Waterways’ – new tech meets old methods.

This interview with “Avatar: Waterway” cinematographer Russell Carpenter first appeared in the Below-the-Line issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine special.

The best solution to a difficult problem can sometimes come from an unexpected practical place. Just ask cinematographer Russell Carpenter, who has worked with James Cameron before. He served as DP on 1994’s “True Lies” and 1997’s “Titanic” (for which he replaced and won an Academy Award for his work), during which time his work encompassed live-action photography, motion-capture work. and consulting visual effects teams on virtual lighting conditions.

And while there’s no other film quite like Avatar: The Way of Water, photographically or otherwise, that doesn’t mean you can’t rely on old tricks of the trade. For example, mirrors.

In the order pictured on this page, our main characters are performance-sculpted and replaced by computer-generated Navi, dangerously surrounded by fire. (We hesitate to reveal too much, but since this is a James Cameron movie, something will definitely blow up.)

“This is a perfect example of how to take advantage of what live-action Weta FX is doing,” said Carpenter. Because “Avatar: Waterway” was shot in native 3D, the production could not use an LED screen, according to “The Mandalorian.” “You can’t use the image on the LED because it looks like a billboard. But when you hang them up like a reflection pool, they go gangbusters because now suddenly it’s hell on the ocean.

Also read:
‘Avatar: Waterway’ Cast & Character Guide: Who Will He Play? (photos)

The reaction of the fire on the water was very difficult to reproduce in the computer. While filming “Avatar: Waterway,” Carpenter and his crew surrounded a giant water tank and played out the fire scene. “And that’s what you see — just those reflections,” Carpenter said. But how to get the reflection right, especially where the fire meets the water? That’s where the glasses come in.

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“We came up with an idea and what we came up with was a system where we hang these LED displays in front and hold the mirror at a 45-degree angle,” Carpenter said. “The glass goes a foot and a half into the water and now that reflection completely fills the water. We had several of these panels. It’s totally old school!”

And this wasn’t some very old-school trick they used. While recreating a jungle landscape on a blue screen stage, carpenters and electricians hang glittering fabric, macrame and cams, so when they shine a light on it, it gives birth to a canopy of rainforest.

“You could be on a set in the 1940s and see the same thing,” Carpenter says. “This is what I love. And Jim is also more than happy to come up with a very old-school solution to the problem rather than come up with something completely bonkers. He knows very well everything that has been done.”

Read more about the bottom line problem here.