See also: Cameron

James Francis Cameron was born the August 16th 1954 with Kapuskasing (Ontario, Canada). It is Réalisateur, producing Scénariste and Canadian.

Biography

James Cameron, wire of Phillip, an electric engineer, and Shirley, an artist, was born and passed its childhood to Canada, close to the Chutes of the Niagara perhaps (from where its taste comes to him from disproportion). In 1971, it moves in Brea (California, the United States), where it will be graduate of physics to the California State University . But its first food jobs will be mechanic and conducting of trucks because it nourishes very an other ambition: the Cinema. Its first short film: Xenogenesis , is financed by a consortium of dentists.

He officiates then like realizer, producer, Co-scenario writer, assembler, director of the photography, model maker and supervisor of the special effects. This experiment enables him to be pointed out in 1980 by Roger Corman which engages it in its company New World Picture . An urban legend tells that he became freemason.

James Cameron works then mainly on the special effects before being appointed artistic director on the Mercenaries of director space then of the photography and realizer of second team on Galaxy off terror . He also works with the special effects of New York 1997 of John Carpenter

Noticed, it is named realizer of Piranha 2: Flying Killers , a Italian-American coproduction. But its relations with the producer Ovidio G. Assonitis are degraded, so much and so that this one withdraws the artistic control of film to him. James Cameron tries well to penetrate by effraction at night in the room of assembly but its modifications are systematically drawn aside by the producer. Although Co-being credited like realizer, he will disavow film (often absent from its official catalogs of films). Like the majority of its following works, there exist two versions of film, that of the producer, most widespread, and the very rare reassembly of the realizer, exploited formerly with the USA into video and laserdisc.

This bad experiment does not slow down of anything its ambitions. On ashes of its first film, Cameron starts the writing of the scenario of Terminator . Turned for 6 million dollars, Terminator will bring back 80 of them. The film is produced by Gale Anne Hurd, which becomes then his wife. But well before this immense success, Hollywood had noticed it, and the requests multiply. He writes before turning Terminator 'the first grinding of Rambo II: The Mission , rewritten then by Sylvester Stallone. Qualified reaganien by criticisms, this film will be worth a long time in James Cameron his reputation of scenario writer bourrin, but Sylvester Stallone will acknowledge later that he regretted not to have turned the original version of script, more subtle in its approach.

For the production company Brandywine, he writes Aliens the return , before seeing himself proposing opportunity of carrying it out itself, following the success of Terminator . It is on this turning, in the famous Studios Pinewood in England, which it will put at back the technicians, treating them “lazy trade unionists”, those being avenged while raising tee-shirts “I can all support: I worked with James Cameron”. It will return the first director of the photography, ensuring itself the function before a substitute arrives. Finally the film is a success which again consolidates it in its position genius of Hollywood, and allows him to assemble with Gale Anne Hurd a new project…

To turn Abyss , James Cameron will give himself the means of his ambitions: Hollywood budget, turning in a nuclear silo in the course of construction drowned by more 26  000 m ³ of water, invention (with his/her Mike brother) of revolutionary cameras to film under water, special effects in synthesized images very last things. It pushes its actors with end, under conditions of turning already testing (ED Harris will crack on several occasions). However the film will receive only one mitigated reception.

At that time, it already had two wives. The third will be Kathryn Bigelow, director with the rather violent style, whose taste for the muscular scenes of action unquestionably brings it closer to her husband. This one will produce for it Point Station-wagon and Strange Days , while also writing this last. Its next personal project will be Terminator 2: The last judgment , continuation of the adventures of Sarah Connor camped by Linda Hamilton, its fourth wife. As it had proven with its preceding films, James Cameron is a pioneer of the synthesized images, pushing back always further the limits from the possible one. T2 will not make exception there. For a budget record at the time of 100 million dollars, this new association with Arnold Schwarzenegger will report more than 500 million dollars throughout the world, so much and so that when the actor essuie one of his first failures with Last Action Hero , it is quite naturally that it will turn to his realizer fetish to regild his blazon.

After the attempt fallen through to assemble a film around the character of Spider-man, with the Austrian in the role of super-unpleasant, the third collaboration between the two men will be finally True Lies , remake of the French comedy the Total one! of Claude Zidi. The comparison between two films stops there. Profiting from a hardly comparable budget, the film multiplies the epic scenes of action, in an environment good child slicing with the remainder of its catalog of films. Part of the numerical special effects is for the first time ensured by DIGITAL Domain, company which it founded in 1993, and which it will leave in 1998.

After already a decade spent to revolutionize the special effects and to assemble projects increasingly more insane, James Cameron is still not filled. During the production of Abyss , it accumulated an abundant documentation in connection with the tragic destiny of the Titanic. The idea made its way, and it is harnessed to realize what proves to be the film of all excesses. By-product by two studios “enemy brothers”, 20th Century Fox and Paramount, the film, budgeted for to 150 million dollars, will cost some finally more than 200, a new record, that is to say more than the price which the manufacture of the Titanic in its time had cost. The steamer is rebuilt almost with identical (scale 9/10), one even says that the caviar in the plates was true. The most insane rumors will circulate on this film: one will tell that it will be a financial drain, driving with an unquestionable bankruptcy the two studios which ensure the financing of it. James Cameron will be obliged besides to sacrifice his wages of realizer and his profit-sharing to the receipts in order to prove his faith in the project. Finally, Titanic will be the largest success of the history of the cinema with more than 1,8 billion dollar receipts and the realizer will be largely rewarded for it, financially initially, but also by 11 Oscars including 3 for itself (only Ben-Hur and the Return of the King obtained as much of it).

Thereafter, James Cameron decides to widen his aimings, with the series TV Dark Angel to start, that it produces and of which it carries out the final episode, then with a series of documentary: Phantoms of Titanic in which it tries out turning in three dimensions, Expedition: Bismarck on another famous shipwreck, Aliens off the deep on the strange creatures of the underwater funds, and Volcanoes off the Deep Sea . It was an even question which he embarks on board a Russian Soyuz bound for the station Mir, epopee that it would undoubtedly not have failed to film. Moreover, it will produce the film Solaris for Steven Soderbergh, in its capacity as expert in Science-fiction special and of effects.

In May 2006 James Cameron resells at the firm of WyndCrest investment (of which made in particular to party the realizer Michael Bay) DIGITAL Domain, the company specialized in the special effects in synthesized images that it had cofondée with his collaborator of long time Stan Winston. Among the many films to which DIGITAL Domain will have contributed since its creation in 1993, one can quote in particular: Apollo 13 , Armageddon , the Day according to , or I, Robot .

Currently, James Cameron does not have less than 6 films in preparation:

  • an adaptation of the first nine volumes of the manga Gunnm ( Battle Angel in English), in the shape of a trilogy. These films will be made in three dimensions thanks to technologies that Cameron already tried out on the Phantoms of Titanic . Cameron put on the fact that from here at the exit of first film (estimated at 2009), with many cinemas will have been equipped with the adequate material to project this type of measuring, and will be thus able to accommodate the fruit of its work. Another interesting detail, the heroin of the history (Gally) will be a character entirely in synthesized images (with the manner of Gollum in the trilogy of the Seigneur of the Rings ).
  • The Dive , which should turn in 2007 for an exit in 2008, will tell the true story of the apneists Francisco " Pipin" Will shoe (Italian), and Audrey Mestre (French), which was candidates and lovers.
  • Penultimate project, the mysterious Project 880 would be in fact an adaptation of Avatar , a scenario which he had written at the beginning of the the Nineties, but that he had not been able to turn for technical reasons. Indeed, rumor of time wanted that this film requires the development of characters in synthesized images photorealists (the title implies that these Trompe-l'oeil would be in the middle of the history), thing then impossible. Today still this kind of prowess appears unrealizable, but one can await much a man as James Cameron who contributed much to develop the special effects in synthesized images with the cinema these two last decades. Another interesting detail, the exit of the film (too much distant to be estimated) should be accompanied by that of a Video game of the type MMORPG, inviting the players to live adventures in the universe of film, in parallel of the history developed in this one.

Matrimonial life

Catalog of films

Realizer

Years 1970

  • 1978 : Xenogenesis (short film)

Years 1980

Years 1990

Years 2000

  • 2000 : Dark Angel (series TV - episode Freak nation )
  • 2001: Earthship.TV (TV)
  • 2002: Forwarding: Bismarck (documentary Co-realized with Gary Johnstone)
  • 2003: Phantoms of Titanic ( Ghosts off the Abyss ) (documentary)
  • 2005: Aliens off the deep (documentary Co-realized with Steven Quale)
  • 2008: Divine The (announced)
  • 2009: Misadventure (pre-production)
  • 2009: Battle Angel (pre-production)

Scenario writer

Years 1970

  • 1978 : Xenogenesis (Co-writing with William Wisher Jr.)

Years 1980

Years 1990

Years 2000

  • 2009 : James Cameron' S Sanctum (pre-production) of Gary Johnstone

  • 2009: Misadventure (pre-production)
  • 2009: Battle Angel (pre-production)

Producer

Years 1980

  • 1978 : Xenogenesis (Co-writing with William Wisher Jr.)

Years 1990

Years 2000

  • 2000 : Dark Angel (executive producer) (series TV - episodes Research opinion , Do not judge a book by its cover , brought closer Monitoring , Charming evening , Without slackening , maternal Instinct , Predatory , alive Target , Cat-like , very powerful God , the price of the escape , and Freedom )
  • 2002: Solaris (producing)
  • 2002: Forwarding: Bismarck (documentary) (producing)
  • 2003: Phantoms of Titanic (producing)
  • 2003: Volcanoes off the Deep Sea (executive producer)
  • 2005: Aliens off the deep (documentary) (producing)
  • 2005: Last Mysteries off the Titanic (documentary) (producing)
  • 2005: Titanic Adventure (documentary) (producing)
  • 2007: the Tomb lost of Jesus (documentary, with Simcha Jacobovici

  • 2009 : Misadventure (pre-production) (producing)

  • 2009: Battle Angel (pre-production) (producing)
  • 2008: Divine The (announced) (producing)
  • 2010: The fantastic voyage (producing)

Nominations and rewards

Anecdotes

  • Its films are often characterized by strong female main characters: Sarah Connor in Terminator , Ellen Ripley in Aliens the return , Lindsey Brigman in Abyss , Helen Tasker in True Lies , Pink Dewitt Bukater in Titanic , or max Guevera, the heroin of the series TV Dark Angel that James Cameron created.
  • It was the first Réalisateur to make a film of a budget of more than 100 million dollars ( Terminator 2: The last judgment ), then of a budget of more than 200 million dollars ( Titanic ).
  • It is called Iron Jim on turnings.
  • It has its own production company: Lightstorm Entertainment .
  • Its actors fetishes are Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lance Henriksen.
  • James Cameron tells that he was noticed by producers whereas he officiated like realizer of second team on Galaxy off terror . It was to turn this day of the closes-up of worms grouillant in a dismembered arm and for that had attached an electric cable on the false arm. An assistant was to connect the cable when he shouted “Action! ”, so that the worms start to stir up. The producers were so amazed by his technical control which they started to speak to him about larger projects.
  • not being member of the American guild of the assemblers, it did not accept appropriations for its work on the assembly of Strange Days . Having carried out the necessary steps near the same guild before the turning of Titanic , it received a credit for the assembly of this one.
  • On the screen of the computer which was used to him to assemble Titanic , it had stuck a razor blade with a mention “Uses only yew film sucks! ” (to be used only if the film is missed!).
  • Wages for Titanic : 600  000 dollars as scenario writer, 8 million dollars like realizer, plus a profit-sharing on the receipts, make 115 million dollars.
  • the negotiations around the lasting for ever wages of Sigourney Weaver and this one threatening not to make the second Alien , James Cameron telephoned the agent of Arnold Schwarzenegger, telling him that it was rewriting the scenario without the character of Ripley. As he hoped for it the agent telephoned his/her colleague who represented the interests of Sigourney Weaver, and a few days later this one finally decided to sign its contract.
  • Kate Winslet declared that James Cameron is the artist who drew it naked for the needs for Titanic . It is also its hand which one sees in the closes-up.
  • the mandibles on the face of the Predator are its idea.
  • It was a time planned to carry out Spider-Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of the Doctor Octopus. He had even written a first treatment more violent than the film which finally was born and which contained already the idea of the organic lance-fabrics (rather than mechanics of the cartoon, judging that a simple student should not be able to manufacture of such gadgets).
  • It wrote a scenario named has Crowded Room ( a Crammed Part ) which makes party of most famous the Scénarios not having never been produced.
  • It declared that it would be judicious which the price of the tickets of cinema is proportional to the budget of projected film (in other words a place to see an independent small film filmed in FD would be sold less expensive than for a Blockbuster such as it carries them out).
  • James Cameron is a large fan of cartoon films Japanese, and the editors of DVD often quote it on the small pockets of their products.

See too

  • James Cameron on Internet Movie Database

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