Jeff watched the people slowly decrease from the studio. The place still had the setup as it was to the shooting, and some of the crew members were already working on removing them.

“Hello, Jeff!” Ian greeted seeing Jeff walk towards them.

Ian, Mason, Niko, and Raelynn were seated in front of the computer which had some of the pre-CGI shots.

Ian and everyone else knew why Jeff was there; to take a look at them.

“Ian, everyone looks very happy. Is it the after-affects of shooting a good movie?” He joked.

“Haha… No, more like, many are relieved. But the hard part starts now!” Ian replied.

After the little talk with Ian, Jeff also talked with Lucas and Raelynn. Then, the entire team moved to watch the last pre-CGI shot.

The shot was the final version of the last scene. The scene where the climax of the movie reaches.

[the video played on the little screen]

“So… What do you think, Mr. Sanson?” Ian questioned.

“I like what you did with the Avatars.”

Ian saw a ‘but’ coming from miles away. “But?” He asked.

“But, I think that because Goofy is a family-friendly company, I think it would be better if there’s nothing too ‘Gruesome’ or dark in the movie.”

Just like that, Ian understood what he was explaining. After a brief discussion which included them going back to the scenes and talking about it, Jeff explained that he doesn’t like the burning scene.

“....I think it’s a little too emotionally horrifying for the audience,” Jeff said.

“I disagree to change that actually. Because it basically is the core of the plot. The perceived betrayal and all of that. It just is impossible to change.” Ian explained.

After a little bit more explanation, the CEO left while he reluctantly agreed with Ian. Ian, later on, sent the footage to Lucas for the final VFX and CGI renditions and editing.

-

[At Renner Studio]

It was just the day after when the shootings ended. Throughout the two and half months, Ian had been spending time in and out of the studio, without even taking breaks in between.

Currently, Ian and Niko were in the office, checking out some scenes that had been shot and which Ian had noted before to check if the final cut was good enough.

“These avatars are quite interesting to be honest, even though I was thinking of saying that before, now only I remembered how I found them weird at first,” Niko said.

“Yeah, well. To think that Avatars have eyebrows and five digits per hand and foot while the Na’vi only have four digits and no eyebrows, and how Avatars are also broader in the chest and arms, appearing more ‘muscular’, you can call them weird. And oh- this scene please,” Ian said pointing to the scene he wanted to check again.

“Should I ask Murphy to bring some coffee?” Niko questioned.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll check this out,” Ian said while clicking the folder he wanted to open.

‘Final cut - scene 65 - Close-up’

He pressed ‘enter’ to open the file.

“Look where we are, Grace,” Jake muttered.

Grace’s eyes fluttered open. She then looked up wonderingly at the Mother Tree.

Grace had a wan smile plastered on her face. “I need to take some samples,” she said.

Mo'at then directed them to lay both the bodies among the roots on the altar rock. Mo’at touched Jake’s shoulder and he stepped back.

Mo’at silently said, “The Great Mother may choose to save all that she is–”

Mo’at’s hand indicated Grace’s avatar–

“ —in this body,” Mo’at muttered.

Then the camera focused on Jake, who just realized the enormity of what she was saying. Since there were several camera shots of the same scene, this was the close-up shot where they had focused on the facial expressions.

“Is that possible?” Jake asked.

“Possible, yes. She must pass through the Eye of Eywa– and return. But Jakesully– she is very weak,” Mo’at whispered.

Jake suddenly knelt next to Grace, taking her tiny human hand in his avatar hand.

“Hang on, they’re gonna fix you up,” He said for her to hear.

Grace was barely conscious. She gripped his hand.

“I– always held back. But you gave them your heart. I’m proud of you, Jake,” She said in a very weak voice.

Jake felt his throat close with emotion. Grace’s eyes blazed with intensity though her voice was faint.

“Cut!” Ian’s voice was heard after the shot.

“Fuck, this shot is so good. The emotions, the sadness, my heart literally stung,” Ian talked to himself.

“Heard someone needs coffee! Uh- were you talking to yourself?” Raelynn walked in with a tray of coffee cups in her hand.

“I guess I was, but thanks for the coffee. Highly needed,” Ian said and took a sip. ‘Fuck my tongue’ it burnt his tongue, but he didn’t want to show.

“How was it?” Niko came walking inside the studio.

“It was good, really good.”

“What was-?” Raelynn questioned, looking as if she fell from the sky.

Both Ian and Niko turned to look at her.

“Coffee or the shot?!” She gasped in a dramatic expression.

“Both!” Ian and Niko said in Sync.

“I’m really glad Mr. Freymond agreed with the soundtracks. I’ll have to pay a visit though, considering we gave quite a lot of proofs for him to make things up, I’m sure the perfect soundtrack would take most of the time. Not even the CGI and VFX,” Ian muttered.

“I doubt it, VFX takes quite a hell of a lot of time,” Raelynn said.

“I’m gonna say that Ian is right,” Niko sided with Ian.

“Alright, let’s see then. Future holds the truth, yeah?” Ian muttered.

Ian had his thoughts and theories which would be present and he could prove to himself, with the current situation, that the music would take a lot more time than the CGI.

Of course, he knew that in the original movie, any scene with Zoe Saldana was done 100% physically, facially, and vocally all at the same time. And it took a year to capture and transfer all of that to Neytiri. Some CGI scenes took an average of 47 hours to render. But here, Ian had helped with the sketches and many other things to easily create the character Neytiri.

The only thing which the VFX and the CGI teams had to do was, render the character into digital ones.

On the other hand, the original movie’s Composer, Sir. James Horner stated that this was his most difficult film and the biggest challenge of his career. He had said in an interview that he worked on the music from 4:00 am to 10:00 pm for a year and a half.

This also meant, for the next couple of months, Ian might have to focus on this movie, while sharing the other projects among Mason and maybe—Other directors.

“Let’s see, either way, we are all gonna be busy as heck after today. I honestly can’t wait to see the final product, I even mentioned it before, and that’s how much I think of it,” Raelynn said and took a deep breath.

“Rae, what if I asked what this movie is about?” Niko questioned Raelynn.

“Random, but okay. I’d say that This story is about aliens, which was the term given to humans in this film. using overwhelming strength to invade and annihilate a peaceful group of local inhabitants... similar to ‘Aliens’, so, you got my idea?” Raelynn answered, making both of them raise their eyebrows in surprise.

“That’s a good view. More like, unexpected coming from you. I thought you were all about ‘let’s watch the world through the lens,” Ian mockingly said.

“Trust me, it’s a part of my job description,” She said back.

“Yeah, let’s get back to work. I need to complete checking all of these before tomorrow, so it would be easier for y’all to take it from there.” Ian said. And then they got back to work.

Ian was aware of how hard the process with the music tracks could be. Due to that, the very famous, and experienced musician Mr. Freymon had made deals with Renner Studio to help with the project.

He was a man in his 40s, who still has a deep passion and good taste for music and background music tracks.

Ever since he got the contract, Ian and Freymon had been spending time creating the music to suit Avatar. After shooting, Ian would meet with Freymon who would already be working on Avatar by the time.

During those sessions, Ian explains what sort of music he wants, and it normally becomes a major help for Freymon considering how Ian knew what he certainly knew that he wanted.

In other cases, Freymon would be making music based on the movie, and the director or the other teammates would help here and there to make adjustments. But this….was a rare case.

“I’m sure we’re gonna need more coffees,” Niko said and joined Ian to watch the shots one by one.