Motion capture is a technique for recording and processing the movements of people or other objects.

Traditional three-dimensional animation mainly with the help of MAYA and other three-dimensional software, such as the production of animation effects, its animation character action also through the animator in the late use of K frame adjustment. This approach requires a lot of human, financial and material resources and is not very efficient. And some of the movements are too complex, and the effect after the k-frame is often unsatisfactory. The most obvious advantage of motion capture technology is that it can significantly improve the effectiveness of animation production. This is because since all movements are performed by a human being. This allows even very complex movements to be made. The computer can also simulate them, so that the best results can be achieved.

Thanks to the creation of motion capture technology, more science fiction films have been brought into our world. For example, the princess of the Nami tribe in the earliest Avatar, the fierce Gollum in The Hobbit, the gangly stuffed bear in Teddy Bear and many other classic characters. They were all brought to life by motion capture technology. And it’s not just in films that motion capture technology excels. It is also used in games and other areas. EA’s NBA2K and Fifa, for example, use motion capture technology to record the movements of athletes in their games. This gives players the most realistic experience in the game.

In summary, motion capture technology currently has outstanding advantages in all areas of creation. And it has influenced the whole environment of special effects. It will also have even better developments in the future.

Rashomon is a 1950 film by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, based on a novel by Japanese author Ryunosuke Akutagawa. Citizen Kane, on the other hand, is a film by Orson Welles made in 1940. Although they are 10 years apart and on two continents. But the two films have many similarities in their narrative structure. And they have inspired endless films since.

Both films use non-linear narrative in their narrative approach. Citizen Kane tells the story of the life of newspaper king Kane, opening with his death and using the unsolved mystery of the rosebud as a thread throughout the film. In the search for the truth, the journalists interview five people close to Kane, in turn, recounting his near-legendary life from his childhood through to his death. Through his life experiences and the rise and fall of his career, the audience is presented with the complex facts and truths behind a capitalist myth.

Rashomon tells the story of the murder of a samurai in the Heian-kyo era. The woodcutter, the robber, the wife of the deceased and the witch are all called as witnesses for questioning, but surprisingly, they give very different and contradictory testimonies, and the case is full of doubts.

Both films use a multi-perspective narrative approach to an event. Again, the whole story of the film is made more confusing by the unconventional chronology. The advantage of a non-linear narrative is that it adds a sense of suspense to the story. It makes a simple story even simpler. It allows for more reflection and immersion. It is this kind of narrative that appears several times in Quentin’s subsequent darkly humorous films. It has become a common approach to suspense films of later generations.

Rampage is a 2018 American sci-fi monster movie directed by Brad Peyton and loosely based on the Midway Games video game series of the same name. The film follows a primatologist who must work with George, an albino western lowland gorilla who has been transformed into a huge, rampaging creature as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying Chicago. The movie has 652 shots made by Weta Digital effects company, most of which are creature shots.

I think the best part of the whole movie is the design of three mutated animals. A mutant lizard, a wolf and a giant albino gorilla. weta digital is very good at making creature effects.

In terms of special effects, the albino orangutan is produced using a motion capture approach. George the gorilla is played by Jason Liles. the eyes of George are also used Jason Liles’ eyes. And the show’s special effects are also borrowed from the model of Red in War in that year’s Rise of the Planet.

In contrast to George, Ralph and Lizzie have no motion capture; they were created entirely with keyframe animation by Weta character animators. The evolved monsters are complex, and not just due to their size. Considering the film’s premise that they are genetically modified, the animators had to animate not only a giant wolf with porcupine spines and wings.

The whole movie shows the creature effects to the fullest. It was one of my favorite movies at the time. It was also the reason why he influenced me to want to learn vfx in the future.