Original subtitles

[FOOTSTEPS]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[CHEERING]

[SCRAPING]

[DIGITAL BEEPING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

JAMES CAMERON: There's a moment when you're just a fan.

And there's a moment when you're a filmmaker.

And the one moment can follow the other by about 1 minute.

Because all you have to do is pick up a camera

and start shooting something with the intention of making

a film, and you're a filmmaker.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[GLASS SHATTERS]

[SCREECHING]

JAMES CAMERON: There's a moment where there's no idea.

And then there's the moment where there's the idea.

And I think of it almost the way we assemble images and bits

of narrative in our dreams.

Maybe it's in another time.

Maybe it's in another place.

Maybe it's an entirely different world.

It's up to the filmmaker to create that little bit

of an alternate reality.

And then we get to feel kind of alive

through a completely different set of eyes.

That's an amazing thing.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

I'm James Cameron.

And this is my MasterClass.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

NARRATOR: Whatever you have imagined in your wildest dreams

now becomes a visual reality.

JAMES CAMERON: I had loved films.

I always loved films.

Like, I remember particularly when I was in the third grade,

I saw "Mysterious Island," a Ray Harryhausen film.

And it had lots of wonderful sort of little boy fantasy

adventure stuff in it.

I came back, and I started drawing comics, comics

about "Mysterious Island."

But it wasn't the same story.

I made up my own creatures.

And I made up my own scenarios.

And I started to think in a frame.

And I started to think-- well, I didn't realize it--

but I was doing wide shots.

And I was doing close-ups. And I was doing reverse angles.

And I was doing all the things that a filmmaker does.

So I was doing all those things, graphically, on paper.

But it didn't translate to I want to make movies.

So cut to years later, I'm very excited to see this new film

that's just come out-- this is in 1968--

called "2001-- a Space Odyssey."

Because I love space.

I love science fiction.

I'm an avid reader of science fiction.

And it looked from the images like it was really

a quantum leap in terms of the type of space imagery

that I was going to experience.

So I went and saw that film.

And it had such a visceral impact on me that by the end,

I was probably almost alone in the movie

theater for some reason.

It was a matinee during the day.

I stumbled out of the theater, I sat down on the curb,

and I threw up.

Not because I didn't like the film,

but because when the stargate sequence began,

I felt like I was falling down an infinite corridor of light.

And I got airsick.

I was so subjectively present for that film.

And when I see the film now, it's

a very hard film to be subjectively present for.

It's a very cold and intellectual film.

But I loved it visually.

And it was the first time I really--

at the age of 14--

made the connection that a movie can be a piece of art

and can be an experience.

And it was the first time I noticed film music.

Because obviously, images and music

went hand in glove in that film in a really kind

of almost unprecedented way.

So I started getting really enthusiastic about how

did they do that.

And it just so happened that that

was one of the first films that had a book, a companion

book, that was published and widely available,

"The Making of 2001."

And I remember it was written by a guy named Jerome Agel.

And I got the book.

And I read it cover to cover.

And I understood about a quarter of it.

So I read it again.

And I started making notes.

And I started thinking about, well, how could I do that.

So I got my dad's Super 8 camera.

And I'd take a sheet of glass, and I mount a model on it.

I'd buy a kit model of one of the spacecraft from the film.

And I put it together.

And I'd glue it onto the glass.

And I'd put a piece of black velvet behind it.

And I'd put a light on it.

And it looked terrible, because the model

reflected in the glass.

Then I thought, well, what if I take the model

and put it behind the glass and glue it on from this side

and then put, like, one little tiny piece of detail

over where that glue spot is, and then light it.

And I won't see the reflection.

Now, all of a sudden, I'm with my Super 8 camera,

I'm making a spaceship fly through space.

Well, I don't think I ever looked back from that point.

I always think of it as the door is going

to open for a split second.

Whether you choose to jump through it or not,

it's not going to be there for very long.

Another door will come along sooner or later,

if you stay at it.

When you jump through that door, and you say, I'm here.

I'm ready to do this.

You have to have prepared for that moment for literally years

by being a sponge, by being curious,

by absorbing everything that you can to prepare yourself

for that moment.

I think every filmmaker stands essentially

on the shoulders of the filmmakers that went before.

We see what they've done.

We react to it.

It's like, that was interesting.

And then we start to create our own aesthetic.

And every individual will take what's

been done by other filmmakers and filter it

through their own lens, their own subjective experience,

their own opinions about the world.

And it'll come back in a different form.

And so it's endlessly renewing and endlessly invigorating.

And I think it's the duty of filmmakers

that have been down the road ways

to turn around and say, all right, there's

a landmine over here.

There's a landmine over here.

Don't step on it.

You know, if I can't do that after 40 years in the business,

then I'm not giving back enough.

So why not share that?

So in this class, I'm going to talk about what I've learned.

And one of the things I've learned

is that you never learn everything.

And it's a constant process of learning.

So you're constantly humble before the craft.

And you're constantly learning from other filmmakers.

If I had known when I started out what I know now, of course,

I would have done a lot of things differently.

But I think my films would have been slightly

different, but not that much.

What I would have done differently

is I would have respected all the crafts people around me

more.

I would have learned the leadership lessons earlier.

And I think that that's something hopefully

that I can impart in this class--

the importance of the role of leader of a group.

It's not dictator.

And it's a very collaborative medium.

And your film will benefit from that collaboration.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

I think the important thing to remember

is you can make a great film without a huge budget.

[LASERS BLASTING]

I've done low-budget films.

[EXPLOSIONS]

I've also done very high-budget films.

[ROBOTIC MOVEMENT]

I've been lucky enough to be able to do that.

[WINGS FLUTTERING]

But you can definitely optimize your budget.

And there are ways to do that.

And I'll share with you what I know about some

of the tricks of the trade.

And I wanted to share what's been learned.

Because we had to learn it the hard way.

And there's no reason why I can't

share what's been learned in a way that can benefit you,

as an up and coming filmmaker.

And hopefully then you'll go ahead, and you'll innovate,

and you'll do things.

And I'll follow your work, see what you've done,

and maybe learn from you.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]