Direct spoke with Avatar: The Last AirbenderThe director of photography who talked about VFX vs. practical effects in Netflix’s new live-action movie about the beloved series.
For projects such as characterwhich are incredibly VFX-intensive, and finding a balance between those methods and something more practical can often be a tricky prospect.
A decent balance between the two is hard to find with the growing popularity of The Volume (large LED walls that can display the scene, making things more immersive than traditional green screens).
(Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast and Characters in Live Movie (Photos))
Balancing practical vs. VFX for Avatar: The Last Airbender
Speaking exclusively with The Direct’s Russ Milheim, Avatar: The Last Airbender director of photography (DP) Michael Balfry talked about balancing VFX with practical effects in production.
“I guess everything starts with preparation” the filmmaker noted where they are “to talk about what (they can) achieve, what is practical:”
“I guess it all starts with preparation, you know, it talks about what we can achieve, what’s practical… Obviously, flames aren’t practical. Waterbending is only practical up to a point. If someone bends, I think it’s practical. maybe in episode 4 where Katara’s on a bonfire and knocks over a dish. The water coming into the frame is VFX. But the thing that’s knocked over is practical. So there’s a mix. But again, it’s a VFX-heavy show. We’re in four different environments that don’t really exist in our current world.”
The use of bending is not the only significant point of VFX in the series. For most of the show, Team Avatar is accompanied by large, digitally constructed animal companions.
“Momo is all VFX” and the special effects team actually did “(build) Top of App:”
“Momo is all VFX. I have to give it to them; they did a great job throughout the set. Whereas for Appa, special effects built Appa’s top. So the Actors could sit in the saddle. And we could be off the front of the head and just get off the head and into the close-ups of our actors. And then the visual effects created the bottom.”
Size “application engine” were created to give these sequences “the illusion of movement” Balfry elaborated:
“And this whole Appa device that was created, which was quite large, was on a gimbal. So it could tilt and rock and spin. So it gave it the illusion of motion. So when they were going somewhere, they stopped. And then you add a little wind and the lights you add a little light movement. And here we are, the clouds pass by and you’re right up there.”
The DP made sure to clarify that there was a practical Momo doll for the cast which “was a big hit:”
“Yes, there was. There was a Momo doll for the cast… And Momo was a huge hit, the doll. Everyone said, ‘I want one! I want one!’ It was very cute.”
As for the scene that presented the most unique challenge to the DP, he hinted “climax at the end” With the Northern Water Tribe and find out how “it was a wonderfully big set” where “creating fight scenes” was the highlight:
“I would say the climax is at the end when we’re Northern Water Tribe. The fight scene… It was unique because, I mean, it was a beautiful huge set with a practical bridge and getting there and creating the fight scenes. And then also being under the bridge and creating a whole water world , which was pretty unique. The opening and then at the other end of the series opening, the chase. For me, that was a big challenge. We had a lot of fun. And when I saw it put together, I just went, yeah, I think we nailed it.”
Another element of the same last episode is the ominous Ocean Spirit, which might be the best VFX of the entire series.
Although Balfry didn’t do much work in most episodes of Ocean Spirit, he had a “simple as hell” role in assisting special effects “highlight it:”
“My ending was pretty damn simple. We have Aang floating on wires. So he could spin around slowly and it felt like he was hanging in the air. And I just added a little flicker to motivate it. So (special) effects could accentuate it to a point where they thought it was realistic. So I think it was very simple.”
Like many other projects these days, Avatar: The Last Airbender used The Volume consistently throughout the production.
to Balfry, “It was the first time (he had) worked on something on this scale” which included an LED wall “about 90 feet wide” and “25 feet tall:”
“This was the first time I’ve worked on something on this scale. I’ve worked with smaller rear projection or Valio screens and LED screens for other shows. This one was much bigger. It was about 90 feet wide and about, I don’t remember, 25 feet tall . And we also had a ceiling that projected an image. We approached it almost like normal filmmaking, but we learned something every day about it — ‘Oh, we’re okay, we can do this.’
Continuing, Balfry shared how they were on the set of The Volume “limited” author “how much slow-mo (they) could do:”
“We’re limited in how much slow motion we could do. Which in an action sequence, that can be very useful if you just want to highlight a moment of someone flying through the air or whatever action. You know, we’re kind of doing well, so let’s think about how we can do this and what are our limitations, and we ended up pushing the technology as far as we could.”
The filmmaker explained yet another unique challenge that arose because of The Volume, which prevented shooting with two cameras at once:
“By shooting two cameras side-by-side with the same background, we couldn’t do it at the same time… Let’s say camera A would have priority. If camera A was moving, camera B wouldn’t be static; it would see the background moving. And it would be unusable. So we ended up shooting straight and then profiled a little more to get a different background. So we had to adjust that.”
Ultimately, Balfry admitted that one of The Volume’s most important additions to the production was how it “(created) new environments” that”the stage cost a fortune to build:”
“Creating new environments, environments that have assets to build on stage. I think we’re creating four different worlds that the Airbender goes through. That was, I think that’s where you can just let your mind or your imagination run free.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender now streaming on Netflix.
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