Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Andy Serkis Mocap Performance Channel

Andy Serkis has a new Vimeo channel dedicated to video clips and featurettes showcasing some of his motion capture work. Sadly not much is mentioned about all the animation that is added to his performances in post. There's no question Andy is a fantastic actor but there are dozens of equally talented animators helping to bring these CG characters to life on the other side of the mocap camera. Below are a few 'comparison' clips from Planet of the Apes.

More clips here // Andy Serkis Channel on Vimeo








And lastly some food for thought.

// Should Andy Serkis's monkey capture a mo-cap Oscar? via the guardian film blog


// Can Peter Jackson's Weta studios allow anyone to play a gorilla? via the Independent


Andy Serkis says "At first with Gollum it wasn't even performance capture, it was motion capture and then the facial performance was shot on 35mm film. Then the animators rotoscoped – basically painted frame by frame over my expressions, matchframing every facial expression I made. "
"You don't actually get to see the visual effects until months down the line when they all start to come in and the visual effects shots begin to replace the actual thing, well after the final edit. And the animators can calibrate the character on the computer: you can dial the curvature of the spine, so you'll notice by the end of the movie Caesar's absolutely upright. He's more human in his movements."



Also, here's the Andy Serkis insert from this month's Hollywood Reporter magazine.  

 





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

While the movies that Andy stars in have been entertaining...I would not support anything he has to say about his performance or chances of winning any type of award. He has plastered the media with countless interviews about how animators are not actors and don't deserve the credit of any type of performance. He has a HUGE ego and is obviously ignorant to whole process of animation and what happens when the animators interact one on one with Directors. I feel he doesn't respect the hard work and long hours that the actors behind the the cameras put in and therefore don't support any type of positive press for this selfish sub-par actor.

JP

Bryon Caldwell said...

I'm really surprised how much the press is pushing this. It'll be interesting how it all pans out.