Film lovers around the world have been waiting for 13 long years to see Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all time.
But one particular man in regional Victoria has been holding his breath for the film's release.
John Garvin, who lives in the tiny north-east Victorian town of Yackandandah, was the supervising master diver for the production.
The film introduces new Na'vi characters called the Metkayina clan — deep-sea divers who have a connection with creatures of the sea, and can hold their breath under water for long periods.
Over four years Mr Garvin worked in Los Angeles and New Zealand with director James Cameron to bring the watery elements of the film to life.
It's a far cry from Yackandandah, which is a four-hour-plus drive from the nearest ocean.
"The irony of that is not lost on me," Mr Garvin said.
"It's all a bit surreal, I was walking the blue carpet [at the film's premiere] this time last week, and now I'm back in Yackandandah slashing paddocks and wrapping Christmas presents."
Water, water everywhere
"Jim was adamant right from the offset: everything that we see under water in the film would be shot, for real, under water," Mr Garvin explained.
He said most films that feature underwater scenes used a "dry-for-wet" method, which means filming with the actor in a harness in front of a green screen, adding wavy hair and bubbles later.
"But James Cameron is a diver and anyone who's spent any time in water will tell you that water dictates movement and if you try and fake that it's just obvious," he said.
"And I think even if you're not a diver you'll watch dry-for-wet and just sense that something's not right, and that can often be enough to sever the emotional attachment you have with the character and the story at the time."
That's where Mr Garvin came in. A commercial-diving supervisor, he has worked for the past 15 years or so supervising big, complex underwater film projects.
He had already worked with James Cameron on the 2011 feature film Sanctum. He also assisted on Cameron's project to pilot the Deepsea Challenger to the ocean's deepest point and document it in 3D.
During the more recent filming, they shot scenes for Avatar: The Way of Water, as well as for the third Avatar movie, which is set to be released in 2024.
Mr Garvin said they did more than 200,000 dives, sometimes with about 400 people on the set.
They had the cast under water, as well as an underwater-stunt-diving department, the lighting department, the grip department which builds the sets, and the underwater-camera department.
Mr Garvin coordinated all of that, and oversaw the safety.
"At the time it was a pretty stressful job," he said.
"It's only now that I can look back, now that it's in the bag and on the screen, that I can actually relax and enjoy it. I'm very proud of what the entire team managed to create."
All his hard work obviously made an impression on the storied director: one of the marine biologists in the new film (played by New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement) has a familiar name.
"I was very flattered when Jim said he'd named a character Garvin," he said.
"Then I watched the movie and the character is a little bit of a douche at times actually, so I'm not sure if that was a double-edged compliment."
Cast and crew trained in breath-holding
The unique method for filming Avatar: The Way of Water did pose a technical issue.
The ultra-violet camera that captures motion under water would get confused by any bubbles coming out of the mouths of people in the water.
The solution? Everyone in the water had to hold their breath during takes.
"All of the cast and in the end the crew had to be trained in breath-holding techniques," Mr Garvin explained.
They brought in Kirk Krack, one of the world's leading free-dive instructors, to train them.
And his techniques really worked.
"I was lucky enough to be in the water with Kate Winslet when she did seven minutes and 14 seconds," Mr Garvin said.
"Sigourney Weaver managed a six-and-a-half minute breath hold, which is quite incredible."
