The process was creating a story behind Pandora. Next, they crated the moon. From that, they created the people and animals native to the moon. Then they added the magic of Pandora that makes it so different from Earth.
Performance capture changed the filmmaking process. Instead of using the characters voices and adding it to the digital characters, the actors were in suits that captured the movement and facial expressions of the actors. It's the actors moving instead of a digital character.
Making and marketing the film was 400 million U.S. dollars, 150 million of which is for Fox's marketing. News Corp faced the fear of not making enough money for how much was spent on the film. However, News Corp's operating profit for the quarter through September was 1.04 billion dollars. It expects to make 1.26 billion. It faces the fears of piracy, cheap rentals, high cost of production, and DVD sale declines. The massive budget of the film does affect the authenticity of its message because it shows that, with this amazing new technology, a large budget is needed if it wants to be realistic and make a profit.
I believe the plot is trite because of its strong relation to Pocahontas, as seen in the fail blog at http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/2938/mediahttp9gagcomphotdab.jpg . What I do see that is unique is the way the film is presented. We're not talking about some Native Americans in a forest. Pandora has its own unique natural world of luminescence and odd creatures that sets it apart from other films. Also, the Na'vi are blue with different facial features and proportions from humans that make the relationship between them and the humans even more distant, until Jake comes along. The idea of making new choices is not something new because isn't that just what John Smith did in "Pocahontas?" Avatar does bring forth a new form of technology through performance capture, as environment creativity never seen before by humans.
