Re: Caesar: Rise of the Apes (a POTA prequel): Will you see it?
FictionBecomesFact":2ympoox5 said:
Looks like the release date is June 24th, 2011. Here's some additional info:
http://www.daemonsmovies.com/2010/05/21 ... -the-apes/
Are you looking forward to it?
Awwww... crap. Here we go...
From the link .
."No human actors will play the role of any apes in the film, with New Zealand based WETA on board to digitally render all the apes. The company will employ many of the same groundbreaking techniques seen in the hit film “Avatar”. "
WTF?
That is going to "kill" the movie, IMO. 3D for the sake of 3D is starting to get annoying. I'm a huge fan of 3D. It's my hobby. The more I learn the more obvious it becomes that 3D has its place in art/film but, there is a huge technological leap that we have not yet overcome. We haven't been able to overcome the "Uncanny Valley" yet.
The Uncanny Valley directly applies to human-like robots or androids. But, the principle can be the same with realistic 3D figures in that no matter how "realistic" we can get, there are nuances regarding organics and living beings that we have not yet been able to overcome with 3D alone.
One of the chief reasons for the old Planet of the Apes success has to do with Chamber's award winning makeup and prosthetics. These allowed the actors beneath the makeup to "Act." The nuances of their facial expressions shown through with dramatic clarity. When McDowell was angry, you knew just how angry he was. When he was smiling, you saw him "smile." When it was time for a dramatic gopher look, he was the dramatic gopher. We can't reach that level of facial tracking for 3D yet. Even motion tracking is still in its relative infancy. Who's going to bone a fully articulated simian skeleton and then motion track it? Who's going to track the subtleties of a calf muscle vibrating when the foot hits the ground?
I worry that this pre-quel is going to rely too heavily on 3D when it shouldn't. Ceasar was a character the audience could identify with because they saw him as a living, breathing entity. Weta Digital's artist Ray Baitt is the primary creator behind one of the most complex 3D characters ever scene - Gollum. Baitt knows his stuff. I've read a lot of his online work including his posts in several forums. The guy is a master of his profession. If anyone can do it, a staff lead by an artist of his caliber would be what I would pick.
But, Gollum was a supporting character and, let's be honest, we "knew" he was a 3D character. Sure, the model and animation were unsurpassed but, for all that, as soon as the model was put on the screen you knew it was a model. Luckily, Gollum had deviated from his original, sorta-hobbitish form so much that we weren't faced with too strong of an Uncanny Valley when we watched his performance. Besides, Gollum was a supporting actor. That's what 3D should be about right now in a live-action film - Supporting the actors and the story.
Characters in ape-suits brings about a classic comical image. But, that was before The Planet of the Apes. Nobody laughed at those apes. They weren't funny, there were serious. The special effects worked so seamlessly with the film and the story that it was simply "transparent." The best special effects you will ever see will be special effects you don't even realize are special... There's no reason I can see why we can't take the same road as the classic and cajole the audience to accept genetically enhanced, humanoidish apes (actors in a monkey suit) and then get on with telling a story and building up the audience's interest in the characters instead of focusing on special effects.
It's going to have "3D" characters in it because that will sell some extra movie tickets, not because its a necessary special effect for the story. The story is all important. I'm tired of producers/directors pushing the camera into 3D where it is not necessary.
Either Ceasar will turn out to be a reviled and hated icon of what's wrong with over-indulging in 3D or someone at Weta will work a miracle and we won't even notice it's a 3D character. I'm betting on the former.
I liked the POTA franchise and am currently working on my own 3D POTA project. So, maybe I'm a bit touchy on the subject. But, I'm tired of seeing overindulgences in 3D being passed off as "artistically necessary" where they are not. I'll still manage to see it but, I won't be so enthusiastic now that I've heard we won't be seeing live actors on the screen for the story's main character.
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