Sigourney Weaver has championed the technological advances pioneered by her Avatar director James Cameron, saying they create “a much purer experience for the director and cast”.
Cameron has used performance-capture technology in the production of all three Avatar films to date, including Avatar: Fire And Ash, released worldwide by Disney next week.
The technology includes the Fusion camera system for immersive 3D, which allows the actors to perform before the visual look of the scene is added around them afterwards.
“[Cameron] has enhanced the adventure of filmmaking – it’s not AI, it’s anti-AI,” said Weaver, in the latest In Conversation talk at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (RSIFF). “I look forward to the time when we can share this technology. It gets rid of lighting, costumes, make-up, setups, different angles, waiting for the clouds or the sun.
“It’s a much purer experience for the director and cast, it’s really cool.”
Last week in an interview with US network CBS, Cameron described AI actors as “horrifying”, saying, “That’s exactly what we’re not doing.” He added that the AI models put “all of human art and human experience into a blender, and you’ll get something that is an average of that”.
Speaking at Red Sea, Weaver was complimentary of Cameron’s on-set presence amid the technology.
“He’s right there with us, not in a video village 100 feet away,” said Weaver. “All credit to Jim, he invented this technology to let actors be whatever they could be. It’s the cheapest part of this whole process; he spends a lot of time working on what the scene is about, improving it, letting the actors try various things.”
What is science fiction?
Weaver’s talk was the briefest of the Red Sea conversation sessions so far, starting 35 minutes late and running for 22 minutes. It ended with the actress being presented with an honorary award by Red Sea Film Foundation chairwoman Jomana R Alrashid.
The actress’s breakthrough role came as Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien, a part she reprised in 1986’s Aliens, 1992’s Alien 3 and 1997’s Alien Resurrection.
Despite the success of these titles, Weaver said the label ‘sci-fi’ is one she has always disavowed. “The English major [in me] does not acknowledge genre – who cares?” said Weaver. “I’ll go anywhere to tell a good story. I’ve been genre-blind. Even when I made Alien, I was like, ‘What is science fiction?’
“It attracts a lot of young viewers, because we’re all trying to figure out what’s going to become of us,” said Weaver of the genre. “What does it mean to be human? And do we stay human, or do we change? Science fiction is a funny term; I think it deserves a much better genre title.”
Weaver received her first Oscar nomination in 1987 for Aliens, as best actress, and scored two further nominations in 1989 – best actress for Gorillas In The Mist and best supporting actress for Working Girl.
Her next role is due to be opposite Meryl Streep in New York-set thriller Useful Idiots for Fifth Season and Closer Media, which Black Bear is selling. The film will follow a disillusioned luxury property market reporter who uncovers the story of a lifetime when a record-breaking sale of a new penthouse leads to a mysterious oligarch and corruption.
RSIFF runs until Saturday, December 13.
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