The Botany of Avatar

While I wasn't blown away by the footage I saw of Avatar, I appreciate the detail that went into the planet Pandora. The most visually stunning of all the preview footage may be a scene where the main character is lost in a bioluminescent forest. It doesn't shock me at all that James Cameron, the filmmaker who demanded the reconstruction of the Titanic be accurate down to the rivet, brought in Prof. Jodie Holt, a real botany expert with expertise in plant physiology to consult on the alien vegetation -- and with Sigourney Weaver, who plays a (presumably ass-kicking) space botanist:

How exactly did you help out?

In 2007, I was asked to consult with an A-list actress who plays a botanist in the movie. She turned out to be Sigourney Weaver. My role was to advise her on how a botanist might dress and act. I met with her in her trailer in a sound studio in Playa del Rey in Los Angeles, and we had a long conversation. A set designer was also present during this meeting. I gave Weaver advice on topics like how a botanist would approach a plant and take samples. With the set designer, I later engaged in an email communication in which I advised him on the sets and equipment that Sigourney Weaver could use in her work as a botanist. I also shared information with him about plant physiology and plant sampling. For a period of months, we exchanged a number of images about equipment a botanist might use to study plants, and I wrote him short lectures on the plants.

--UC Riverside Press Release

There's two minds on detail in movies. One is: don't spent money on details you won't see. The other, the dominant thinking in Hollywood, is: go the extra mile. Detail helps make the world real for the actors, and it frees up the director to shoot as detailed as he or she sees fit at any given moment.

I think fantasy films especially benefit from the detailed approach. WETA is legendary for putting detail into the props they manufactured for the Lord of the Rings and Narnia movies.

But I think all of that, as cool as it is for the fanboys, can be a distraction from story. There are many directors who spend too much time sweating the details, and not enough time supporting the story. Titanic was not a hit because it had historical rivet accuracy.