James Cameron's profile *v*

Introduction to James Cameron

In every article describing the life of James Cameron in detail, the use of "notorious" is almost inevitable "This word - yes, he is a demanding, domineering "tyrant" on the set; at home, he is an inconsiderate and irresponsible husband; in the eyes of his Hollywood peers, Cameron is a paranoid and money-burning machine. However, in the eyes of many ordinary movie fans, these accusations are completely irrelevant. They are either nitpicking or malicious attacks out of jealousy. There is only one James Cameron in the world, and that is the great hero James Cameron and the great genius. James Cameron, the incomparable, omnipotent director James Cameron.

Undoubtedly, James Cameron is one of the most eye-catching directors in the 20th century. He has twice set the highest record of film investment and shot one of the most popular films in the world's history. , tied the record for the number of Oscars won by one film, and each film set a technical benchmark for future films. When talking about James Cameron, people can't help but mention another outstanding commercial film director, Steven Spielberg. Being able to be compared with this twentieth-century film giant shows that Cameron Long's lofty status in people's minds. In the following description of Cameron's life and works, the author cannot help but make some interesting comparisons between him and Spielberg.

Like many biographers’ favorite celebrities, James Cameron’s early life was unusual and prophetic. In 1954, Cameron was born into a middle-class family in Orlando, Canada. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother was an artist. It seemed that he was destined to have talents in both engineering and art. As a boy, Cameron had extraordinary engineering and organizational skills. He once led his friends to build a trebuchet powerful enough to leave a crater on the ground, and used a homemade submarine to send a mouse to Niagara. River bottom. In terms of art, he studied painting with his mother for many years and held art exhibitions in his hometown. He also started writing science fiction novels at a very young age. A science fiction novel he wrote when he was 12 years old was regarded as his science fiction film. The prototype of the story "The Abyss". When Cameron was 14 years old, he saw master Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Cameron was so stunned that he watched it 10 times in a row in the cinema. From then on, he developed the desire to make movies and began to shoot some simple movies with his father's 8mm camera.

After graduating from high school, Cameron was admitted to the physics department of a university. He soon became disappointed with the university courses and ran out of campus to enter the society. He worked as a mechanical mechanic, and more importantly drove a large truck for others - interestingly, to this day, James Cameron still looks more like a truck driver than a movie director. In 1977, Cameron saw George Lucas' classic science fiction film "Star Wars" and excitedly realized that this was what he wanted to create.

This allowed James Cameron to establish his own direction in life and start to get busy with it. He had never received professional training and began to look for opportunities to accept filmmakers everywhere. He was familiar with everything from lenses to camera guides. All kinds of film production equipment, and I even made my first shooting plan in my life with my friends. I wanted to use the equipment at hand and homemade models to make a 10-minute science fiction film!

Cameron was lucky. His talent was quickly appreciated by Hollywood producer Roger Kaman, and he got his first film job from Kaman—— After working on the stunt models for Kaman Studios' 1980 film "Battle Beyond the Stars," he was promoted to the second position on another of the studio's films, "Galaxy of Terror," the following year. Second team director and film production designer. James Cameron is one of the rare directors with a background in stunt design, and recognizing this is very important to understanding Cameron and his work. In subsequent film creations, Cameron has always placed stunt production in an extremely important position, and often personally participated in the design and implementation of stunt production. In Cameron's movies, excellent stunt production not only always creates jaw-dropping and exciting visual effects, but also integrates naturally with the plot without feeling stiff or showy at all. This is consistent with Cameron's The background of the stuntman is inseparable. But that doesn't mean stunts are all there is to Cameron's movies. Cameron is not only an excellent stunt engineer, he also has imagination that ordinary engineers do not have, and some other things.

In 1981, Cameron's first directorial work came out. This film called "Piranha 2: The Spawning" (Piranha 2: The Spawning) was shot entirely in Italy. Cameron did not get along well with the Italian-speaking staff. After the filming was completed, the producers were worried In a slight to the fledgling director, he was not allowed to participate in the final cut of the film.

The 25-year-old Cameron was so angry that he used a credit card to pry open the door of the studio. He learned how to use an Italian editing machine and edited the entire film by himself in a few weeks. During this process, Cameron made up his mind to stop working for anyone and to make his own movies.

While in Italy, Cameron suffered from disease, hunger and poverty. The painful experience caused him to have nightmares every night. Once he had a very clear nightmare: being chased by a machine killer from the future. He was determined not to make movies for anyone again. Based on the content of the nightmare, Cameron wrote a movie script "The Terminator" soaked in his outstanding talent. He sold the script to producer Gore Anni Hurt for one dollar on the condition that he direct the film in his own way.

Gall agreed to his request, and in 1984, James Cameron released his first self-written and directed film "Terminator". The film cost only $6.5 million to shoot, but earned $36 million at the domestic box office and won critical acclaim from fans and critics alike. The characteristics of subsequent Cameron films can already be seen in "Terminator", such as creative scripts, excellent stunt production, distinctive characters, especially the images of female heroes often seen in subsequent films. .

The success of "Terminator" brought Cameron widespread attention in the film industry. In 1985, Cameron and Sylvester Stallone co-wrote the script for Rambo 2, which was also a box office success.

In 1986, "Alien 2", the second work written and directed by Cameron, came out. This film is a remake of the science fiction classic "Alien" by the famous director Ridley Scott ("Thelma and Louise", "Gladiator"). "Alien" is famous for exaggerating the sense of claustrophobia. In the film, it shows a kind of helplessness of people facing the vast universe. The whole film is filled with an atmosphere of nihilism. Cameron's sequel wisely avoids repeating the style of the original film, instead recreating it in an action-movie style by moving the battleground between humans and aliens from a single spaceship to a giant space base. It tells a horror story that takes place in space, and the whole film is permeated with a spirit of heroism. The visual effects of this film are also absolutely first-class. Its art design gives people a pure (rather than formalistic) mechanical aesthetic pleasure that Cameron's films always have, and its special effects production can also be said to have reached the level of computer-generated images. The peak before getting involved in film production. Alien was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Actress for Signeur Weaver, and ended up winning Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects.

After fans waited for three years, in 1989, Cameron's third heavyweight work "The Abyss" written and directed came out. This science fiction film is somewhat different from Cameron's other similar works. Although it is interspersed with many thrilling fights and descriptions of mysterious creatures on the seabed, its focus is still on using a slower pace and telling it in a science fiction background. A story about the relationship between a couple. Many viewers felt that the film's pace was too slow and drowsy, which made the film less successful at the box office than Cameron's other films. But there are also many movie fans who were moved by the emotions of the characters in the film. When writing the script for "The Abyss", Cameron was going through a relationship crisis with his second wife, film producer Gower Anne Hurd. He naturally brought his own experience into his creation, and naturally brought together men and women. The protagonist's emotional entanglements are deeply touching. On the other hand, true science fiction fans were fascinated by the film's scientific accuracy and thrilling special effects.

In two directions, "The Abyss" set a milestone for the development of film stunts. The first is that it creates unprecedented underwater special effects. Cameron creatively used various methods to express underwater wonders in the film. Its underwater stunts inspired a group of filmmakers. Later, "The Hunt for Red October", "Red Tide" and even "U-571" They were all greatly influenced by this film. Cameron himself also used many of the stunts practiced in "The Abyss" in his later "Titanic".

Another field of stunt technology pioneered in "The Abyss" has a more revolutionary impact, that is, it uses a large amount of computer-generated images in a movie for the first time. This technology not only solved the difficulty of using models to shoot organisms moving in three-dimensional space, but also created a convincing image of intelligent creatures swimming on the seabed. It also created the most unforgettable scene in the film - the deforming water column. This technology of computer-generated deformed objects laid a solid foundation for Cameron's next masterpiece, "Terminator 2".

Movie magician James. Cameron

Science Fiction Movie Network

James. Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. In 1971 he immigrated to the United States. The son of an engineer majored in physics at California State University, but after graduation turned truck driving to support his writing of screenplays.

He began his first professional film work in Roger. Cooman served as art director, overseeing the production of miniatures and processing plans for Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).

And made his directorial debut the following year with Piranha II: The Egg (1981). In 1984 he wrote and directed The Terminator (1984). A chilling science fiction action film directed by Arnold. Schwarzenegger, Mike. Ben and Linda. Starring Hamilton.

It was a huge success. Later there was a series of successful action films such as Alien 2 (1986), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and for Titanic he won three Academy Awards.

Cameron is now one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood.

Films directed, written and co-written by Cameron:

Piranha II (1980) Piranha 2

The Terminator (1984)< /p>

Rambo: First Blood Part II(1985) Rambo: First Blood Sequel

Aliens (1986) Alien 2

The Abyss (1989) Abyss< /p>

Point Break (1991) Breakpoint

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Terminator 2

True Lies (1994) True Lies

Strange Days (1995) Strange Days

Titanic (1997) Titanic

Avatar (?) Incarnation of God

Spiderman (?) Spider-Man

Not directed by him, but written or co-written by him:

Battle Beyond The Stars (1980)

Escape From New York (1981) )

Galaxy Of Terror (1981)

Android (1982)