motion capture Tagged Articles at Cinematical

As Peter reported a few days ago, Robert Zemeckis is going forward with a Roger Rabbit sequel. We all seem to be intrigued by the possibility of returning to Toontown, but Zemeckis' obsession with motion capture really casts a Judge Doom-like shadow over the project. Will he motion capture Roger Rabbit and his Toontown friends? Or will Zemeckis return to the old school of hand-drawn animation?

MTV caught up with Zemeckis, who was quick to assure fans of the bumbling Roger that he will remain his cuddly 2D self. "I wouldn't use it for the cartoon characters, because I think they should stay two-dimensional because that's what - I wouldn't dimensonalize Roger," he said. "And I couldn't dimensonalize Jessica even if I wanted to because she doesn't have a nose. We wouldn't want to give her a nose." But motion capture will be a part of Roger Rabbit 2. The technology is like Zemeckis' whale, and he's determined to exploit every possibility with it. His current plan appears to involve using motion-capture for the human performances. "All the other characters that [the cartoons] would sort of have fun with would be magnificent in performance capture technology."

There's that Judge Doom shadow again. The clumsy way humans and toons interacted was the point of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? It was the contrast that was interesting and fun. Having animated humans just seems to take it on a trip into the Uncanny Valley. The project is still in its early stages, so maybe Zemeckis will surprise us, and have the technology be part of the story. Everyone on the interwebs seems to be championing the idea of the toons having to deal with technological advances. We can hope for that, and not that Zemeckis will just shove in a motion-captured cast just because he can't stop himself.

Click image below to view full poster

Cinematical has received this exclusive final poster for Disney's A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis' newest dive into the pioneering world of motion capture animation. The Polar Express and Beowulf director's spin on Charles Dickens' timeless tale of a bitter old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taken on a midnight journey of self-redemption by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet to Come, stars Jim Carrey as not only the cranky Scrooge, but all three apparitions as well.

As you might have guessed from the poster, Zemeckis' take promises to be the most wondrous adaptation of Dickens' original story to date. Substituting the dour introversion found in countless other cracks at the tale with a sense of adventure is a perfect fit for the man who created Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. If there is any doubt that Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol is going to be anything less than a must see exhibition this November 6th, just take a look at the roll call at the bottom of the poster: Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. That's every flavor the cutting edge tech has to offer.

And if the above poster doesn't sell you on the Disney sponsored trip to a magical, Victorian-era wonderland, I'm sure the below trailer will.

With Beowulf, the latest motion-capture film from director Robert Zemeckis, one of mankind's oldest tales is hurled up onto the movie screen using the cutting edge of new technology. As in The Polar Express, Zemeckis's first foray into motion-capture animated moviemaking, the actors are first shot on a soundstage, wearing motion-indicating elements that allow computers to turn their movements and facial expressions into sets of data; then, that data is animated by computers and artists, so that real motion and facial expressions can be re-cast in fantastic settings and melded with wild imaginings. As if that weren't enough, the resulting movie in this case has also been enhanced so the theatrical experience is 3-D; swords, dragons and flame leap from the screen, hovering right before your very eyes. It all sounds wonderful.

But, as so often happens in life, the execution falls somewhat short of the expectation. I know it seems like a betrayal of the critic's job -- to look deeper, to see beyond the obvious -- to begin with complaints about the animation in the film, but it would be even more of a betrayal of the critic's job to not point out the most obvious and glaring fact about Zemeckis's technique. Namely, that it looks horrible. A scientist working in the burgeoning field of the human perception of virtual simulacra would talk Beowulf's animation in the context of the "uncanny valley," the phenomena where, when confronted with a robot or virtual avatar that has a high degree of match to human movement and appearance, the human mind flip-flops and instead obsesses about the smaller elements of mis-match, jarred by the mistakes in the image instead of thrilled by the accuracies. (Confronted with a 98% accurate simulacra, for example, most people instead fixate on the 2% difference.) But I'm not a scientist working in the burgeoning field of the human perception of virtual simulacra; as a layman, I can only offer that in Beowulf (as in The Polar Express), Zemeckis seems to have created a world peopled by drowning victims brought back to life after a three-week soak: Pale, puffy, slow-moving revenants with no light in their eyes.

In a recent interview, character actor extraordinaire Bob Hoskins let some pretty big news slip regarding an upcoming Robert Zemeckis project. Says Hoskins: "He's going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey." Yes, it looks like director Zemeckis is prepping yet another adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, utilizing the motion capture animation technology he used in The Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf. And if we're to believe Hoskins, Jim Carrey will star in the film, although the article doesn't say which role he's got. Maybe he'll play multiple roles like Tom Hanks did in Polar Express? I think it's safe to assume Carrey will at least take on Ebenezer Scrooge, and If that's the case, the actor will have played the two most legendary Christmas haters of all time -- Scrooge and The Grinch. What does Carrey have against the holiday? Is it some sort of "Phoebe Cates in Gremlins" repressed childhood memory?

Hoskins has worked with Zemeckis before, he played Eddie Valiant in one of my favorite films -- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Asked about his role in A Christmas Carol, Hoskins says "He (Zemeckis) wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing it in that way he did Polar Express. You stand in a box with that funny suit on and it reads everything you do...Am I going to do it? Of course I am!" Hoskins as Fezziwig -- I like it. I'm not sure when Zemeckis decided motion capture is the only way to make films. I sure do hope he returns to traditional filmmaking at some point, the guy's made some great movies. I suppose he's got every reason to go back to the Christmas well after the seasonal success of Polar Express in IMAX. I liked Polar Express and all (the bizarre "Hot Chocolate!" musical number excluded), but does the world really need another version of A Christmas Carol? That has got to be one of the most filmed stories of all time. I guess it does generally work, especially when Bill Murray or The Muppets are involved. Would you guys see this one?

I must admit that I don't know much about this Tintin character, but I do know that his stories are pretty darn adored all over the planet. Plus now that I know how much Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson love the series, I'm definitely just a bit more interested. If you're like me and know Tintin only peripherally, get ready for a crash course: Variety just announced that Spielberg and Jackson will team up to produce a trilogy of Tintin flicks -- and yes, they'll be directing the films too!

Based on the very popular series of (23) books by Georges "Herge" Remi, the trilogy will re-introduce Tintin (and his pup Snowy) to popular (American) culture -- and probably help to sell a lot more books in the process. Apparently the character is an adventurous reporter who flits around the globe skirting danger and relying on a gang of colorful sidekicks. The movies will be created through the magic of digital animation, 3-D and state-of-the-art motion capture technology, but don't worry about the flicks losing that "personal touch."

Needless to say (because if you can't trust Spielberg and Jackson, who can you trust?), both filmmakers are adamant about being faithful to the source material. Says Mr. Spielberg: "We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live-action film, and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honor the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created." Regarding the way in which the beloved characters would hit the silver screen, Mr. Jackson had this to say: "We're making them look photorealistic; the fibers of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people --but real Herge people."

Variety speculates that this project could get rolling as early as next year, right after Spielberg finishes Indy 4 and Jackson finishes burying his Lovely Bones. Looks like each director will be helming their own movie in the Tintin trilogy, which is very exciting news, but it does lead to an interesting question: Who'll be directing the third chapter? Might I recommend Brett Ratner?

I have to admit right away that I'm not too familiar with the Tintin comic books, but I just recently watched Anders Østergaard's brilliant documentary Tintin and I, which is about Tintin creator Hergé, and I've been meaning ever since to pick up one of the titles. Now, I can either hurry up and read a copy of The Adventures of Tintin or I can be lazy and wait for the upcoming movie produced by Steven Spielberg, which DreamWorks has just greenlit. Spielberg has been interested in adapting one of Tintin's adventures for many decades, but he only recently reacquired the rights to the character. According to Spielberg.net, the movie might be done with James Cameron's new performance capture technology.

For those unfamiliar with the Belgian comics, Tintin is a reporter who travels to different parts of the world with his dog Snowy and occasionally with other characters such as a sea captain called Haddock. Hergé's drawings were detailed and extremely well researched to provide readers with as much authenticity as possible while also delivering smartly-written and highly entertaining adventures. It isn't known, even by the studio probably, which of Tintin's stories will be brought to screen first, though DreamWorks is hoping for enough success with the film to turn it into a franchise.

Now that Disney is no longer the best name in animation, it seems to at least be interested in controlling those studios that are the best. It already has Pixar; now it wants Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture, 3D films, which are the next big cutting edge thing in animation -- and very popular, too. Zemeckis already moved his production company, ImageMovers, to the Disney lot last year, but that didn't necessarily mean the director's animated films would have to be distributed by the Mouse House (so far, though, there's this one). His last home was at Dreamworks, but The Polar Express was released by Warner Bros. and his upcoming Beowulf will be brought out in the States by Paramount (foreign distro carried by Warner Bros.). He also produced the Sony-released Monster House.

It was announced yesterday that Zemeckis, with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, will start a new production company at Disney, which will envelope ImageMovers. It isn't clear, though, whether or not this partnership means Disney will be distributing all of the trio's animated films similar to its former deal (turned acquisition) with Pixar. If so, then only Dreamworks, with its potentially never-ending Shrek franchise, will be significant competition. However, it will be a long time before Zemeckis will be able to finish a film at Disney, and there's a chance that the Mouse House could ruin its reputation as a brand for 3D toons before it has the chance to show off the goods. Disney already left a bad taste with Chicken Little, and its upcoming Meet the Robinsons could very well be just as rotten.

Everyone's complaint with motion-capture, which was used to animate The Polar Express and Monster House, seems to be its inability to present realistic lip-synching. This is because the current motion-capture process uses special suits that only capture the movement of the actor's body, not his face. But this week a new system was demonstrated that will be more effective in capturing all human movement, and also even cheaper and quicker for animators to use.

The Contour Reality Capture System has actors covered in phosphorescent paint, which I guess is even applied on the face, since it is able to represent lip and eyebrow movement, and then it records the motion with two sets of cameras (I won't go into the technical details because I don't really understand them). The images produced with Contour are ready next day and cost a fraction of those made by current systems.

So, I guess the next thing is to get rid of movie stars? I'm not sure what the need is for computer animation to be more and more realistic. We actually already have the most realistic animation process, and it involves real people being filmed at 24 frames per second.