James Cameron uses quite a lot of digital animation/alterations and special effects throughout the film, especially when it comes to the creation of the avatars and the flora and fauna in the world of Pandora. These are used mainly because the whole fantasy genre is based on the impossible or unbelievable. So without the use of these computer generated aspects which easily make things unrealistic, creating out of this world like characteristics and features it’s almost impossible to portray anything in the fantasy genre.
In certain scenes of the movie some of the film techniques that have been used to help represent the conventions of fantasy are more obvious then others but either way the representation has been done well. For example in the opening scene James Cameron uses the technique of non-diegetic sound which is in the form of a voice over in Jake’s dream whilst an overhead crane shot is used sweeping over the trees and floating mountains of Pandora which increase the feeling that the film is of a fantasy genre, especially when it focuses on the floating mountains as obviously they are out of this world. The film then uses the technique of ‘cutting’ which is to the scene where Jake awakens to the real world and different lighting features show the contrast between the Fantasy and realistic worlds.
In the scene where Jake and Grace first enter the jungle of Pandora there is a couple of different camera angles used to really capture the moments in their first experience of Pandora including close ups, medium shots and a hand held camera used to track the characters every movements. James Cameron does this to help bring the audience along with their experience, helping add to the real feel of fantasy as audience are really connecting with the characters following their every move.
In the sequence where Jake is face to face with one of the violent beasts of Pandora James Cameron uses exaggerated diegetic sound combined with dramatic non-diegetic music to enhance the drama and action along with a low angled shot when looking at the beast, this type of camera angle is used to exaggerate the size of the creature making it look more intimidating and out of this world because of the extreme size that is shown when shot at this angle.
Overall, James Cameron has done an amazing job at targeting the ultimate feel of the fantasy genre and representing the conventions of this which is demonstrated throughout the whole film.
