From London to Wellington, Valencia to Vancouver, Camille Turon has worked for TeamTO, Cinesite, MPC, Blue Zoo, until landing on the other side of the planet, at Wētā FX Studios.
It was there that she ventured onto Pandora for the first time, as3D animator on Avatar: The Waterway, a film which (let’s not forget) made headlines by grossing over 2.3 billion dollars at the box office.
Today, Camille stars inAvatar: Of Fire and Ashes, the third instalment in James Cameron’s blockbuster franchise.
The film has just been released in cinemas in France, where it has had an excellent start, and Camille agreed to share her experience of this huge project with us.
Sublimate through animation
Avatar, shot for the most part in live-action in gigantic tanks and with insane resources, is on the borderline between animated and live-action cinema. It was on this border that Camille Turon navigated during her experience on these two films, in 2022 for the second instalment, and in 2024 for the third, which is the subject of this article.
“My role was, to be precise, Motion Editor or Performance Animator“, Camille explains.
“My mission: to improve animation from motion capture.Performances filmed through highly complex systems developed (as is almost always the case with James Cameron) especially for this universe.
The scale of this effort can be seen in the documentary De feu et d’eau: la création d’Avatar, available from 7 November on Disney+. Even though it focuses on the live-action aspects of the project, this resource gives a better understanding of the many challenges faced by the animation teams, of which Camille was one.
A question of scale
Without revealing too many details of this project, which was kept secret for many months, Camille remembers: “One of the biggest challenges, when you work on Avatar in my field, is having to adapt a human-scale animation to a Na’vi scale”.
The humanoid aliens, to whom Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington lend their bodies, are in fact much larger than a traditional human.
“Depending on the situation, this can sometimes prove complex, with this significant difference in scale between the bodies. The deadlines were quite intense when we worked on La voie de l’eau.
Much less so on this new film, because we not only had more experience, but also more time.”
An experience that Camille had also been able to put to good use on several other Wētā FX projects, a studio with which she collaborated for over three years. In addition toAvatar, the ESMA alumna is also credited on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), Planet of the Apes: The New Kingdom (2024), Captain America: Brave New World (2025) and the film Minecraft, not forgetting the prestigious series
The Last of Us, the second season of which was a great success last spring.
Cutting-edge technology combined with mastery of design
“As for the software,” adds Camille, “we worked on Wētā’s in-house software, optimised for motion capture management. But beyond that, our team also worked closely with other animators operating on Maya, but also with the prep and layout teams, and the animation technicians. Overall, we all benefited greatly from the experience of the previous Avatar, and this was also reflected in the inter-team communication, which was quite good and very well managed on this third film.”
And when asked which of his training achievements were most useful to him on this project, his answer is sincere. “My notions of animation, obviously, but also my learning of anatomy, and for that I thank my drawing teacher Jean-Marc Urquidi!”
“Even under pressure, if a team sticks together, we can do anything!”
Today, as she embarks on a new phase of her professional career in Sydney, as a presenter with DNEG Studios, Camille emphasises the importance of this experience in her career path.
“Working on Avatar allowed me to develop my skills in terms of animation, but also in body mechanics( i.e. understanding body movements so that they can be realistically translated into animation).
From a human point of view, it was also a unique experience. Today, I know that even under pressure, if a team sticks together, you can achieve anything!
This experience also enabled me to learn how to manage a project, deadlines and planning within a very large team, which is a real asset”.
What about tomorrow?
WhileAvatar and James Cameron’s characters are now conquering the world, Camille Turon is also dreaming of new projects.
“I’d like to get back into feature animation, to keep improving in all areas. Today, my experience in animation is very diverse, and it reflects my tastes and influences.
I enjoy both cutting-edge special effects and 3D animation like Avatar and traditional 2D animation. This diversity is the magic of our profession.
For all that, Camille remains pragmatic about the state of the industry.
His advice to young people?
“Developments in AI are happening very quickly, so we need to remain vigilant about this, and not hesitate to pounce on opportunities.”
These opportunities are increasingly dependent on the ability to work internationally, as French expertise remains highly sought after in studios in London, Vancouver, Sydney and elsewhere.
And who knows, the students currently studying 3D animation and VFX at ESMA, who are always at the cutting edge of technology, may well have the chance to follow in Camille’s footsteps and add their name to the nextAvatar credits?