Seeds from 'Xenogenesis': Origins of James Cameron's Movies

(Please excuse the poor production values: my PC is glitching and dying out.)

This mini-documentary explores five concepts from James Cameron's movies which were first touched upon in Cameron's own 1978 amateur sci-fi short, 'Xenogenesis'. This video was produced by JamesCameron.Blogspot.com.

You can view 'Xenogenesis' (it's 12-minutes long) at pretty much any online video-hosting site.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• james cameron
• xenogenesis
• terminator
• terminator 2
• t2
• aliens
• avatar
• james cameron's avatar
• jim cameron

[Kapp2007]

anyways, much thanks for talking about this short film and the ideas that Cameron visited later...not to mention the fact he used the SAME sound effect from this film for the sound of the T-800 endoskeleton walking at the end of T-1

[CameronFanSite]

Kapp,

My pleasure. Thanks to you for taking the time to comment.

(I wasn't aware of the sound effect re-used in The Terminator. At JamesCameronOnline, a number of the fans noted that there was a significant melody re-used from 'Aliens' as an homage. Because I didn't notice it despite seeing both movies numerous times, I guess that I'm just less acoustically astute than the average James Cameron fan.)

[02Tony]

I can't seem to get past 0:28; is this happening to anyone else since it's been three days now that I can't watch this.

[RedtopStudios]

Good stuff,

also the janitor robot might have been ripped off in pixars W.A.L.L..E. but i'm sure Cameron doesn't need the money from a possible lawsuit or if he'd be fussed with one.

[Kapp2007]

I just finished my first sci-fi student film last month, and I mean, it's 2010, we have Adobe After Effects, we have Apple FinalCut, etc etc... and I still don't think my film looks anywhere near as cool as this short film Cameron did over 30 years ago. a lot of the ideas I have learned as far as camera tricks to pull off special effects cheaply, I've learned from listening to the director's commentaries from Aliens and T-2...seriously...

[CameronFanSite]

Buffalloo:

The story about camera's trick to get the maggots to "act" at New World went like this: the maggots were covered in some sort of slime and they were supposed to writhe around in it. But they were inert. So, Cameron hooked ran a battery to them to stimulate them to move and when he yelled "Action", a grip flipped the switch and away the maggots went. The visiting producers were so impressed they hired him for 'Piranha 2'.

It might be a little exaggerated or apocryphal.

[BuffalooButterflies]

I've only read a little bit about what Cameron did at New World, some "worm"-trick Cameron put on in front of visiting executives perhaps, co-directing some schlocky b-picture maybe, meeting Gale Anne Hurd (or were they friends from before?) and his miniature/FX/matte work on John Carpenter's Escape from New York I presume. It would be interesting to know more specifically what he did before.

To be honest I never saw Piranha 2 but from what I've gathered it doesn't seem that much of a loss.

[CameronFanSite]

Yeah, I agree that Xenogenesis suggests that a "gestation period" was needed (that's a good term!)

But one interesting thing is that Xenogenesis showed that he knew all the hardest stuff: effects and storytelling.  So he needed to learn more fundamentals....but all those are easier. It's like "lessers included", ya know?

So, like you said, that "gestation period" (where he was working like a slave at New World Pictures) was needed.

[BuffalooButterflies]

From seeing and reading a lot about filmmaking, art and expression in general my own conclusion would be that Xenogenesis shows potential. The moving image is not only about story or narrative or even smooth transitional fragments but are sometimes the image in itself, what it displays and imagination. Xenogenesis hints at what Cameron would fullfill in Terminator/Aliens and his other work would show that every good artist might need a gestation period for their ideas to find the right form.

[CameronFanSite]

Yeah, if you watch 'Xenogenesis' (like noted in the video, it's free online), you'll see that there's no way that Cameron was ready then to actually direct a full picture: the style and pacing of the movie was, ya know, just totally amateurish. The effects and ideas were great, but I think it was clear he needed more experience.

So he used 'Xenogenesis' to get work for Roger Corman, then that to get 'Piranha 2'....and then, after about 5 years of grueling labor, he was off to the races.