Everything was settled.
The trip, budget, people and almost everything for Ian and the crew to reach the destination got ready within a period of fewer than two weeks.
During the two weeks, Ian had other plans to do with the movie. The cast was one of the most important things for Ian to deal with before going to the locations.
For this, Ian wanted to see if any of the actors who had a part in the real movie were in this world. He didn’t mention such a thing to Mason but did his own research.
After trying different search engines, social media and almost every media possible, Ian found a girl named ‘Zoa Yadira’ which he asked Mason immediately.
Mason replied that he had never come across such an actress, but said it was possible to arrange an interview considering how high Ian’s reputation in the industry currently was.
[At Renner Studio - Office of Ian Renner, A few days before the trip]
“It’s so good to see you in person, Ms Yadira,” Ian said.
“Call me Zoa please, what can I help you with, Mr Renner?” She answered and questioned at the same time.
Her voice, appearance and even her hair were similar to the Zoa Saldana that Ian knew in the previous world.
“Call me Ian, and I have a role for you, in my next project,” He said suddenly.
An ‘Oh’ left Zoa’s lips. She knew how good of a director Ian was. Ever since she had gotten the request for the meeting, she looked forward to meeting Ian Renner.
The B-grade actress, Zoa stumbled upon the industry as a side character in one of the biggest movies of all time. ‘Dune’. Dune had won the most number of awards at the Oscars, and Zoa had her own story.
She worked as an Anchor in one of the biggest television Newsline America. Since she had a part where she was almost half naked, she had to close deals with the channel and halt her career as an anchor.
Due to how big her character was prominent in the movie, her rankings went to grade B. On the other hand, the director of the movie explained how talented the girl was.
Due to this, she had been getting a lot of exposure in the media ever since the movie and was busy with two other movies.
When she got the request for the meeting with Ian Renner, hopes started to pool up in her mind. The agent of her acting agency had explained briefly what was going on with Renner Studios and everything related to it.
“Yes, this is something that is totally out of the formula in the industry, and I’d like you to play the lead role..”
“Lead role… That sounds huge. Is this related to Goofy?” Zoa questioned back.
“Yeah, it is. We’ll be taking help with the VFX and distribution. The role is something very different…”
Ian explained the whole situation about the new world, the alien beings, and how her character would be. With every passing second, she got more interested in the character and the movie.
-
More than thirty-five people were on board with Ian, including Mason. The crew of camera, sounds, the VFX and a few more people were with Ian.
Currently, they are getting ready to explore the forest areas of the Rainforest. What they had planned was to cover the entire Pandora world—Avatar world, which Ian had mentioned and described to all of them before they were at the location.
For the crew of cameras, there were two cinematographers that Ian Had brought with him. One of them was Niko, and the other person was a woman, Raelynn Sawyer.
The camera crew had the most weight during the trip. Different types of shots were needed for the preparations. Underwater shots, drone shots, helicopter shots and every one of them which would be edited by the VFX department should be taken during the visit. Therefore, during the meetings they had, Ian mentioned each and every responsibility of them.
“This looks absolutely astonishing!!” Raelynn said loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Wow!” “Look at that!” “It looks so dark at that place!” “Oh, that tree!” “I can’t believe it!”
The wind which blew their hair strands away from their face would have thought that the wind itself blew their minds off—but it was not true. In fact, the blame would be forced upon the scenery in front of the team.
“Welcome to the Brazilian Rainforest!” The guide who came with the team said aloud, everyone to hear.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[....] Walking inside the forest, every one of them had their hearts thumping in their ears. The greenery around them was something each of their brains captured. With every step, their eyes wandered around the thicks and thins of the forest. Colourful flowers, short bushes, tall gigantic woods, the astonishing beauty of different types of leaves and in fact, every inch of the forest seemed to feel important for how interesting they were.
Some eyes were boldly focused on the breathtaking flora. Some eyes were wandering and searching for wildlife.
Ian, who was at the front of the team, stopped for a brief moment making everyone stop where they were.
“Shh… Listen….” He said in almost a whisper but all the pairs of ears shushed in an instant.
A small noise of an insect was audible loud enough for all the humans to hear. People listened to it with smiles, and huge eyes and the people who were responsible for the soundtracks recorded it immediately.
“Let’s go,” After a while, the guide said in a thick British accent.
Everyone followed his lead.
The different flowers and trees were magnificently beautiful. Raelynn followed after Ian, Mason and Niko. They were comparatively closer than the day 1 they got to meet each other.
Raelynn’s eyes wandered over a bunch of flowers that had large tentacles.
“These are beautiful,” She couldn’t help but mutter.
“Don’t touch them, they’re poisonous,” Niko chirped in and Raelynn couldn’t help but jump a bit backwards.
Walking inside, the breeze of cold water hit their skin. The smell of freshness filled their noses, and more than half of them had goosebumps rising on their skin. The trees were dancing to their melody with the wind, and the green which seemed to be scattered everywhere added nothing but colour to the feelings that they seemed to have increased with every step.
It was almost as if after 2.4 miles, they felt the green was finally growing in them. They felt an undeniable connection with every greenery they came across with.
“It’s a lagoon,” Ian said and walked in the front to see a beautiful water land. Beautiful—it wasn’t even close to what Ian felt seeing the water.
The clear blue in it was outstanding when compared to the entire scenic beauty in front of them.
“Fu–”
“I wish I could live here forever!”
“A-although i-its a b-bit cold… It looks so g-good,” And a lady was literally shivering.
Ian inhaled the fresh air in a large amount of breath and sighed, turning to look at the people.
“And, we walked for more than 2 miles now, without a word on things I wanted people to catch up on. Let’s have a little seat. I know the legs must be dying and cursing me silently,” Ian said and everyone sat in the thick-black rocks that were scattered around the place.
“This… Is the most beautiful thing ever to exist. I want the world that is painted in my head to be like this. The avatars are little beings when compared to the big forest—Pandora. That is how I want this to be, I want the camera team to focus on little details in the forest. I know Niko and Raelynn are already taking notes from their mind on the cameras in their hands, and the sounds… Just listen to your breath, I’m sure even it sounds completely different to you if you hear it closely right now.
That’s the whole deal with a forest…”
“Where to begin about the movie… So, let’s start with the political side of the world. The world is certainly about imperialism in the sense that the way human history has always worked is that people with more military or technological might tend to supplant or destroy people who are weaker, usually for their resources…” Ian started explaining while many listened and some others walked around the location to watch the beauty of the place.
Then, they walked back to the place where they had organised to rest due to how tired they had been on the first day. The forest journey barely covered anything at all on the first day.
It kept getting darker, and they suspected it must be around 6 pm, due to how the sounds and the darkness covered the sky.
[...] Around the bonfire, some had snuggled up into their blankets, and some were talking among themselves. And, Ian was talking to Raelynn and Niko about the world, with Mason by his side.
The fire in front of them gave them a cosy feeling. And after an exhausting day of walking and admiring the plants, many of their brains weren’t ready to continue the discussions Ian was having.
“.... All in all, it’s not about Jake and Neytiri and that plot. It's about you going to Pandora.”
“Yes, but in front of the valley, you mentioned the floating rocks… Elaborate?” Raelynn questioned with the recorder in her hand.
“Yeah, right after crossing the bridge. The picture I drew there… It should be made in the Pandora we create. That’s something that makes the world so special. And as I said, the avatars are larger beings than us, but in their world… They’re small. Pandora basically protects them, and the major visual feature of Pandora is Mo’ara and the floating valleys,”
“Ah, if the movie hits it high… We can create an actual world like this. Although I think for the production, we’d need more than thousands of people,” Raelynn said while Niko nodded agreeing with her.
“Yeah, Goofy would provide us with it, uh did I mention about the flora?... So, the landscaping should consist of real Earth plant species mixed with sculpted Pandora flora, with each alien plant requiring its own concealed control box to create the necessary amount of illumination in bioluminescence during the evening hours. It’s like….”
“Magic?” Raelynn questioned making both of them chuckle.
“Exactly…”
[...] Two weeks passed by, the days were long and the nights were short. Currently, the entire crew was at the peak of a mountain.
The view from up above was frightening. Trees everywhere, and the depth if taken a fall downwards, was something that one would feel frightened for one’s dear life.
“Cruise to the Mariana Trench! Here we come!”
A person who stood at the tip of the peak shouted. Everyone else joined him and with the way their voices got lost in the vast field of trees in front of them, they gave thought to nothing but enjoyed it as it was.
The forest trip had changed lives.
Some were mind wrecked and some were pumped to the core. Nevertheless, the next destination was something that made almost every one of the thirty-five feel ‘things’ they never felt before.