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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Most disappointing films.
Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2025 08:14:34 -0700
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On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:18:52 +0000, Robert Carnegie
<rja.carnegie@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 08/03/2025 16:54, Paul S Person wrote:

<snippo Serkis doing fine as someone other than Gollum>

>> My understanding at time it came out and this was discussed in another
>> newgroup was that Gollum was /entirely/ CGI, using Serkis' acting only
>> as a series of reference points to be matched.
>>=20
>> So, for Gollum, we are seeing Serkis' acting -- but not Serkis
>> himself.
>>=20
>> But that could, I suppose, be wrong.
>
>I'd say that differently - that Gollum was
>a CGI costume which Andy Serkis performed in.
>However, this article calls it more complicated.
><https://www.polygon.com/lord-of-the-rings/22811800/gollum-lord-of-the-r=
ings-actor-andy-serkis-weta-digital>
>"The hands, feet, and, most importantly,
>facial expressions of Gollum were all
>animated later, using Serkis' performance
>as reference footage.  At times, the animators
>revised Serkis' performance, altering the
>physicality or even the facial expressions,
>to better suit Jackson=92s needs.  Serkis
>additionally dropped by Weta's offices to
>help the animators, modeling gestures or
>facial expressions they were struggling
>to realize."
>
>Also, the scenes were filmed with Andy Serkis
>acting with the other cast, again with
>Andy Serkis not in shot, and finally as
>Andy Serkis doing the motion capture
>acting on his own.  Evidently, the second
>and third versions were used to compose
>the film as seen.

I should probably have added "and his voice". Unless someone else read
the lines.

And thanks for the clarification/expanded view of how it was done.

I have seen several "making-of" DVD documentaries of animated films,
and using physical actors for reference is an old, old technique.
Indeed, the DVD of Disney's animated /Alice in Wonderland/ has film of
the actors themselves doing the Tea Party live on stage while the
animators sit around drawing them as rapidly as possible. Using
motion-capture simply updates the technique.

=46ilms are like sausages: one may like them without actually wanting to
know how they are made.

>Andy Serkis wrote a book about it, apparently.
><https://www.lifeisstory.com/nonfiction/gollum-how-we-made-movie-magic-a=
ndy-serkis/>
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"