James Cameron lecture-my notes!

[Iknimaya]

(I typed this up late last night after I got back to my apartment from the lecture. It was such an inspiring talk. The whole thing lasted about two and half hours, and I ended up taking around 10 pages of notes!)

James Cameron came to The Ohio State University to give a lecture at the new Ohio Union this evening. The event was held in the Grand Ballroom. How "grand"? Grand enough to comfortably seat a sold-out show of 2,000 people. I got there a half hour early, and I was able to get a seat near the middle, but more towards the front. There was a small stage with a lectern and two large projection screens on either side-these were used to project footage of Cameron for those in the back of the room. Finally, the lights dimmed and familiar music began playing... But there was a technical problem and no video! It stopped suddenly, and everyone laughed/cheered, but then it started again-working properly this time. The video was a rather long "trailer" of Cameron's film works, all epically cut together to soundtracks of the various movies. There were fun and interesting parallels made between scenes like the Terminator firing a gun vs Jake firing his rifle and the mech suit from Aliens vs the AMP suit. After a solid round of goosebumps, the reel ended and the man of the hour walked up to the stage and received a standing ovation.

The following are my notes from the lecture.

First film job at age 26
Grew up in a small town of about 1500 people
Always out in the woods collecting bugs, snakes, etc, taking samples of algae and looking with a microscope-a budding scientist
The source of his two driving factors: curiosity and creativity
1960's: loved science, voracious reader of sci-fi books
-at this time (60's) it seemed he was living in these sci-fi worlds
-man on the moon
-exploring deep ocean
-anything seemed possible

In high school, "The term nerd wasn't invented yet..."
-founder and president of the science club
-only other member was a Czechoslovakian girl who couldn't speak much English
-biology teacher helped/urged him to start an art/theater club/program
-This is where he learned that small groups of highly motivated people can be really effective
-They were all self-taught, all took equal part in writing, acting, directing plays

In college, a Physics major
-science as a quest for understanding
-bad at Math, so he switched to English
-wanted to write/illustrate sci-fi novels (this was before the graphic novel that we know today)
-was an avid painter
-realized that school couldn't teach him to write; he needed real life experience, so got a job
-worked as a truck driver, tool fabricator, mechanic, high school janitor
-nights and weekends were spent writing and painting, "All nighters were my way of life back then."
Moved to L.A. with some friends, started making short films

2001: A Space Odyssey was a "religious experience" for him (I think we can all relate to this!
On Saturdays, he would head to the USC Film Department
-heard they had the best program around for film/cinema
-on Saturdays, would study in the Film Dept's library
-Xerox papers, books, etc
-Go home and put it all in black binders on the shelf
-"Basically I got a graduate level education for the price of the xeroxes."

Then, STAR WARS happened
-These were all the images that had been in his head for years
-Thought, "I can do that"
-Quit his job, raised $20,000 "from tax-shelter dentists" to make a sci-fi film
-built a set in the living room, maxed out the credit card
-wife thought he had finally gone crazy
learned that people will help if you share your vision and purpose with them

Leadership
-Difference between a natural leader and a good leader
-learned the hard way
Work ethic
-assume you can beat the brilliant guys by shear force of working harder
"Divine ignorance"
-"We didn't know that we 'shouldn't be able to do something,' we just did it."
-Often able to do something if you don't know the limits, like when you're new at something

First real movie job: "Battle Beyond the Stars" October 1979
(Battle Beyond the Stars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
-Total B-movie kitsch, "Biker babes from Mars stuff"
-Got a job in the model shop from a friend of a cousin who had a boyfriend who knew someone who was a carpenter for the film... (something like that)
-It was a b-movie, but it was a REAL MOVIE-getting paid to do something he would do for free!
"When opportunity knocks, be prepared"
Convinced the director the film needed a front projector to tie the actors in with the model work
-convinced the director he was a master projectionist
-hired his friends to help
-already had the knowledge: the old xeroxes
-fabricated and built the projection machine
-working on this film 5 days and people already thought he knew what he was doing (He didn't!)
"Be bold, but be prepared. Sometimes the door of opportunity opens only a crack and you have to leap through before it shuts."

2 years later...
Terminator
-As a director, found that you have to know the answers-even if you don't
*take risks*
All films are risks
-they have to be completely new and different; audiences don't want to watch the same thing
-but they have to make money
New technology can make it different, set it apart

1988 The Abyss
One shot that "couldn't be done"-an alien creature made of water
-turned to an all new technology; computer animation
-first soft-skinned technique
-loved to see people's reactions to this "dream imagery"
-they knew it couldn't BE real, but it LOOKED so real, like a dream
-discovered the power of CG

Terminator 2
Took it to the next level, rather than just one scene of computer graphics, make a prominent character
-T-1000 "The liquid metal dude"
-it was risky
-At $160 million, it was the most expensive movie yet made
-Made half a billion dollars "a lot of money at that time." (laughs)
What made it stand out?
-The shock of the new
Learned the value of risk and reward

Founded a new company; "Digital Domain"
-all-digital filmmaking
-began working on projects that became the industry standards of today, and replaced the old standards

1995-Decided to challenge the team at Digital Domain
-They hadn't made a film yet, which was the whole point of the company
-Cameron wrote a story with lots of creatures and aliens, and he called it AVATAR
Was looking for the "holy grail" of CG technology; render of close-up human emotions realistically
-this project demanded they find the solution
-Soon realized the challenge was impossible at that time-"boldness tempered by careful analysis"
decided to wait until technology caught up

waited 10 years

Titanic
-super risky
-a 3 hour film
-a "chick flick"; people in period dress, etc
-everybody dies at the end
Everyone thought it would be a flop
-was over budget
-mocked by the press: "We all know how it ends!"
Stayed focused, hunkered down to make a great movie
-In the editing room, he taped a razor blade to the edge of his monitor, with a note attached: "Use in case movie sucks"
-"Luckily I didn't have to use it!"
The first weekend, it made $28 million-not big
-that went up the next weekend "That doesn't happen."
-and up again the next weekend "That NEVER happens"
Ended up #1 for 15 weeks "still a record" and it made $1.8 billion, that's "More than any other movie by a factor of 2."

Rewind a bit...
-Saw a TV special about the Titanic, was interested in the robotic vehicles-they looked like sci-fi robots
-thought it would be an interesting contrast to period dress
An avid SCUBA diver
-thought, I can pay for a dive to the Titanic with a movie budget!
-led by his curiosity and love of exploration
-6 months later, was filming
-this was a *real* exploration
-his love of science calling back...

Became interested in deep sea exploration
Started a documentary company
-went on 6 expeditions
-made 4 films
-did full archaeological survey inside and out of the Titanic
-did 60+ submersible dives, about half to the Titanic
-having a great time doing it!
-working with real scientists
-began refining the 3D camera

2000
Partnered with an engineer to build a new, smaller, HD 3D camera system
Personal vow: next film will be in full 3D
-only problem: not enough theaters had 3D projectors
2002
DLP projectors could be modified to do 3D with only one projector
Problem: 'chicken and the egg' issue with the studios and theaters
-no studio will finance a big 3D film unless the theaters can support it
-no theaters will get 3D equipment without a big film to play on it
Disney, to their credit, released Chicken Little in 3D, causing 85 theaters to get the technology in around 2004
Decided he needed to make *THE* big 3D movie, and told the world to start getting ready for it