Is motion capture real acting? Is it possible to be successful in playing a character's emotions if that character is predominantly computer generated? If the Academy Awards are an indicator, the answer is no. But in the last twenty years, advancements in technology and stronger understanding of how the process works has seen a variety of three-dimensional motion capture performances. By far the biggest pioneer of this process is Andy Serkis, who is arguably the definitive mo-cap actor.
When New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson decided to embark on adapting J.R.R Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings to the screen, a major stumbling block was the creation of Tolkein's most complex character. In the wake of the success of Jurassic Park (1993), CGI would make it possible to create Mumakils, cave trolls and a giant eye, but Gollum was another story. Possibly the most important character of the trilogy, given his prominence in Frodo's story and the eventual destruction of the One Ring, he needed to have a physical presence on set, so that actors Elijah Wood and Sean Astin could react to him, and the digital animators could use genuine facial expressions to bring him to life.
To achieve this, Jackson turned to Serkis, who at the time was not a well-known face. Jackson knew he required someone who could make Gollum alternatively sympathetic and loathsome, a creature both pitiable and horrifying, something which wouldn't be possible if he had just come from a computer, although the decision to use Serkis in production wasn't made until his audition tape was sent in. By working on the set, Serkis was able to give Gollum a facial identity, to make it possible for an audience to work out what he was thinking and how he was reacting to certain situations.
Serkis' magnificent portrayal of Gollum changed the way motion capture was used. Instead of being alone in a room recording his dialogue, Serkis was captured directly, his body language, use of speech and movement ported directly into the computer as he was performing. There is a distinct difference between how he moves and acts when being Gollum, and how he does when being Gollum's alter-ego Smeagol. One of the highlights of the trilogy is the scene in which Gollum and Smeagol argue with one another. With Jackson filming them from different angles, and Serkis altering his posture, it looks as if there are two people, when in reality it is merely Gollum arguing with himself.
In every scene, every moment, every minor detail, Serkis fleshes out Gollum/Smeagol, making him as real a character as Frodo, Aragorn or Gandalf. Many of the most powerful moments come from his ability to contort his face, to somehow take a wretch of a figure and transform them into something living and breathing. His movements are expressions are so subtly performed it's almost remarkable to realise there is nothing like Gollum existing anywhere in the world. Serkis deserves a lot, if not most of the credit, for Gollum's extraordinary presence- without him, he would be a lot less memorable.
After completing the LOTR trilogy, Peter Jackson resumed work on his passion project, a remake of the 1933 film King Kong. Once again using the WETA digital team, Jackson, much as George Lucas had done with his Star Wars prequels, used the film as an opportunity to develop the potential for motion capture even further and chose to cast Serkis as the title character.
In many ways, Kong was a greater challenge for Serkis than Gollum. Whereas the latter was small enough that he could interact with his co-stars, Kong was 25 feet tall, making it physically impossible for Serkis to carry Naomi Watts the way Kong carries Ann Darrow. As a prehistoric ape, Kong was also designed to act like an animal that actually existed, meaning Serkis had to mimic his movements to how an ape would move. To achieve this, he spent time in Rwanda studying gorillas in the wild, allowing him to use what he observed as a baseline for his time on set.
Regardless of King Kong‘s issues in relation to length and pacing, Kong himself remains a staggering achievement, a fictional primate so realistic it's almost as if Jackson found a real one to shoot. Serkis' array of facial and visual tics, from confusion to anger, amusement to fear, make Kong by far the most nuanced and balanced character in the film. Kong acts as an ape would, does things an ape would, but does them in a way that is theatrically manipulated- and a lot of that is down to Serkis.
12Universal PicturesSerkis' relationship with Jackson later led to him joining the cast of Steven Spielberg's motion capture Tintin movie, playing Captain Haddock, as well as a return to Gollum in the first Hobbit film. The two of them have combined to make some of cinema's most breath-taking sequences.
Of all the roles Serkis has played through motion capture, be they Gollum, Kong, Captain Haddock or Snoke in the Star Wars sequels, none of them have required as much from him as Caesar in the recent reboot of Planet of the Apes. Over the course of three films, Caesar evolves from a young infant into a battle-hardened middle-aged ape, a creature who has experienced so much pain and loss, yet remains resolute in his beliefs.
Unlike with his other characters, Caesar is the lead of the trilogy and Serkis is the only constant throughout. Many actors appear in the three films, including John Lithgow, James Franco, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell and Woody Harrelson, but Serkis has to be the one who guides the audience towards what will eventually be the 1968 film. Roddy McDowall had originally played the part in an ape suit, but Serkis is able to do that rare thing- he makes a character associated with another actor unquestionably his own.
Caesar requires more from Serkis than his incredible skills in motion capture. Caesar has to change, to adapt, to develop. In Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), he begins life in San Francisco seemingly unaware of his origins before mounting an assault on the Golden Gate Bridge. In the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), he is now a father and has become the leader of the apes resistance following the simian flu that has wiped out most of humankind. Finally, the final film, War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), he is old, haunted by memories of Koba and must protect a mute girl from the war that has engulfed the world.
Caesar displays more character development, depth and humanity than many other human protagonists, a combination of confident writing and Serkis' inherent ability to see the emotion in this primate. With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes due for release next month, without his involvement, it's going to be a big test as to whether the series can survive without him.
Whether Andy Serkis should have won an Oscar for his motion capture work is a debate that will likely rage on indefinitely. What is clear, though, is that he is one of cinema's most adaptable and versatile performers, who can use motion capture in a way very few can. He has set the standard for just how much an actor can do when their face is not fully seen and it is unlikely anyone will be able to reach his standard any time soon.
