James Cameron, the visionary behind “The Terminator,” “Aliens,” and “Titanic,” unveiled an exhibition in Paris, showcasing his talents creating characters.
In an interview with AFP, the 69-year-old discussed the childhood roots of his films, his reflections on artificial intelligence, and offered a few hints about the upcoming third “Avatar” installment, slated for release in 2025.
Cameron said in the interview with AFP, drawing was everything for him. ”It was how I interpreted the world around me. As I read, watched films, and absorbed storytelling, I felt compelled to create my own narratives. I distinctly remember watching the film ‘Mysterious Island’ and being captivated by its fantastical creatures, particularly the giant crab. Instead of simply drawing scenes from the movie, I created my own versions featuring different animals.”
Cameron also said his first ‘Avatar’ drawing was done when he was 19 so that was 50 years ago. ”That drawing led me to think about a bioluminescent world and I wrote a story about that in the late 70s. In the early 90s, when I founded a visual effects company and we were trying to do computer-generated characters and creatures, I needed a script about another planet, and so I went back and found that artwork, and that became ‘Avatar’ in 1995,” he added.
‘Artificial intelligence is a giant question mark’
When asked about AI, Cameron expressed his concerns, saying that the problem is there are multiple flavors of AI, some of which aren’t here yet. Artificial general intelligence is a giant question mark. I think we should definitely pump the brakes on that.
”In terms of generative AI… that’s really interesting because the data they scrape is all the imagery that human beings have ever created. We’re putting our subconscious mind out into the world, and it’s coming back to us through these images, said Cameron noting that that’s why they’re so compelling, because it’s really us writ large. We’re going to learn something about consciousness and about art.
But there’s no original. There’s no paint on a canvas. You can use gen-AI to create music, but you can’t take it on the road. I think the human artist becomes more important. Music is going to have to be about the actual moment of performance.”
“The Art of James Cameron” will be on display at the Cinematheque Francaise until January.
