Scene Description Spotlight: “Avatar”

There are many reasons to read and analyze the script to Avatar (2009), at last count about 2.7 billion of them by one measure. Today let’s focus on what screenwriter-director James Cameron does with scene description, specifically how he introduces us to a new world — Pandora.

EXT. SPACEAgainst the cold infinity of stars glides an INTERSTELLAR
SPACECRAFT -- ISV VENTURE STAR. As it moves past like an
endless train, we realize this thing is ENORMOUS -- over half
a mile long. PAN WITH IT 180 to REVEAL --A GAS-GIANT PLANET called POLYPHEMUS, ringed with
dozens of moons which cast beauty-mark shadows on its vast face.The ISV diminshes away from us toward the largest MOON-- a
blue and surprisingly Earth-like world called PANDORA. The
ship dwindles to a speck against the BLUE MOON.CUT TO:EXT. PANDORA ORBITISV Venture Star drifts above a spectacular vista -- the
sapphire seas and unfamiliar continents of Pandora.CLOSE ON ISV -- two massive "VALKYRIE" SHUTTLES are
mated to a DOCKING NODE. One of them separates from the
starship and moves away, its thrusters FIRING in short bursts.As the shuttle moves away, descending toward Pandora, we hear
the sound of DRUMS, building, louder and louder until we --CUT TO:EXT. RAINFOREST - TWILIGHTFLYING OVER A LANDSCAPE of massive cliffs and towering mesas
carpeted in rainforest. Great scarves of cloud swirl around
the mesa tops. A primeval landscape, vast and forbidding.The trees are alien, the color too cyan. There are
waterfalls, rivers, and distant flocks of WINGED CREATURES.Suddenly the carpet of virgin rainforest gives way to --AN OPEN-PIT MINE. A lifeless crater -- as if a giant cookie-
cutter took a chunk out of the world. Down among the
terraces are EXCAVATORS and TRUCKS the size of three story
buildings.And beyond the mine is the HUMAN COLONY --EXT. HELL'S GATE - TWILIGHTHELL'S GATE is a cluster of squat concrete and steel
structures surrounded by chain-link FENCE 10 meters high,
topped with razor wire.At the corners are towers with automated SENTRY GUNS
swiveling on servo mounts.Visible beyond the gun towers, the VALKYRIE SHUTTLE roars in
across the treetops. VECTORING NOZZLES change angle,
bringing the ship to a SLOW HOVER.EXT. RAIN FOREST - TWILIGHTThrough a screen of jungle canopy, we see the VALKYRIE
thunder overhead. Camera TILTS with it until leaves block
the view.A BLUE INHUMAN HAND reaches INTO SHOT, parting the
foliage to reveal the shuttle hover-taxiing across the compound.REVERSE -- ECU of two intense, cat-like golden EYES watching.

One of a screenwriter’s tasks is to create a specific sense of time and place in the story world they describe. And this is a significant challenge when that world is a different planet. It requires the reader to make a transition in their mind’s eye — from this world to that.

Cameron starts that transition as soon as he identifies Pandora by describing it as “a surprisingly Earth-like world.” That gives the reader a reference point. The next description:

ISV Venture Star drifts above a spectacular vista -- the
sapphire seas and unfamiliar continents of Pandora.

Spectacular… sapphire… unfamiliar. That conveys both beauty… and a world that is different and strange. Cameron underscores both of these impressions with his next scene description:

FLYING OVER A LANDSCAPE of massive cliffs and towering mesas
carpeted in rainforest. Great scarves of cloud swirl around
the mesa tops. A primeval landscape, vast and forbidding.The trees are alien, the color too cyan. There are
waterfalls, rivers, and distant flocks of WINGED CREATURES.

Massive cliffs… towering mesas carpeted in rainforest… great scarves of cloud… that projects beauty. A primeval landscape, vast and forbidding… the trees are alien… distant flocks of WINGED CREATURES… that reinforces the sense that we are a stranger in this world. And then:

Suddenly the carpet of virgin rainforest gives way to --AN OPEN-PIT MINE. A lifeless crater -- as if a giant cookie-
cutter took a chunk out of the world. Down among the
terraces are EXCAVATORS and TRUCKS the size of three story
buildings.

Open-pit mine… excavators… trucks… evidence of human industry, allowing us to touch base with part of a world with which we’re familiar. But it feels unsettling, doesn’t it, amidst this beautiful planet? That sense is driven home here:

HELL'S GATE is a cluster of squat concrete and steel
structures surrounded by chain-link FENCE 10 meters high,
topped with razor wire.At the corners are towers with automated SENTRY GUNS
swiveling on servo mounts.Visible beyond the gun towers, the VALKYRIE SHUTTLE roars in
across the treetops. VECTORING NOZZLES change angle,
bringing the ship to a SLOW HOVER.

Cluster… squat… concrete… steel… chain-link fence… razor wire… towers… sentry guns… all the descriptors and even the name — Hell’s Gate — a stark contrast to the natural landscape. And so straightaway, Cameron establishes a conflict that is central to the drama: Two distinctive views toward nature — one at harmony with it, one attempting to master it.

Then Cameron does something that both tantalizes the reader and personalizes the story:

Through a screen of jungle canopy, we see the VALKYRIE
thunder overhead. Camera TILTS with it until leaves block
the view.A BLUE INHUMAN HAND reaches INTO SHOT, parting the
foliage to reveal the shuttle hover-taxiing across the compound.REVERSE -- ECU of two intense, cat-like golden EYES watching.

Again a contrast, only starting with the human perspective — the Valkyrie — and ending this time with a representative of Pandora. Who is this creature? What is this creature? And what do its “cat-like golden eyes” see? How do they perceive what humans are doing to Pandora?

In a mere 1 1/2-pages, Cameron manages to transition us into this planet, creating a specific sense of time and place, setting into motion the central conflict of the story, and teasing us about the planet’s inhabitants.

That’s good scene description.

[Originally posted April 22, 2010]