Avatar: The Way of Water VFX Team Reveals the Only Two Shots With No CGI

Avatar: The Way of Water has been earning tremendous praise for its visual effects, and while there are plenty of sequences that are obviously crafted with the help of CGI, the team responsible for the visual effects recently detailed that there are two shots in the film that don’t feature any such artistry. One shot is a close-up of a human character’s eye while another is an underwater shot of the ocean floor. Between its massive run time and its ambitious, otherworldly elements, it sounds surprising that there are so few shots devoid of visual effects, yet the explanation for those shots is fully understandable. Avatar: The Way of Water is in theaters now.

“There’s one of Spider’s [Jack Champion] eyeball and there’s one of the bottom of the ocean and just some ripples in the bottom of the water,” visual effects artist Eric Saindon revealed to Metro. While some shots and sequences featured more grounded elements, Saindon confirmed that every other shot in the film was either “created or added to” by the visual effects team, while adding, “There’s lots of live-action, lots of characters with CG but every other scene, VFX shots were touched.”

Not only do these comments showcase how ambitious the project itself was and the lengths the filmmakers went to in order to convey these worlds, but they also highlight just how prevalent visual effects are in the entire industry, even in some of the most innocuous ways. A film like Top Gun: Maverick, for example, has been earning acclaim for its use of real fighter jets to pull off compelling sequences, yet that film is reported to contain nearly 2,400 shots featuring visual effects. 

While we’re likely still a ways out from The Way of Water landing on home video, given that it’s still performing strongly at the box office, the film’s release on home-video platforms will likely bring with it a number of insightful featurettes that shed light on how the impressive experience was brought to life.

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Directed by James Cameron and produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, the Lightstorm Entertainment Production stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet. Screenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver. Story by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver & Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno. David Valdes and Richard Baneham serve as the film’s executive producers.

Avatar: The Way of Water is in theaters now.

Are you surprised by the VFX artist’s remarks? Let us know in the comments!