Avatar: The Way of Water has emerged as one of the biggest hits of 2022. The film, which is a sequel to 2009’s Avatar, was among the most highly-anticipated films of the year and has rightly so collected USD 1 billion at the global box office in just 14 days. While the film has become a fan favourite for numerous reasons, the visual effects top the list for many. News18.com caught up with Avatar: The Way of Water’s VFX supervisor Pavani Rao Boddapati to talk about James Cameron, all things Pandora, and more.
Here’s an excerpt from the chat:
Avatar: The Way of Water was returning 13 years after Avatar had won fans over. Did you feel the pressure of expectations?
I call this project a marathon. When I started on this in 2018, I knew this is not a sprint, it was a marathon, we have to work on this pace ourselves, plan, measure twice, and cut once because that’s just how the project is structured. So I didn’t feel pressured because I think we laid it out back in 2018 on how this was going to go. By the time we started full-scale production of shots in 2020, we knew that we have the recipe and we have the technology to take this movie to life. But then, you know, it’s only when I saw it in the theater that you really see it all put together at the same time as everyone else because there are multiple teams and everyone’s busy with their own stuff. So for me, it was a treat to see the whole movie. And I’m like, oh my god, like we did it.
Tell us a little about working with James Cameron and on Avatar: The Way of Water
For me, he’s always been an environmentalist, and he is very much into the water, he’s an expert in diving. For me, what’s special about this movie is two things — the first thing is just working with him for five years. And I’ve worked with him more closely on this project as a VFX supervisor. In 2009, I was a lighting TD so I was a couple of steps away from interacting with the director. But in this movie, I thought, one, every time I interacted with Jim, I thought it was a bit of a master class, in learning from someone who just is so talented, and he’s so amazing. Every interaction was a learning experience.
The second thing is he’s so generous in his praise. He was very, very supportive of all the crew, to the work we were doing. So it was a pleasure to work with him.
In many cases, it is a director’s vision and the team follows. Was it the same case in Avatar 2 or was James Cameron open to dialogue?
He is by far my favorite director to work with. One because there’s so much to learn with every interaction with him, he’s very supportive. You can have a dialogue. There would be times we would give him a shot and I would say, ‘Hey, Jim, we tried to do this, but it didn’t quite work. What do you want us to do? We’ve got a couple of different options.’ And he’s so open that even if it was something that he’s been thinking about for 10 years, and he thought it could be done, he will have a dialogue about it. He will sometimes he will give me a suggestion that I never even thought I can think of myself. He’s informed because of his visual effects background, and he is very open to discussion.
Many women are still trying to break the glass ceiling in the technical side of filmmaking. As someone who has broken that glass ceiling, what would your advice be to fellow aspiring women in this space?
I think the most important thing is you need the support of the studio that you work at, and you need the support of the people you’re working with. I think that is what was critical at Wētā FX, it’s a very diverse studio. You can be who you want to be, they have a very important focus on (who you want to be). If you have a passion for visual effects, and making pretty pictures, you can join. So I’ve always felt better knowing that I had the same opportunities as anyone else. So I didn’t feel that barrier. I was putting myself (out there) and I was getting the opportunities in exactly the same way that anyone else was. And I think that’s why I’ve worked at that studio for that long. I went in 2009 and I’m still there because I find it to be a place that is very supportive, and that’s doing a lot actively to get more women in that creative space and the technical space. Because there’s one thing about progressing or staying in the industry, the other thing is getting more women and more diversity, and I think Wētā is doing all the right things in that space.
Do you think you’d give directing a shot?
Maybe. I do find that there’s so much creativity in this process as well. You know, there’s a lot that we’re contributing, so in a way were a very small part of that vision.
What has been the best reaction to Avatar: Way of Water:
(There are two best reactions). One is (from) the crew because most of my team has worked on this project for five years. Since the New Zealand borders were closed until six months ago (where most of the work on Avatar 2 was done), this is the first time the crew is going to meet their families after a few years. They are all seeing the movie since last week with their family and friends, and it’s amazing how happy the crew is with the work that has been produced. It’s not usual, let me tell you that.
After having worked in the industry for that long, there are projects — I won’t name them — that I’ve worked on and I don’t even bother watching those movies, or I’m unhappy with the result, or I feel like ‘Oh, we didn’t quite do something right,’ or I wish we could (have done better). This is the one project where the whole crew is absolutely ecstatic with what they produce. The second one is my 15-year-old niece. She’s a very tough critic of anything I work on. And she saw the movie last week, and she gave it a gold star. So she’s 15. And she barely likes anything. If she liked this movie, that’s good enough for me.
Have you received any criticism?
So far, we haven’t received anything but time will tell you that. At Wētā, when we usually finish a project, we have a very open conversation about what didn’t work for us for delivery. Maybe the audience didn’t notice. Maybe Jim was happy. But what can we do better for the next one, so we can make the process easier, we get a better result? And that has already started. Since we finished this one, we have a list of things we want to improve for the next one. So it’s something we do internally, no one has asked us to do it, but we’re just going to make it better anyway.
Finally, what can you tell us about Avatar 3?
You know what, it’s going to be the most beautiful movie you would have ever seen it’s going to beat Way of Water.
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