Andy Serkis is well-known for playing motion captures characters, the popular being Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. He is also the director of Marvel’s Venom: Let the Carnage Begin.
In an interview with IGN, Andy Serkis shared how motion capture prepared him as a director for the Marvel movie. He shares how his experience of playing motion-capture characters, using the technology to the fullest, integrating the CG characters in the environment helped him direct the movie. As a director, his experience of the last two decades allowed him to inspire other actors to create a comfortable environment for CG motion actors to play their part.
Andy Serkis explains in the interview why using different motion capture was essential to differentiate between two characters. He says that they researched all the comic books with Carnage and tried to understand his movements. This is how they brought Carnage to life in the testing phase using motion capture.
The latest trailer of the movie shows Carnage using its tendrils to move. Whereas Venom moves his beasty body. Serkis comments on the difference in the movement. “So we brought on board parkour artists and dancers, and then really experimented with the fluid way… we wanted a very different way for [Carnage] to move than Venom. And so, we sought of used their movements as a way of generating a very kind of twisted, malevolent, very different energy to the way that Venom moves and fights.”
During the interview, Serkis credits Peter Jackson for using the motion capture technology accurately while filming “The Lord of the Rings”. Jackson knew that when using the technology we need to realize that there is a real being on the set. This is how Jackson created such fantastic characters on the screen.
Serkis continues using CG motion capture technology to portray characters such as Caesar in the Planet of the Apes franchise. He also mentions how technology has advanced since his Gollum days calling the technology 21st-century actor’s tool.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage releases on Oct.1.