Watch the whole video below:
Or watch the part that I found most interesting: Andy Serkis (the actor most famous for playing Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) reciting the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy from Shakespeare's Macbeth—but in split screen, with a human-looking Serkis on one side and a mo-cap (motion-capture) alien on the other. Watching an alien recite Shakespeare is an eerie experience. One is almost convinced that Shakespeare sounds better in the original Klingon. Here's the same video, but starting at 4:57 so you begin with the Serkis/alien soliloquy:
I love me some Andy Serkis, but that was definitely not my favorite reading of that soliloquy. Although I suppose the point was to show off the engine's capabilities, thus the over-the-topness.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know about you, but all of the human characters were deep into uncanny valley territory for me. I bought the goblin, and I even bought Dwalin. But Siren weirded me right the hell out. And I didn't even recognize Jyn until about thirty seconds in; I only picked up on the fact that it was supposed to be her from contextual clues. Somehow the character looks nothing like Jyn Erso to me, though.
The funny thing is that I cannot put my finger on exactly why Siren, in particular, falls into the uncanny valley. Also, "Siren"? Why would you give a female character that name? And, while we're at it... "digital human"?
Agreement all around: not my favorite reading of the soliloquy, and my reaction to Siren was the same. Something about the eyes, which were dead. Whichever model that was for Jyn Erso, that wasn't Felicity Jones. I, too, had to use context clues to figure out who she was.
ReplyDeleteI did appreciate the level of detail, especially on Dwalin—his skin, his facial hair, etc., were all amazing. His eyes and Jyn's eyes both had that little bit of moisture shining off the bottom eyelid, but I found myself wishing the images would blink or show a facial tic or something.
Yeah, it was probably the eyes. It's always the eyes.
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