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  • Essay / Avatar: A Closer Look at Human Greed Through Cinematography

    Released in 2009, Avatar became the highest-grossing film at the international box office. As the film was set in the 22nd century, it carried a unique concept of epic science fiction. The film was written, directed and produced by James Cameron. This article is about the evilness of the human race as shown in the movie Avatar. This article uses the cinematic elements of this film to prove that Cameron carefully used them to emphasize the differences between humans and the Na'vi people. Before we dive into these elements, we will outline the plot of the film which will help us understand the background of the elements and how they contribute to the overall theme of the film. Next, we'll look at how the lighting in this film changed throughout scenes that effectively helped Cameron further his intentions with the plot. Next, this article will talk about the staging which will determine. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay on the visual differences between the appearance of characters. This will help us understand Cameron's motivations. Camera angles will also be discussed. This is important because the angles tell us what Cameron wants us to see and the angles manipulate our viewing to suit the plot. The last thing this article will look at is the use of sound in the film. It becomes clear that Cameron wanted to portray humans as evil people who destroyed their own planet and now want to destroy an alien planet for its mineral resources. Through active discussion on this topic, the following article will prove that through the use of cinematic elements such as lighting, direction, camera angles, shot length, and sound, Cameron contrast between the good and evil nature of the Na'vi and humans. Let's start by taking a look at the plot of the movie Avatar. This will give us a little insight into the topic of discussion. On the lush alien world of Pandora live the Na'vi, beings who appear primitive but highly evolved. In order to explore Pandora's biosphere, scientists use Na'vi-human hybrids called "Avatars", operated by genetically compatible humans; Jake Sully, a paraplegic former Marine, replaces his deceased identical twin brother as his operator. Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement but accepts his mission as bodyguard. While escorting the avatars of Grace and fellow scientist Dr. Norm Spellman as they collect biological data, Jake's avatar is attacked by a thanator and flees into the forest, where he is saved by Neytiri, a Na'vi woman. Witnessing an auspicious sign, she takes him to her clan, where Neytiri's mother, the spiritual leader of the clan, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society. Colonel Miles Quaritch, head of the RDA's private security force, promises Jake that the company will restore his legs if he gathers information about the Na'vi and the clan's gathering place, a giant tree called the Hometree which stands above the richest deposit of unobtanium in the country. the region. Over the next three months, Jake begins to sympathize with the natives. After Jake is initiated into the tribe, he reveals his change in allegiance when he attempts to disable a bulldozer that threatens to destroy a sacred Na'vi site. After this, Selfridge, the leader, orders the destruction of Hometree. During the ensuing battle, the Na'vi suffered heavy losses, including Tsu'tey, Grace, and Trudy; but are saved when Pandora's faunaunexpectedly joins the attack and overwhelms the humans. This helps them win the battle. Once peace is restored, all humans except Jake, Norm, and a few others are kicked out of Pandora and sent back to Earth. Jake is permanently transferred into his avatar using the Tree of Souls, the sacred place. This film puts us at the forefront with its advanced technological effects, there is something deeper in Avatar. It's a film that tells us about human greed, disconnection, arrogance and violence. It shows how far humans can go to achieve their goal. And James Cameron makes sure to make this message clear throughout the film. For its use, it uses lighting, staging, camera angles, shot duration and sound. One of the most important elements among these is lighting. Lighting is essential to the plot of the film because it reflects the mood and genre. He gives his audience a visual sensation and manipulates them to feel what Cameron wants them to feel. Continuing this, with great sophistication, James Cameron used striking juxtaposing lighting to highlight the evil humans and the Na'vi people. The film begins with Jake arriving on Pandora and as soon as his spaceship lands, Cameron used gray lighting to show that Jake has landed on Pandora. This lighting has a dark effect that puts the audience in a melancholy mood and foreshadows events to come. Not only does this increase the suspense of the film, but it also sets the tone for the audience. Another striking thing to notice is that the light around the humans is very dim and barely enough to make out their facial features while the Na'vi are very detailed in their characters. At 7:00 a.m., the colonel gives the lecture to the new soldiers. His face is barely visible with the light source behind him. This stands in stark contrast to the scenes with the Na'vi people. Even when shown at night (46:49:00), their face is usually in focus and can be easily seen. Its effect is a simple distinction between humans and Na'vi, implying that humans are all the same with a different level of greed that makes them less human. Additionally, there is a sort of darkness in the background whenever humans appear on screen. The darkness symbolizes the sadness that humans bring with them. Whereas every time the Na-vi people appear on screen, it is a bright light, usually a combination of blue, green and yellow, which makes us understand that it comes from the sun, the plants or the fire. This shows that humans are not at peace with nature and do not respect it because they continue to reduce its resources. This then shows that they cannot be satisfied with what they have and are therefore portrayed as bad. The effect of Cameron's use of lighting is so brilliant that it makes us ask the question: what does it really mean to be human? Raising questions about humanity, Cameron made very interesting use of costumes. He gave dark colored clothes to the colonel who was the most wicked because he had evil plans to destroy the house tree; while light colored suits like white shirts, shorts and coats were given to the characters of Jake, Noam and Grace, who had good intentions at heart. This contrast between black and white presents the classic binary difference between good and evil. However, Parker's character wore a mix of dark and light clothing. That's a lot of humanity constantly harming nature, but they also have a human side. For Parker, we're supposed to feel the same way. It's supposed to be.