Running Head: Pollacks Beliefs About Moviemakers Intention: Avatar

Pollacks Beliefs About Moviemakers Intention: Avatar

Samantha JiHye Lee

University of California, Berkeley

College Writing R1A

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Pollacks Beliefs About Moviemakers Intentions: Avatar

Sidney Pollack was a well-known actor, director, and producer of 44 films and

13 movies, of which the most successful films were The Way We Were and Tootsie. At a

conference about the influences and impacts of popular media on American values, he delivered

a speech called The Way We Are. He addressed that there is no particular design or structure

when moviemakers are producing a movie (Para. 1). Pollack continues to make the movie he

makes because each movie contains an argument which fascinates him (Para. 32). Different

movie makers will have their reason for producing their particular style of movies. Some

moviemakers search for the design to make successful movies instead of fulfilling the primary

obligation as a moviemaker, ultimately making movies as a product which loses its novelty and

ability to engage audiences. Pollack stresses that moviemakers must simply make movies that

they themselves would like to see because it is the only way of attracting audiences. It is evident

the world-class producer James Cameron, who created the highest grossing movie in history,

Avatar, did exactly that.

Pollack addresses that there is no particular design or structure when moviemakers

are producing a movie. All Hollywood movies do share the same goal, however. Pollack

explains, The effectiveness and the success of all [moviemakers] films is determined by

exactly the same standard - their ability to engage the concentration and emotions of the

audience (Para. 33). He believes that any good movie must thusly be entertaining and

interesting. Pollack hopes people who watched Tootise were entertained, he doesnt care if they

understood that deep down it was about a man who became a better man for having been a

woman. When movies are not engaging and enjoyable, people will not pay to watch them,

regardless of how important their underlying message is. This will lead moviemakers to dire
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positions because they will not have sufficient amount of money to pay back their financiers.

Therefore, studios will not hire those moviemakers again.

Then, how should films engage and appeal to audience? Moviemakers should make

movies that they themselves would like to see in hopes that audiences will feel the same

way. They should have unique and captivating idea to allure audience. Pollack states that, The

best part of what [filmmakers do does not] come from a rational, consciously controllable

process. It comes from somewhere inside the filmmakers unconscious (Para. 22). Making a

movie is utilizing and playing with moviemakers imagination. The best part of what

moviemakers do is thinking and forming about the ideas and interests they prefer to see. Their

ideas should not be restrained or confined in a particular style. Rather, they should have the

freedom to produce anything they desire. Moviemakers conscious may be in control of making

successful movies, but Pollack announces successful movies will be produced when

moviemakers let the ideas come out from deep within their imagination.

Pollack mentions that there are no particular formulas moviemakers can incorporate

in their movies to make successful films. Rather, movie that come out from the personal interests

of moviemakers are most likely to entertain and engage audiences. There is a clear evidence for

what hes saying in the form of box office results. James Cameron is the writer and producer of

Avatar, the top movie in all-time box office results. His intention of creating Avatar was to

produce something that displays his interest in science and the environment. The intention of

making the movie Avatar and result from the Box Office show Pollacks argument is, indeed,

true.

Cameron wrote and produced a movie geared toward his own personal interest. He did

not search for a standard; he had always enjoyed learning about science, nature, and space travel,
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and he created a movie based on those subjects. Avatar is a scientific fantasy which incorporates

elements of astronomy, environmentalism, and biology, telling a story about the robust bond

built between the Navi, primitive aliens living on the planet called Pandora, and a human hybrid

called Avatar, who later assists the Navi in saving their world from human development.

Camerons intention was never to produce the worlds highest grossing film, but to take a plot he

wished to watch and formulate it into a movie.

Cameron explained, Avatar was based on and flowed out of my fascination with

and love of science, nature, the environment, science fiction, history, and philosophy

(Cameron, 2012). Cameron has always had deep respect for the sciences, and his love of science

has been an intrinsic part of his nature since childhood. In fact, he began writing Avatar in

high school (Cameron, 2012). His experiences in college helped shape the story of the film. He

went to a local community college as a high school student and attended a geology seminar.

After Cameron majored in Physics and studied Astronomy and Marine Biology, he started

taking scuba diving lessons. He was fascinated to see diverse marine plants and organisms.

These experiences in an early stage of his life led him to include strange plant life and organisms

in the movie.

When Avatar was finalized and produced into a film in 2014, audiences were engaged

and entertained. In particular, the setting of Avatar had audiences in awe. Descriptions

and characteristics of plant life in Pandora indicate how environments on Earth and Pandora

differ profoundly. Avatar took science to another level of fascination. Hence, Cameron

formulated a unique movie based on what he liked. Moviemakers should focus on their interests

just like Cameron did with Avatar, and like Pollack says, indulge themselves with what they

like.
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Unlike Cameron, many moviemakers look for formulas to produce successful movies.

There will not be any uniqueness or novelty when moviemakers delineate from a particular

design of successful movies. The plot will not be interesting and it may not appeal to audience.

Cerridwen, who wrote Sex Doesnt Sell article, mentions content factors that contribute to a

films box office are love stories, tense scenes, violence, profanity, and smoking

(Cerridwen, 2009). Because these content factors are associated with higher box office, many

moviemakers include them in their films. However, the plot may lose its uniqueness if adhering

to content factors. Filmmakers should not be restrained by the content factors because movies

should be creative and novel in order to fill people with awe and delight.

In short, moviemakers should not focus on making successful movies so much

as entertaining and interesting movies, movies which come out from their unconscious

desires. Had Cameron created Avatar with the intention of following a certain formula, it likely

would not have gained such immense popularity.

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References

Cameron, J. (October, 2012). Declaration of James Cameron.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/read-james-camerons-sworn-declaration-
avatar-399979

Cerridwen, A. (2009). Sex Doesnt Sell Nor Impress! Content, Box Office, Critics, and
Awards in Mainstream Cinema. http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/aca-3-4-
200.pdf

Pollack, S. (N.D.). The Way We Are.

https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1465513/files/folder/Readings/U3 Readings?previe
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