It’s no secret that James Cameron wants to go virtual underwater for Avatar 2 and Avatar 3, which he’s currently directing together (principal photography has wrapped). That not only entails Weta Digital conquering underwater performance capture but also the cast members (including Kate Winslet as free-diver Ronal of the Metkayina tribe) learning how to hold their breath.
IndieWire got a tech and storytelling update from Lightstorm producer Jon Landau during a recent set visit for Alita: Battle Angel at Weta in Wellington, New Zealand. “When you’re doing performance capture in a tank, you can’t be in scuba gear because the bubbles will distract,” he said. “Not only that but we can’t record what the mouth would be doing. So we had to teach everybody how to free breath hold.”
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