Twenty years ago, the world of cinema was introduced to a little film that completely changed the future of special effects. This little film was called “Star Wars.” It was one of the first movies to use digital graphics mixed with live actors, and no one has seen anything like it. Twenty years later, James Cameron has brought the movie event of 2009: “Avatar.” This movie brought 3D and CGI to a whole new dimension, and at this point is the second highest grossing film of all time. With this new take on digital graphics, will it be another “Star Wars”?

“Avatar was an impressive display of Hollywood’s technical innovations, and it really shows the power of today’s technology,” said senior Peter Brody, who saw “Avatar” twice.

And, yes, “Avatar” was an impressive display of Hollywood’s technology. The film used motion capture with the characters, which means the actors wore suits that capture their performance. This allows the actors to still be themselves even though they are nine-foot tall blue monkeys.

The director, James Cameron, has a knack for utilizing impressive visual effects. In his most memorable film, “Terminator 2,” the T-1000 was made of liquid metal, so it is able to change its shape and morph into other people. The film revolutionized modern CGI, and created something that no one has seen before. “Avatar” is a different story. While it does present some dazzling special effects and photo-realistic facial expressions, the 3D effects seemed like a gimmick to some.

“I think it is stupid,” said sophomore Georgina Kluser, who saw it three times. “It’s just an image pasted over another image.”

While this is technically true, 3D is a lot more than that. It is designed so that the audience is able to feel like a part of the movie, not to just have things pop in your face. “Avatar” attempted to make the audience feel like they were on Pandora, feeling the world around them. Now that the film is released, it could be possible that other films will follow suit as well. Or maybe more than films…

“We are looking to bring 3D beyond films,” said director James Cameron in an interview on CNET. “Soon, the news, sports, and video games will all utilize 3D effects. We’re not quite there but we are on the cusp of that and people need to develop a strategy for it.”

Cameron invented a stereoscopic camera for his film that allowed him to shoot in 3D, and the digital effects can be seen through the viewfinder of the camera. He is planning to mass produce this camera, allowing everyone (who has a big enough wallet) to use 3D in their own ways. 3D glasses may still be required, but when the technology improves glasses will no longer be required. Cameron also plans to carry 3D into laptops and cell phones.

“3D isn’t just for theaters,” Cameron said. “The real revolution comes as games and television also appear in three dimensions.”

Hopefully Cameron’s plan will work, and the world of entertainment around us will be in the third dimension. However, the world may have to wait decades for it to be fully developed. For right now, let’s just return to Pandora…