James Cameron to shoot 'Avatar' sequels with Sony's Venice camera

The collaboration between Sony and Lightstorm began in 1999, when they worked on developing a unique extension system that allowed the camera body to be separated from the image sensor unit itself.

Lightstorm Entertainment of James Cameron will use the new cinematographic camera system Venice by Sony for principal photography of the upcoming sequels of Avatar.

The first film, released in 2009 and also shot with professional Sony cameras, was an overwhelming box office success thanks to its engaging story and spectacular, immersive 3D visuals. These new entries in the franchise will significantly improve the visual aspect with refined special effects, more elaborate production requirements and difficult action sequences.

According to Lightstorm, Sony's Venice camera system turned out to be the right choice to continue the story of Avatar and offer the public a totally new experience.

James Cameron has highlighted that “the camera Venice offers the most amazing image I have ever seento. Blacks are rich, deep and velvety, and whites and light sources are spectacularly bright. For the first time, we can truly appreciate what the term high dynamic range means.”

Although principal photography on the Avatar sequels with Venice is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2019, motion capture is already underway. The process involves a wide variety of additional Sony imaging technologies, such as mirrorless cameras with Alph interchangeable lensesto, or the camcorders PXW-Z450 y PXW-320 and the camera compact RX0. Sony's Alpha and F55 cameras are also being used in the production to film the production process and obtain snapshots.

“I have been enjoying filming with Sony CineAlta cameras for 19 years, but I am looking forward to recording Avatar 2 y Avatar 3 with the new Venice,” added Cameron.

Sony has worked closely with Lightstorm to adapt the Venice to your specific needs, with regular meetings between James Cameron, his production teams and Sony's engineering group.

Neal Manowitz, vice president of digital imaging at Sony Electronics, said, "Our goal in this continued co-development collaboration is to enable Lightstorm to realize their vision and deliver their unique spin on storytelling. For Avatar, the Venice will come into play in all demanding environments. The camera's full-frame sensor gives you complete flexibility and freedom to choose aspect ratios, bokeh effects or lenses to suit your shooting requirements."

The collaboration between Sony and Lightstorm began in 1999, when they worked on developing a unique extension system that allowed the camera body to be separated from the image sensor unit itself. With Venice we've taken a similar approach, as we've wired each sensor to your camera body at distances of over 6 meters without degrading image quality.

For the next sequels of Avatar, multiple Venice cameras will be paired on various stereoscopic 3D platforms. With Sony's new cable system, the only part of the Venice that mounts to the platform are the optical units of the image sensors, which significantly reduces the weight of the camera, to just over 1 kg per sensor unit. By reducing weight and improving ergonomics, Cameron and the Lightstorm team will have the ability to ride with greater flexibility and freedom.

Peter Crithary, head of marketing for Sony film cameras, acknowledges that “this new extension system is a perfect example of what we achieve by listening carefully to our customers: we collect opinions that are constantly and decisively given and incorporate the conclusions into the development of our products. Avatar “They will be among the first films to use the new Venice extension, although it has tremendous potential for other uses with handheld Steadycams, drones and gimbals, as well as in remote montages in closed spaces.”