Motion capture/Performance capture technology in movies- Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Christmas Carol, Polar Express- your views?

This tech is really old. I have no problem with it until George Lucas manages to fuck it up.

And it is used in a lot of video games about sports.

It seems to be a great alternative in creating one’s art in films as the medium. I think directors do it to temporarily explore and “paint their canvasses” with “watercolor rather than oil”. Also, part of the reason is the technology as a whole and not just motion capture, does sometimes serve the cinematic world of fantasy in better ways than real life settings and actual actors. It transports your senses far more into worlds not your own. It’s a visual feast for the human eye.

But all these tech are of course, still dependent on how engaging the plot is, how interesting the characters are and how the overall film impacts our sensitivities. Sometimes the motion capture and digital animation aspects tend to tire my eyes and overload my senses that I could not get into the story. I would take E.T. anytime to have a magical viewing experience than say, The Polar Express. The “human to human connection” between movie characters and the audience is still potent.

I don’t feel the uncanny valley effect, no. The baby from Tin Toy, though, is an entirely different story.. But I think it’s an interesting way of doing movies, though not particularly my favorite. So long as it’s used responsibly, I have no issues with it. The video game LA Noire uses motion capture to a great effect, and helps to immerse you in the story.

If it enhances storytelling, I like it. If it distracts from it, I hate it.

In some cases it is ok, but it is often not done well, and things done with actual people tend to be better.

Tintin: “Real Herge people”? I’ll have to see what they do, but I’m not helpful. Herge is dead. To me, “Real Herge” is what Herge made. I would expect the project to be better if Spielberg were not involved. What I liked about Tin Tin mostly was that it was pretty realistic for the most part. I would not think CGI would be necessary (or even helpful), and it wasn’t for the film that was made before Herge died. I suspect Hollywood, lacking in originality, is again trying to cash in by appropriating someone else’s creative success and making their own (usually inferior and annoying) version of it which they typically then proceed to take credit for like they came up with it themselves, even though they’re actually messing with the the original.

(I meant “hopeful” when I wrote “helpful”.)

The new Planet of the Apes movie (for which I saw a trailer today) looks like it is used heavily, to good effect. You are correct in mentioning the Uncanny Valley here. It may soon become something we will be very aware of.

@Zaku Herge and Spielberg are each others’ fans and Herge himself felt that only someone like Spielberg can give justice to Tintin’s movie version.(i read so in this wikipedia article) Ofcourse this was back in 1980s before Herge passed away, leaving a great legacy behind him. I personally feel that a lot of Tintin fans might also be feeling the same way about Spielberg. Though, only time will tell! I’m sure its worth the wait!