So I am looking at movie trailers, and I stumble across a movie I have seen a million times but always passed it over since I thought the poster, and name were nerdy, and stupid. Then I was reading Wired Magazine the other day and there was an article about the new era of 3D animation. They were talking about this movie, the very same one I had passed over numerous times, Beowulf. Apparently this new wave is basically movies that are entirely made with 3D animation, but the catch is... its all Motion Capture(MoCap). Why? I really don't understand it. I watched the trailer finally, and it looks like a regular live action movie, but for some strange reason they decided to make it all in 3D. Its obviously 3D also. I could see if it was 100% realistic, but anyone, even my mom should easily tell its all computers. Hollywood has done such an amazing job integrating live action with 3D so I really don't see their motive here. I really got the feeling I was watching the trailer for a video game. This "new wave" they speak of kills animators, and this particular movie does it for no reason.
The movie Monster House from a few years ago was even more frustrating to me because it was more of your typical 3D movie, but it was creative in the sense that it had cartoonish characters that a design team actually had to think up. This would make you think along the lines of Pixar and Dreamworks having an overworked very qualified team of animators pulling each little bone and joint into position bringing characters to life and past reality, you know, like the classics. Monster House tricks you, because they said to hell with animators, lets use MoCap! It was kind of like watching a movie about a car chase while riding in a car. It just didn't match up.
So this "new wave" is apparently spewing out a few more movies in the upcoming years, and I am not sure about what the point of it is, or maybe its easier to make??(I don't see that logic) Either way, I don't like it, and I hope its only a fad because if your going to make a live action movie with actors, there is no better way to do that then to shoot their faces with a camera and add in whatever CG you need to via compositing.
Go watch Toy Story.
3 comments:
agreed...
i don't see the point in "animating" something to look photo realistic. it didn't work for final fantasy, and it doesn't work for these movies. monster house was a success because it mimicked the style of a classically animated film. who wants to see a pg13 cgi cartoon?
The fact that Monster house was a "success" scares me, and it should scare everyone in animation.
My mother forced me to go with the rest of the family to see Polar Express. The creators of the movie used live action to capture Tom Hank's movements as he played almost every character in the film. It was a horrible experience. The movie looked stupid, and slightly creepy. I usually am a fan of Tom Hank's work. But I have to agree with you Tim, if you are going to animate great...if you are going to use live actors use CG where you need it...its like a girl that puts too much makeup on. You really only should use it sparingly.
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