James Cameron Has The Perfect Advice for Any Filmmaker That Want To Use AI

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Avatar: Fire and Ash is finally here! The epic third installment brings in more action and more drama as the war on Pandora between the humans and the Na’vi rages. Clocking in at 197 minutes, the epic film not only brings in a new group of Na’vi called the Mangkwan (aka the Ash People) but also dives deeper into the lives of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family. When Avatar first premiered in 2009, director James Cameron changed the filmmaking world not only with this exploration into a new world but with new filming techniques and groundbreaking technology. Since then, Cameron hasn’t stopped innovating.

We sat down with Cameron to discuss his work on Fire and Ash, where he served as the director but also as a writer, producer, and editor alongside his team. We discussed with him the importance of telling a strong story alongside his cutting-edge technology and the importance he holds in working with actors one-on-one. Also, with the long runtime, Cameron also reveals what was left on the cutting room floor and whether there’s an opportunity for a longer director’s cut version of the film. Finally, as a strong critic of generative AI, we discussed the use of AI in the industry, and Cameron reveals what new filmmakers should and shouldn’t do when it comes to utilizing the technology in the future.

James Cameron Prioritizes Storytelling Over Technology in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

“I think people use the term technology, but really, I think it’s our desire to create a kind of dreamlike reality that seems very lucid and very real and doesn’t look like other movies.”

Image via 20th Century Studios

COLLIDER: James Cameron, I can’t tell you how much of an honor it is to speak with you. I’ve been a fan of your movies for so long. Titanic was the movie that got me into movies.

JAMES CAMERON: Cool. When you were five?

Yeah, I was. I watched it with my family. I probably shouldn’t have, but, you know. When I look at these Avatar films, I just rewatched the first two, as well…

CAMERON: Oh, wow! You’re dedicated.

I wanted to get a refresher! What is it about the technology that goes into these films that makes you want to have it stand the test of time so that in 20 years or 30 years, people can watch these movies, and it still feels realistic, and it doesn’t feel like it’s aged?

CAMERON: I think people use the term technology, but really, I think it’s our desire to create a kind of dreamlike reality that seems very lucid and very real and doesn’t look like other movies. So, it’s really about creating that journey, and I think everything conspires within that. It’s not just the technology we use to capture the actors, for example, or to do the CG finish on it. It’s all those things, but it’s also the performance, it’s the design, it’s the music, it’s the 3D. It’s all of those things working together, kind of symphonically, to create a unique experience that you, as an audience member, feel is worth turning off your streaming, leaving the house, going to a place where you don’t have control, and just going on that ride and having it come at you.

So, I think the previous films create a promise; this film delivers on that promise. But you can’t just do what you’ve done before. It has to take you to new places. And I don’t mean literally places, although we do that — new cultures, new creatures, all that, new landscapes — but it’s also about new places with the characters. I think I’m most proud of this film for what the actors did. From what I’m hearing from people, the three hours kind of fly by, because you just want to see what happens to these people next. So, the key to that is people, right? Even though they’re 10 feet tall and blue and have these big yellow eyes, we think of them as people, and we invest right in them. Did you feel that when you watched it?

James Cameron Confirms That Avatar 4 and 5 Are Not Guaranteed and Need ‘Fire & Ash’ To Do 1 Thing

James Cameron reveals new doubt for the fourth and fifth instalment.

I did. I really like the portrayal of the grief, especially, and the family dynamic was really strong, especially with Lo’ak and Jake.

CAMERON: The unseen.

That struggle between the father and son, I really enjoyed that. And like you said, the three hours went by way faster than I thought it would.

James Cameron Teases a Longer Version of ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

“The goal was to do something epic, to do a saga around this family.”

I’m curious if there was anything left on the cutting room floor that you wish you could have incorporated, or if there’s ever going to be a director’s cut version that’s even longer?

CAMERON: We’re thinking about that right now. Every time I make an Avatar film, and this is even true of Titanic, as well, we don’t have B-level scenes, where we didn’t try as hard that day, and we take them out because they’re not as good. We take them out because they don’t propel the story. They don’t set up an important thing. They don’t resolve a character. It becomes an analytical process. So sculpting, as you can imagine, you can sculpt with clay, and you waste nothing. You sculpt with stone, you’re taking away to get that final form. I think of it that way. So, yeah, we might have had maybe 25 minutes, 30 minutes of good quality material, but it lost momentum, or it was a little repetitious, or things like that.

Sometimes it has to come into focus, and I think there’s an art to that. Now it sounds like, “Oh, you guys got it down to the lean, mean fighting weight of three hours and seven minutes. Whoop!” But it is a process. I went in knowing I was making a three-hour movie. I slipped by seven minutes; I’m not losing any sleep over that. The goal was to do something epic, to do a saga around this family. We’ve got a lot of character threads that we’re following. I think every thread hits its peak, its moment, that it is meant to happen.

James Cameron Cautions Young Filmmakers on Using AI in the Future

“You just have to trust the actors.”

You said something really interesting at the beginning of my screening, where you were talking about generative AI. I’m curious, for you, is there a future where… because AI feels inevitable at this point. It’s kind of impossible to escape from it.

CAMERON: Yeah. You can’t put the genie back in the bottle, but you can learn how to live with it and task it constructively. Task that genie in a way that’s constructive, and ethically and morally correct, which is, I don’t want to replace actors. I love actors. Now, maybe that’s just me. Maybe other people, maybe young filmmakers say, “But actors are expensive, and I’ve got to have $1 million to make a film, and I can actually make a film.” It’s like, “Okay, good. Cut your teeth on that.” But understand that it flows from unique, lived human experience. Actors don’t do generic, they do individual. When we look at the stars, they’re idiosyncratic. They’re very particular. And you can’t just do it in the style of, or whatever your prompt sequence is.

So I think, yeah, it’s great for previs and for that sort of thing, and maybe starting out as a filmmaker, thinking about editing and story flow. But I would say my advice to young filmmakers now who are starting to turn away or take the shortcut across true production with actors, also take a year and study acting. Seriously. Study acting because this is the wellspring of the creativity. If the movie flew by, it’s because the people were real, and you were going on their journey, right? That doesn’t start with some generic performance. That starts with a particular cri de coeur, maybe, that Zoe Saldaña is doing or that Ronal is doing, or Sigourney [Weaver] as Kiri is doing. You just have to trust the actors. I mean, I spent 18 months with my cast, day in, day out, week after week, just capturing their performances before I even thought about shot composition and lighting and all those things, because that’s all done later. It’s kind of a screwy system, but it’s very pure in a way, because as a writer-director coming in wanting to see these characters come to life, that’s the most fun I could possibly be having.

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19.