Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542693
AVA T A R : F I R E A N D A S H | P E R S P E C T I V E 6 7 We gave them a darker, larger cane than the Metkayina use, tied with lighter cords in varied hues for contrast and vibrancy, giving them a set of distinct materials. Their woven language pulled from everywhere—Polynesian fans, Mexican leather sandals, and scores of global techniques. We used every tool available to visualize the complex structure: quick paper miniatures, practical mock-ups and full VR builds in Gravity Sketch. VR was especially valuable for the knotwork (you can literally weave in the air with your hands). Several artists explored early versions, with the final integrated design and 3D model completed by Jonathan Bach. Weta Workshop then created a library of physical rope samples with unique and varied braid patterns and colors. These samples served as the basis for the live-action builds in New Zealand for Spider's interactions, and also as key reference for the final gondola. The script described the gondola like a tall ship, with a main deck and a lower deck. Wanting to challenge the convention of a flat deck design, we introduced rope ladders, sloped transitions and layered rigging that broke up the planes while giving us enough navigable area for the action. For performance capture, we built a massive practical proxy set on our largest stage at Manhattan Beach Studios: the full main deck and a substantial portion of below decks, complete with sections of rigging. This allowed performers to run the length of the vessel in continuous takes, creating layered, simultaneous action grounded in a physical space that corresponded exactly to the design of our virtual set. The Windtrader gondola carries the sensory identity of a flying souk—textiles fluttering, beads clicking, creaking of tensioned ropes, the warm scent of sun-touched cane and travel- worn trinkets. If you can imagine the smalls and sounds, then the design is on its way. Their ropes hold shells, beads and small tokens collected across Pandora, telling the story of their travels. Through trade and communication, they act as connective tissue for the moon—extending the network much like Eywa herself. The gondola, however, is only one part of a larger, interdependent system. It is suspended beneath the massive Medusoid, an invertebrate inspired by jellyfish and the Portuguese man o' war. The Medusoid is an old idea of Jim's— present even in his early Avatar scripts. Early concepts were done by Weta Workshop, and Zachary Berger brought it to final form. We spent months in look-dev balancing translucency, reflectivity and iridescence to preserve both scale and realism. C. GONDOLA SET DETAILING. SET PHOTO. THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL PARTIAL SETS CREATED TO ACCOMMODATE THE ACTION FOR SPIDER, THE LIVE-ACTION HUMAN BOY. OVER 3000 FEET OF CUSTOM-BRAIDED ROPE WAS CREATED BY SET DECORATOR VANESSA COLE AND HER TEAM. D. WINDTRADERS IN FLIGHT. ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN PARK, PHOTOSHOP. THIS VERY EARLY PIECE CAPTURED THE SPIRIT AND FEEL OF THE WINDTRADERS AND WAS ALWAYS A TOUCHSTONE. D