culture definition.
Jake Sully, a paraplegic
Marine, is sent to the moon
of Pandora to befriend the
native community, the
Na’vi. His ultimate goal is
to convince them to
relocate their home, as it
sits directly on top of a
highly precious material.
4. Introduction (cont’d)
Upon becoming one of the Na’vi, Jake is
faced with a critical decision: follow his
previous orders, or follow his heart and
save this beautiful community. This film
includes many aspects ranging from
adventure, love, and comedy.
6. Avatar follows the story Storyline
of a paraplegic war
veteran named Jake
who is allowed the
opportunity to take his
brothers place in a
mission on the planet
of Pandora after he is
killed. Jake is hooked
up to an avatar, a
replication of the
humanoid species, the
Na’vi, that inhabit
Pandora.
7. Using his new Avatar
identity, Jake is
Storyline (Cont’d) assigned to gather
information about
the Na’vi,
information the
military hopes to use
to relocate them.
During his long days
spent with this
strange new species,
Jake falls in love
with, not only the
Na’vi culture, but a
Na’vi female named
Neytiri as well.
8. Storyline (Cont’d)
The military soon moves in to
destroy the Na’vi’s land
and harvest the extremely
valuable Omaticaya. Jake
is forced to choose
between his genetic
species and his newly
adopted alien species; in
doing so he must betray
one or the other. All events
lead up to an intense
battle between the two
cultures and the internal
struggle Jake faces from
making the decision he
knows is right.
9. There are many cultural
aspects in this movie, Cultural Aspects
from religion to the way
the company or people
acts to get what they
want, as well as how we
as humans think or feel
when something is being
taken away.
The religion that is part of
the life of the Na’vi
people is quite well-
developed in this movie.
Some say that it is much
like Pantheism, though
others argue that it leans
more toward animism.
10. Cultural Aspects (Cont’d)
Also, the religious aspects match quite
closely to those of the native American
people. The cultural theme behind the
movie is much like the native people of
Americas, who were told to leave their
land in order for the Spanish, among
others, to get the gold that so many
desired. Throughout history, we can see
how the effects that these circumstances
had on people and society.
11. Characters Jake Sully- Protagonist of the film. Jake
is an ex United States Marine who,
after an injury to the spine during his
service, could no longer use his legs.
He is hired by the company which is
harvesting elements from the planet
Pandora. He believes that a Marine’s
job is to always fight for peace and
democracy. Jake is very brave, quite
ambitious, proud, and wont let
anything get in the way of what he
wants.
Neytiri- The princess of the Na’vi
people. She becomes Jake’s
teacher after he is excepted
by the Na’vi people. She falls
in love with Jake because of
his brave, unique, and loyal
character.
12. Characters Cont’d
Trudy Chacon- A military pilot assigned help the government in
their program. She views her job from a very loyal perspective
and does anything necessary to get the job done. She does,
however, end up siding with the Na’vi.
Dr. Grace Augustine- The leader of the scientists of the avatar
program. She is also Jake’s mentor and helps him learn the
language of the Na’vi, as well as how to live on Pandora.
Norm Spellmen- One of the scientists who came to Pandora with
Jake to be part of the avatar program. He is a very bright
scientist who used to work with Jake’s brother prior to his death.
13. Antagonists
Parker Selfridge and Colonel Miles Quaritch are
the main antagonists in Avatar. Together, they
represent the government entity that strives to
destroy the beautiful planet of Pandora for
simple monetary gain. They have no morals
regarding environmental preservation.
14. Major Themes
The movie Avatar has some very clear themes,
and a few hidden messages throughout. This
movie brings to light the very real conflict that
exists between man and nature today, such as
habitat destruction, imperialism, racism,
property rights, and the importance of
spirituality and religion.
15. Major Themes (Cont’d)
Corporate greed was a very prominent theme in this movie.
The government, blinded by greed, destroyed the Na’vi’s
home with the goal of harvesting Omaticaya for immense
profit. Not only did the army destroy property that was not
theirs, but in doing so, they demolished a sacred spiritual
site.
16. Technical
Aspects of
Animation &
Filming
The time and effort put into this movie is very elaborate. James Cameron
spent many years improving the effects of the movie before even
putting it into production. There were many different aspects that were
used in combination, making this film incredibly diverse.
CGI- 70% of this film consisted of computer generated imagery. Cameron
used this with motion-capture to produce a film that is as close to
regular movement as possible. He was able to make the faces of the
Na’vi more realistic by improving the way the suits were able to
capture facial expressions. This was done by the actors wearing skull
caps with cameras that monitored eyes, mouths, and other small facial
movements.
The Stage for all of the Motion-capture filming and animation was six times
bigger then anything ever used in Hollywood.
17. Conclusion
Avatar became the first film to gross more than $2 billion, was
nominated for nine academy awards, and two sequels are
planned to be made. It is easy to see why the film was so
successful; the blend of real-life filming and animation is a
visual masterpiece. Another reason for the film’s success is
the captivating story-line that sends a powerful message
about the dangers of ignorance and the power of love.
18. Works Cited
- Jamieson, Dale. Ethics and the Environment: An Introduction. Cambridge, England.
Cambridge University Press. 2008. Book.
- “Social and Environmental Responsibility in Small and Medium Enterprises in Latin
America.” Deres.org. Antonio Vives. January 23, 2013.
- “Avatar.” IMDb.com. Np. January 22, 2013. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/
- Domosh, Mona. ”Selling Civilization: Toward a Cultural Analysis of America's Economic
Empire in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries." Transactions of the
Institute of British Geographers (2004): 453-467.
- Gohain, Hiren. " Corporate Greed and People's Livelihood." Economic and Political
Weekly (2006): 4926.
- Morehead, John. Avatar: Probing Beyond Visuals to Culture and Identity
cinefantastiqueonline.com, December 26, 2009.
http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2009/12/avatar-probing-beyond-visuals-to-culture-and-identit
- Johnson, Bobbie. The Technological Secrets of James Cameron’s New Film Avatar The
Guardian, August 19, 2009.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/20/3d-film-avatar-james-cameron-technology
- Native Avatar Characters: The Movie Avatar Characters. The Hub Pages, January 05,
2010. http://thranax.hubpages.com/hub/avatar-characters
- Avatar (2009) reviewed by That Film Guy’That Film Guy, 2009.
www.thatfilmguy.net/avatar/
