James Cameron and Me

Why does this man make so much money?  I can't answer this question for everyone, but I can answer it for me.  I'm a girl who got her first SCUBA mask at 15 and got certified in a rock quarry in Pennsylvania in winter (which means I am both nitrox and dry suit certified, thank you very much).  I cleaned animal poo at at veterinary clinic to fund my voyage to Sea Camp in San Diego at around that age.  I can relate to his love of exploring the "alien" underwater world.

Further, as someone who lugged a 70 lb Cousteau-style underwater housing system for a 16mm Bolex through Brooklyn and Manhattan (via subways) and got scolded CONSTANTLY for making flip books out of science texts, drawing instead of taking notes, and recreating television sets in her desk (I'm not even exaggerating- ask my mom.  It was the set of Moonlighting and I was about eight years old) I can relate to the love of art and movies.  EVEN MORE, as someone who went back to school at the age of 25 for astrophysics because I fell in love with the images coming back from Mars and Titan, I can relate to the love of science fiction and space exploration.  I offer here his presentation at TED.  If I can have even 1/3 of the filmmaking adventures he has had, I will die a happy girl.  I would love to bring my love of science together with my love of films.  (I'm working on it. And I've all the confidence in the world that I can.)

I will gladly fork over the cash to see anything James Cameron does.  I think that his scientific background is WHY he makes good SciFi movies. (Did you know that the glowing bioluminescent plants in Avatar are based on very simple creatures found right here off the coast of SoCal?  It's not SciFi, it's just science re-appropriated.)

"Curiosity.  It's the most powerful thing you own" "The respect of your team is more important than all the laurels in the world." "Failure is an option.  But fear is not."  Seriously... I love this guy.

OH... and by the way. I twittered this and posted it on my facebook page, but I was lucky enough to have seen Avatar WITH James Cameron and to hear him talk about it with his production designers at the end. It is not a requirement for a director to know everything about the technology (s)he is using, but he DOES. It is pretty clear that his production designers DO respect him. Since I also geek out about film technology, I should add that I FINALLY got to see the 3D system they were talking about when I was in Cannes, which made me a happy girl.

(I love how they are all squatting off the edge of my soda cup.  I wasn't sure if I was allowed to take photos so I James Bonded it...)

EDIT: Cameron's 3D talk at Cannes can be found at the American Pavilion website, if you are interested.

Day Two- Kung Fu and 3D Love

The day started with me attempting to get some work done in the American Pavilion, or AmPav as the folks in the know call it. It’s difficult to write when people sit down next to you and start chatting, but it can be worth the frustration. One person offered me a job… here. He wanted me to do some animation for him on the film he is screening in the market next week. The thought of stopping all festival activities to do AfterEffects work does not sound appealing to me. I’ve politely declined. A couple of times... I sat in on an AmPav panel discussion about 3D. I don’t mean 3D animation, but actual 3D where you wear the glasses.

3D Panel - Awesome

I must admit, I am a convert. After realizing how doable 3D is these days, I began seeing my whole film in 3D and it was pretty exciting. I'm seriously considering going down that road. The guest celebrity speaker here was James (Jim) Cameron- participating via Skype. I read part of a recent article he had written in a video magazine, so I knew that he was intimately familiar with the technology he is using, but I was still impressed. He spoke briefly about "Avatar," which I really can’t wait to see, but spoke more about industry trends and technological possibilities. He's passionate about what he does. It was inspiring and contagious. He was "there" with his DP and basic... genius guy, Vince Pace.

James Cameron and Vince Pace talk about 3D

Then, it was the red carpet premiere of Kung Fu Panda! I have to admit, it wasn't number one on my list, but it stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie, who were kind enough to pose for me the last time they were in an animated film together and in Cannes (my pictures from 2004- Angelina Jolie, Jack Black and Will Smith on an inflatable shark). Plus, it was an animated film about Kung Fu. How could I not see it? Now that I have chilled in the same "room" as them and watched a movie, I think that officially makes us "friends." George Lucas and Dustin Hoffman and Lucy Liu and countless others were also in the audience. I didn't get many pictures of the stars (yes, Sue, Brad Pitt was there), but if you've ever wondered what it's like on the other side of the paparazzi cam, here's a bit of a photo rundown:

Almost there

Approaching the tapis rouge:

Red carpet, baby!

J'y arrive!

The guards and the paparazzi

on the other side of the lens:

Walking up the steps

and up the steps I go:

The steps (les marches rouges)

Looking back at the crowd

Me- red carpet in the background! Thanks to the english women who took my photo!

my outfit (I got this for the screening of LOOP because of the cranes printed on it, but I thought it was appropriate for Kung Fu Panda because... well... Kung Fu! Crane style is one of my favorite styles:

Detail on my dress.

Inside the theater- balcony

The stars really glow!

You know, I've made jokes about the two types of stars that I like, but I thought it was funny to see just how brightly they glow:.

My phone doesn't zoom, so I had to take a picture of the screen:

Jack and Angie- my buds

Fireworks on the croisette (the main street of Cannes):

Fireworks on the Croisette

Fireworks from the rooftop poolside party.

I decided to do a crane-style pose in my crane-style dress in honor of Kung Fu Panda:

Black tie crane

You can see from the photo that I'm carrying my trusty fish purse- my festival favorite. I was photographed twice by some fashion magazines because of it.

The film was okay, by the way. Nothing new for anyone familiar with Kung Fu movies/stories. I thought the idea of having animal characters for each animal style was pretty cute. For the most part, the animals seemed to behave true to their style. I liked it a lot, but it was definitely not a "phenomenal" film. Part of me wondered why Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan were even cast- they spoke all of three lines.