Avatar: The Way of Water

I graduated from my animation school the same month the first Avatar film was released in cinemas. At the time, this film featured some of the best visual effects and computer graphics that had ever been created. Work of this level and beauty was certainly something I was aspiring to be be apart of. In fact, all of James Cameron’s previous work at that point was a big reason I wanted to be an animator in general. Terminator 2 and Aliens. These two sequels are key corner stones/pillars in the foundations of my dreams to work in film. So when the call came to help work on “Avatar: The Way of Water,” (2022), a James Cameron sequel, for one of the most incredible visual effects films ever made and the highest grossing film of all time, I had to take a moment to reflect on my career and life journey. This was me full filling my goals and living out my childhood and professional dreams.
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This film was in every way as ground breaking as the first film. The level of detail, polish and technology put into every frame was astronomical and this has been widely recognised by the many nominations and wins at the award shows for best film and visual effects. Including the Academy Award for “Best Visual Effects”, the BAFTA award for “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects”, the Annie award for “ Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Live Action Production” and the Visual Effects Society awards for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature” and “Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature” for “Kiri”.
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My small contribution amongst the huge team work on the film involved animating various hero characters and creatures throughout the film. My role involved helping bring the performance of the lead actors, Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), Stephen Lang (Miles Quaritch), Sigourney Weaver (Kiri), Kate Winslet (Ronal), Britain Dalton (Lo’ak), Bailey Bass (Tsireya) and others, on the digital characters and into the film. As well, I helped animate the incredibly large and super cool “Skimwing” creatures being ridden by Jake Sully during the high flying dog fight. Finally, I helped out with various other parts including animating the Ilu sea creatures,  flying ikran, speeding boats, machine gun projectiles and crab suit mechs.
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All the work was crafted and pushed to perfection amongst the team. The attention to detail and polish throughout all the work was at the top level it could possibly be, with everyone involved wanting to create the greatest VFX craft that's ever been seen. I am super proud of the film and honoured to have worked with such an amazing team. The talent involved was the best in the business.
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Below is a small showreel of some of the shots I worked on taken from the film.  Film making is a team sport. All work shown is combination of many artists work.

Avatar: The Way of the Water on IMDB »
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Watch the films trailer »