'Avatar' sequels to feature underwater performance-capture animation

LAS VEGAS, April 8 (UPI) -- Film producer Jon Landau says the upcoming "Avatar" sequels will feature underwater performance-capture animation, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Performance-capture animation is when computers are used to faithfully recreate an actor's facial expressions and movements.

"We have kept a team of digital artists on from 'Avatar' in order to test how we can create performance capture underwater," the entertainment industry trade newspaper quoted Landau as saying at a weekend technology and film conference in Las Vegas. "We could simulate water [in computer graphics], but we can't simulate the actor's experience, so we are going to capture performance in a tank."

Directed by James Cameron, the 2009 science-fiction flick "Avatar" was a box-office blockbuster that earned nine Oscar nominations, including nods for Best Picture and Best Director. It won the Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.