In 2017, filmmaker James Cameron asked champion freediver William Trubridge for help in developing a way of swimming for the Na’vi water people (Metkayina) in his upcoming “Avatar” films.
Trubridge, who considers Cameron a “childhood hero,” said in a recent Instagram post:
“We worked together on the concept in the Bahamas, and came up with something that I felt would look believable and also explain a slightly different anatomy.
“Later that year [Sachiko Fukumoto] and I set down the blueprint for this swimming style, wearing motion capture suits in a massive tank in Los Angeles. It was five years until we got to see the results on the big screen, when ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ was released in 2022.
“Even though it’s fiction, it was surreal to see a whole race of people moving in a way that I could relate to so intimately!”
Trubridge’s comments came in the wake of an announcement by Disney that a two-part documentary series would be released on November 7th on Disney+ that will show how the movie was made.
The two-part documentary from 20th Century Studios and Lightstorm Entertainment, which provides a glimpse into the making of the Oscar-winning movie “Avatar: The Way of Water” and a first look at the upcoming “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” features exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, concept art and interviews with cast and filmmakers.
The filmmakers travelled from various locations on the California coast to the Bahamas, Hawaii and New Zealand to follow the cast and below-the-line team as they work to hone and perfect the techniques of underwater performance capture technology and learn to freedive in a massive, state-of-the-art 680,000-gallon water tank.
Check out the trailer below.
