Motion Capture is the process of recording movements of objects or people and is sometimes used in the military, entertainment, sports, medical applications and for validating computer vision and robotics. In films, it works by recording the action of actors and then using that motion to animate digital character models in both 2D and 3D.
When it includes face and fingers or captures subtle expressions, it is then referred to as Performance Capture. Some of the Hollywood flicks that were made possible due to this process include The Avengers to capture the Hulk, The Lord of the Rings, Beowulf, Avatar, The Polar Express, Jungle Book, Planet of the Apes and Cars.
Andy Serkis has over 15 years of Motion Capture experience
Since the time that Andy Serkis brought the character Smeagol into life, there have been significant advances in Motion Capture which have not only revolutionalised the acting process for fantasy movies but has also greatly improved the quality of the films and the visual experience of watching one.
It's interesting to note that Andy after acting as Smeagol for the Lord of The Rings trilogy thought that he would go back to regular acting, the typical path that actors use. This was not to be as after finishing the role he got offered a part in King Kong, he took it and had never looked back just working on getting better making him be fondly known as the Godfather of Motion Capture.
Now the most interesting part to note is that Sir Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh once pitched to revive the Planet of the Apes franchise in the early 90s. They missed out and went on to film the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which also starred Andy Serkis.
So his beginning in Motion Capture led to his staying in it later, and now he is directing The Jungle Book, and in an interview for cnet.com, he said that Motion Capture is getting better and better as Christian Bale is enabled to perfectly play a panther in the movie.
This is a new level since actors are now able to play non-humanoid characters, creating a whole new level for Performance Capture.
The accuracy of Smeagol reading President Trump's tweets
Now when Stephen Colbert asked Andy to read out some of President Trump's tweets, I honestly got a sense of excitement to hear them out. Andy took the place cards, squatted on the chair in a rememberable Gollum position and started reading the tweets in that all too familiar, Smeagol voice.
The effect of Smeagol reading the tweets was to me, and according to Stephen Colbert's face, remarkable. It also made a lot of sense, especially the tweet about corfefe, and Andy asking after reading the tweet, "what does corfefe mean precious?" with Colbert replying nobody knows! Catch the full interview on the Late Show's YouTube page.
Andy Serkis was on the show to promote his new movie War of the Planet of the Apes which is scheduled to be officially released tomorrow the 14th of July 2017.
