I promised in my February 15th blog that, upcoming in the near future, there would be a blog wherein I would take on the subject of the influence I have had on filmmaker James Cameron. Today's blog will not be the place where I cover this in what I regard as a thorough manner, it being that clips from Cameron's movie, "Avatar", are among the tools I would need to do justice to this subject. I trust I will be able to access and thereby include such clips in the future (when "Avatar" comes to TV). However, I can at least provide enough here for you to see the basic substance of my February 15th assertion that Cameron has been significantly influenced by me. And by you, I mean those reading this who have the inclination to put a few facts together, and the intelligence to appreciate what those facts say.
You may be skeptical of certain things I will be including here that, in order to be appreciated, require a degree of background knowledge of myself and my other influences on various rather substantial works by certain very important people, as documented in previous blogs through references to facts. And by you, I mean those reading this who are not inclined to put a larger number of facts together, yet would put the onus on me for failing to have facts that condense into a mere paragraph to complete their context.
And I will not even begin to address you who have ulterior motives for indicating skepticism. Who, as one might guess, tend to "visit" (and more) themselves upon situations that involve very, very powerful people and companies. I wish I had people at my disposal to address them for me.
If A Tree Falls In The Woods And Nobody Films The Person Who Heard It
In 1998, when James Cameron was the guest star on the season finale of the sixth season of the NBC sitcom, "Mad About You," I recognized that episode's use of the main idea of my 1978 16mm film (now a video posted at Archive.Org), "Log of a Log Log" (in which the Paul Reiser character is doing a documentary about a documentary about "Titanic"). In addition to the obvious fact that the idea in both "Log" and "Mad" are the same, a documentary about a documentary (admittedly, one appreciates that there could be occasions when someone else might also come up with this same idea without my help), I was already aware that "Mad About You" was aware of me, as they had in previous episodes made inside-references to me/my material.
Without going into detail, a certain number of those inside-references related to a girl I was friends with when I attended CalArts during the '70s (and with whom I haven't spoken since the '70s). This same girl worked for James Cameron on "True Lies" and "Titanic". Additionally, an important part of "Titanic" also included such inside-references. It seems that my secret importance is of such a degree and nature that, almost invariably, when this girl works on a movie, that same movie includes inside-references to myself that bring this girl to mind. [I have to look forward to the release of "Alice In Wonderland" in several weeks.]
Still from "Mad About You"
(6th Season Finale, 1998)
Excerpt from "Log of a Log Log" (1978)
If you have seen both "Avatar" and "Log of a Log Log", the connection between myself and Cameron is considerably more intense than the afore-described. The subject of the documentary that "Log" is a documentary about (again, "Log" is a documentary of a documentary) regards giant tree roots made into furniture by a company called Cricket Roots. Tom Garber, who was making that documentary, informed me that Cricket Roots got into trouble because of the fact that their destruction of the giant tree roots was being seen as some sort of violation. This clearly has "Avatar" written all over it.
Excerpt from "Log of a Log Log" (1978)
Although "Log of a Log Log" was posted on the Internet in 2006 (prior to which people generally had no opportunity to post videos for free on the Internet), this video/16mm film was made by me in 1978. In "Log" one sees documentary filmmaker Tom Garber, who one can also see on his website - he appears approximately 30 years younger in "Log" than he does on his website. If you wish to do further fact-checking, it is a matter of record that both Tom and I graduated from the CalArts School of Film/Video in 1978. One might also wish to look up on the Internet recent photographs of filmmaker Terry Sanders, also seen in my 1978 work as approximately 30 years younger.
Something In The Air
People with blue skin are not entirely unknown, in movies. This is something my videos, "Gosk 1" and "Gosk 2" (1994 and 1998, respectively, though posted on the Internet in 2005) have in common with "Avatar" - in and of itself, not enough to connect the two. Alright, but how about special significance given to white, non-snowflakes floating around? How many movies do you find this in, combined with there being blue-skinned characters? The "Woodsprite" in "Avatar" (described in this link as "like dandelion seeds") are key to the story, in that they are singularly responsible for the perception that Jake Sully (protagonist) should be considered for initiation as a Navi, a key storyline in "Avatar. In my video, "Gosk 2", the little white non-snowflakes are, as seen in the following excerpt, also given significance. They are not presented as merely being a benign part of the landscape, but as a special aspect of a foreign world.
Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)
Some Things In The Air
Up next, something that may seem comparatively less pronounced, in that the similarity cited becomes more significant when seen in the cumulative sense, i.e., when seen alongside other Steinhoff/Cameron connections.
In movies it is rarely seen, when we find "visitors" with the special advantage of flying around in spacecrafts, for those with nothing even remotely approaching like-technology to endeavor to engage them in like-manner. Again, you are asked to call upon your memory of "Avatar":
Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)
Something On Your Nose
Again, we've seen close to this sort of thing in movies before, however, the cumulative significance causes me to consider this worth citing: a blue-skinned face with a tan (Caucasian-looking) spot on the nose. I believe this hits it on the nose, even though a different part of the nose.
Excerpt from "Gosk 2" (1998)
Still of Jake Sully
"Avatar" (2009)
Plain As The Moon On Your Face
Those who remember back to my blog regarding "The Wolfman" (February 12th), and then edit that memory together with numerous other references in my blogs to Sean Daniel, producer of "The Wolfman", may appreciate this.
It is my assessment that there exists a "shorthand" (for lack of a better, less-syllabic word), whereby certain inside-references can be clearly determined in spite of the absence of their being clearly delineated/self-apparent. In my February 12th blog, which was created prior to my seeing "Avatar", I suggested the possibility of a future Spielberg film that might bridge things in "The Wolfman" to me/my material, as occurred with the 2008 "Indiana Jones" sequel (Spielberg) with relation to the 2008 "Mummy" sequel (Daniel) with relation to myself.
When I saw "The Wolfman", I noticed that a flashback scene showing Benicio Del Toro's character as a boy contained imagery that brought to mind the above clip from my "Gosk 2" video regarding white flakes. At the time I saw it, having not yet seen "Avatar", there was not enough for me to feel there was a basis for me to cite it as an inside-reference regarding me/my material. Now that I see that same exact moment brought to mind in the movie "Avatar", in theatrical release at the same time as "The Wolfman", I have to feel that there now is enough for me to cite it as an inside-reference.
Additionally, the flying bird POV shots in "Avatar" also relate to what I previously assessed (Feb. 12th blog) as inside-references in "The Wolfman" to me/my material. I recognize that flying bird POV shots are not unique to the three of us (Cameron, Daniel, Steinhoff), however, in conjunction with other factors, the significance changes.
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