The Adventures of Tintin

[Rac]

This looks so awful.

 

[dark_b]

This looks so awful.

it doesnt even look like a normal animated movie? it looks awful?

 

[Electrofarce]

This scares me in a good way. This is the first picture I think I've seen where the character's emotion is 100%.

It may look cartoony to some now but mark my words: This is gonna look NUTS in motion. t:

 

[redhawk23]

Polar Express 2004

I'd say some definite improvements in tech have been made.

 

[Dr Strange]

After reading the Empire article it has only increased my complete enthusiasm for this film. Cannot wait to see footage.

 

[CGHulk]

The old guy in that picture looks like Spielberg, in the eyes!

 

[Sawyer]

This looks so awful.

You look awful.

 

[Timstuff]

Polar Express 2004

I'd say some definite improvements in tech have been made.

Not in approach though, unfortunately. They are still trying to have performance actors do the job of animators who for many years have been honing their skill in the area of making animated characters move. Mocap will never look as good as hand-done animation, because the only way you can get stylized motion necessary for cartoons is to do it manually. If you have real people trying to move like cartoons, or even worse, just acting as they would in live action, it's always going to look more dull and robotic than real animation. This movie frustrates me because it looks like it could have been something special if they weren't wasting it on motion capture.

 

[JAK®]

It all depends on how much Speilberg and Jackson trust the animators to embellish the movement.

 

[Timstuff]

It all depends on how much Speilberg and Jackson trust the animators to embellish the movement.

However, the fact that this is being hailed by Spielber as a "performance capture" film with the emphasis being on the actors rather than the animation, or "a live action film with CG costumes, makeup, props and sets" is a bit of a red flag. Spielberg more than likely wants to make sure that any actual animation done in the film interferes as little as possible with the original actor's performance. Spielberg is going to want what works well in live action rather than what works well in animation, because he has spent his whole career making live action and his only experiences with animation have been using it as a special effect or producing the projects of actual animators.

I would love to think that Spielberg is actually making a very nice animated film and that the performance capture is only being used to get a very basic "head start" on staging a scene, but with movies like this that is unfortunately never the case. The directors always want "real performances from real actors," and when they get exactly what they want it always ends up looking dull and lifeless because it lacks the slightly-removed-from-reality quality that the characters' designs have.

 

[lime]

Can someone post the new pics in HQ? If there is any...

 

[Carmine Falcone]

I'm glad that my beloved Tintin is in such good hands. I can't wait.

 

[Timstuff]

I'm glad that my beloved Tintin is in such good hands. I can't wait.

In good hands, perhaps... But that's not the same as the right hands.

 

[corby]

I seem to remember Avatar mostly being publicized as a "performance capture" movie and don't remember the WETA animators being mentioned that much. Hopefully, the situation here is similar and Spielberg is using the talents of the animators to make the mocap look better.

 

[Electrofarce]

I seem to remember Avatar mostly being publicized as a "performance capture" movie and don't remember the WETA animators being mentioned that much. Hopefully, the situation here is similar and Spielberg is using the talents of the animators to make the mocap look better.

^It will be. With Speilberg and Jackson involved, I have no doubts.

 

[Doctor Jones]

In good hands, perhaps... But that's not the same as the right hands.

Didn't Herge say that Spielberg was the only person that could bring justice to a Tintin film before he died?

 

[terry78]

If Herge were still around, no doubt he'd have input on the flick itself, but who knows if he'd approve of the photoreal look or not. We'll never know.

 

[Armored Avenger]

Didn't Herge say that Spielberg was the only person that could bring justice to a Tintin film before he died?

Yes. He was also scheduled to meet with Spielberg to discuss a film but died before it could happen.

 

[Doctor Jones]

That's what I thought. So this film is in the right hands. It's freaking Spielberg and Jackson. I mean who better to bring this to screen? Can anyone think of anyone better? I ****ing can't.

 

[Timstuff]

Yes. He was also scheduled to meet with Spielberg to discuss a film but died before it could happen.

And he also died a long time before any of this "performance capture movie" crap was around. Before he died, any prospective Tintin movie would had to have been either animated or live action, and if Herge was talking Spielberg back then he would have had live action in mind.

 

[Secret Fawful]

I don't know, I don't know what Herge would have thought about it personally. I think it's possible he would have smiled on it either way; it sounds like he had a lot of confidence in Spielberg regardless.

I don't think every story or movie should be performance capture or use performance capture, nor is every story made for it, but I think if this movie proves it can be done well, then there are some stories that should be done with performance capture. There are movies or stories I would fight tooth and nail against the notion of as performance capture but Tintin isn't one of them.

 

[spidey-dude]

the more i see the pics the less i understand how people can think things like the clothes look photorealistic

however the more i look at them the more i appreciate the look - its a cgi film with great textures

 

[Asteroid-Man]

The texture of the clothing IS photorealistic.... the way it FITS is an artistic take based on the books and the show...

 

[Doctor Jones]

Please, if this was done in live action, Herge's art wouldn't be kept so it could enter the real world. If they did follow it, it would look ridiculous. People would complain either way.

 

[JAK®]

the more i see the pics the less i understand how people can think things like the clothes look photorealistic

however the more i look at them the more i appreciate the look - its a cgi film with great textures

It's the big contradiction of motion-capture films. The textures ARE photorealistic. But as soon as they are applied to the stylised, cartoonish models it becomes hard to see. In this movie it's the best I have seen yet, but it still looks like an animated movie. I don't think you can ever get past that no matter how far the technology goes.