James Cameron: The Man Behind Many Franchises

James Cameron is a man of many accomplishments. From his accurate depiction of the future of Artificial Intelligence in The Terminator franchise to the world-conquering portrait of the Titanic tragedy, the legendary director has showcased a great deal of hard work and dedication to his craft and, by the looks of it, doesn't seem ready to close up the director's chair anytime soon. His curiosity about the art of filmmaking allowed him to reach uncharted territories of success both commercially and artistically. And his talents continue to expand as the world slowly starts to confront inevitable change in our society.

What Was It Like in the Beginning of James Cameron's Life

Like many successful people, Cameron was an individual who started out from the bottom. Before the world was introduced to a revolutionary figure in filmmaking, Cameron started out as a low-paying truck driver looking for the perfect opportunity to harness his craft. Despite never receiving a degree in filmmaking, Cameron was put under the wing of Roger Corman, who was often nicknamed "The Big Break" because so many directors, artists, and writers began their careers working with him. And Mr. James Cameron was no exception. Once he got in contact with Corman, Cameron slowly worked his way up as an art director, visual effects artist, and second unit director among other things. Although Cameron left college without a degree in filmmaking, he replaced formal education with Roger Corman as his school, and directing his first movie as his unofficial degree.

Life as a Director

ENDOSKELETON as seen in The Terminator

As the years as Roger Corman's protege started to wane, James Cameron figured he had garnered enough experience in his company to graduate as a full-fledged director. His first project in this new role was a film called Xenogenesis, a Canadian-American science fiction short film that was made on a budget of $20,000. The reviews at the time were mixed, and its reception hadn’t changed in the following decades. The same statement could be made for his next movie, Piranha II: The Spawning. It received a higher budget than his first outing, but the reviews were overwhelmingly negative.

Despite those obstacles, Cameron was determined that his vision would be seen and appreciated by millions of viewers. Enter The Terminator. This movie was a huge risk for Cameron. He already had two strikes against him as a director, and many movie studios weren’t confident in this project because of his previous failures. But no one is a success story overnight. Trial and error are a given expectation when one is trying to succeed in any field. With the making of The Terminator, James Cameron collaborated with legendary makeup designer Stan Winston to design the cold-blooded killer.

Cameron designed the character after having a nightmare when filming for the movie began. Even with the lack of technology available at the time, The Terminator has widely been considered a masterpiece of filmmaking, depicting a dark and brutal future where artificial intelligence took advantage of the existing humans of the world. Back in the mid-1980s, this premise would have been seen as pure science fiction, but as tech continues to rapidly advance, society has to really reconsider the prophetic aspects of this movie.

Conclusion

With the critical and commercial success of The Terminator, Cameron was given free rein as a director, designer, and writer for many major films, including but not limited to Rambo: First Blood Part II, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, and Titanic. At the turn of the century, he put his talents to the next level with the release of Avatar, which took the world by storm. Taking full advantage of the newly introduced REAL-3D mechanic at the time, Avatar was an enormous success, grossing nearly 3 billion dollars, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, surpassing his previous movie Titanic, and cementing its creator as a box office juggernaut. His movies continue to resonate with millions of people across the world because of his love for the art of filmmaking. And sometimes, that is the type of creators that are needed in today's society.

Photo Credit: Variety