The Adventures of Tintin

[Electrofarce]

After repeat viewings of some of Zemeckis's mo-cap films, I must say that comparing this to any of them is rediculous. This is such a big step up from any of that. In terms of this whole "uncanny valley" argument, so far we've seen one clear face in a scene where no unique eye movement was needed and nothing was said (TinTin is trying to listen in on a conversation, so he's keeping movement to a minimum). And it is a teaser, and I'm sure Jackson and Speilberg are loving all this speculation, because they know they got a revolutionary film on their hands. Having said that, the texture on the face, the lighting, is all 100% photorealistic from what I can tell. As well as the environments. Everything has such a great deal of detail to it and the lighting is so life-like. Everyone should watch this in 1080p before giving a final thought.

 

[dark_b]

1080p screencaps:

notice how the broom on the newspaper looks like hes mustache?



this is Spielberg

 

[CGHulk]

i love Spielberg visual storytelling

Me too.

 

[Electrofarce]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/9/comparisonpk.jpg/

Can't believe people could actually compare the two

 

[Boom]

From Peter Jackson's Facebook:

It was great to see the launch of a teaser tailer and advance posters for TINTIN, a movie I'm making with Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy. It's been a very long time coming. This film, like all CGI-based movies, required a long period of previs and R&D—and then, once the movie is "shot" on the motion capture stage, it takes another two years to complete. It's probably been 5 years since Steven and I started working on it.

The Tintin books by Herge were the very first books I ever read, and I fell in love with them. I didn't actually have them, but some friends of my parents did, and whenever we'd go visit them, I would grab a new Tintin book and happily spend 3 hours totally lost in the adventure. I've been reading them ever since, and I must say that I still find new things to enjoy every time. If you've read them before, enjoy them again—and if you've never read them, you've got a treat in store.

What was great about making this film, was watching Steven step inside the world of motion capture film making, and unleash all of his skill and creative instincts. When you make a live-action film, so many things are working against you—weather, equipment, time. You may imagine shooting a scene with a wonderful crane shot, or a complex Steadicam move, but on the day, time, logistics or sheer physical difficulty forces you to compromise. On a motion capture stage, the "camera" can be a block of wood with tracking markers on it... you point this "camera" in any direction and on a monitor you see the world of Herge's Tintin in three dimensions. Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis are in front of you wearing motion capture suits, but point the camera at them, and on the monitor you see Tintin and Captain Haddock. When Jamie and Andy move or speak, so do Tintin and Haddock, all in live, real time. Crane moves and tracking shots are performed by moving your thumbs on a Playstation style controller. This is not animation—it's live action film making in a real-time virtual world. You shoot many takes, just like a normal movie, and each take is fresh and original, as are the camera moves.

Steven embraced this new film making very quickly, and I could see him loving the almost complete freedom he suddenly had. Steven operated the camera on Tintin himself—all the hand held, tracking and craning shots are his. But the really cool thing is seeing how his imagination and gift of story telling went into overdrive. It's all there in the movie. Something to look forward to.



Cheers,

Peter J

 

[dark_b]

i respect you PJ. but limitations is what makes a great director and a masterpiece movie. Spielberg and PJ made their greatest cinematic masterpiece because they didnt have full control on everything.

 

[Tron Bonne]

EDIT: Nevermind, missed the boat

 

[DorkyFresh]

the uncanny valley shot at the end doesn't really have anything to do with how it was rendered or how it looks but more or less the actions and expressions of Tintin. it's because he has a blank facial expression with only subtle, slow movements. it would've had a bigger impact if he quickly popped up, looked around a bit, and faced the camera with a concerned look on his face. i'm sure that once we see his face in faction, we won't be bringing up comparisons to any Zemeckis films.

 

[Timstuff]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/9/comparisonpk.jpg/

Can't believe people could actually compare the two

You are comparing stills, which is pointless. The animation quality is not very good in either film from what little we have seen, and it's because the stylized character designs do not match with the slow, stiff motion capture footage. No matter how much money and technology they throw at it, it doesn't change the fact that motion capture is never going to be able to capture the magic of animation that you find in Pixar and Dreamworks' movies.

 

[kickass]

Tintin looks like a girl. And I hate this ultra-realistic animation. It's so pretentious and awkward. Why not just make a live-action film instead?

And I can respect Peter Jackson's post on Facebook. How it's much easier to animate than to film on location during a live-action shoot. But again, Tintin took 5 years to get made. A live-action flick would have been made in a year or so. So no.

Sorry, not on board this one just yet. I understand fully well both men have great track records, as I love some of their movies myself. But I'm not one of those movie snobs who believes I have to automatically have to love something because so and so's name is attached to it.

 

[Timstuff]

Tintin looks like a girl. And I hate this ultra-realistic animation. It's so pretentious and awkward. Why not just make a live-action film instead?

Bingo. Therein lies the problem-- when live action directors get their hands on animation, their first reaction is always "ZOMG this is so much easier to direct than live action!" but the problem is that they are approaching the medium the wrong way-- instead of thinking about all the possibilities for stylized movement, they are only thinking "now I don't have to worry about building sets, casting an actor who looks like the character, where I can put the camera, etc." It's like give someone internet access and their vision for what they can use it for stops at "now I don't need to buy postage stamps and stationary anymore!" When it comes to ideas for how animation they think small, but they have such industry clout that they can throw tons of money at anything they work on.

These guys are really great at taking an idea and making it into something real that they can put on film. However, when it comes to imagining animated worlds and how to exploit the fact that they are not bound by the limitations of realistic movement, they are completely out of their league. Spielberg may be the king of film, but when it comes to animation he's not going to hold a candle to the likes of John Lasseter.

 

[Doctor Jones]

But they're staying true to Herge's illustrations? He seems to have a distinct style. To try to duplicate that in live action would be silly looking and if you tried to depart from that style it wouldn't seem right to do it.

 

[HaloCod27]

Bingo. Therein lies the problem-- when live action directors get their hands on animation, their first reaction is always "ZOMG this is so much easier to direct than live action!" but the problem is that they are approaching the medium the wrong way-- instead of thinking about all the possibilities for stylized movement, they are only thinking "now I don't have to worry about building sets, casting an actor who looks like the character, where I can put the camera, etc." It's like give someone internet access and their vision for what they can use it for stops at "now I don't need to buy postage stamps and stationary anymore!" When it comes to ideas for how animation they think small, but they have such industry clout that they can throw tons of money at anything they work on.

These guys are really great at taking an idea and making it into something real that they can put on film. However, when it comes to imagining animated worlds and how to exploit the fact that they are not bound by the limitations of realistic movement, they are completely out of their league. Spielberg may be the king of film, but when it comes to animation he's not going to hold a candle to the likes of John Lasseter.

This is why I really appreciate James Cameron!

 

[Electrofarce]

But they're staying true to Herge's illustrations? He seems to have a distinct style. To try to duplicate that in live action would be silly looking and if you tried to depart from that style it wouldn't seem right to do it.

Exactly. They could'nt have done it any other way. I think it looks fantastic personally.

And aren't you all aware that they've already made a live action TinTin adaption?

 

[Secret Fawful]

I was, and I've watched a bit of one of them. I liked what I saw, but I'm not surprised people wouldn't have heard of them. I heard of them from a European fan of the series.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah. I've seen pictures. Argue budget all you want but trying to merge live action with his style is a bad idea.

And I love the look of this film. Really unique looking. The lighting is especially fantastic in that car shot in the street at night. Love the shot of the plane crashing as well.

 

[ALP]

Bingo. Therein lies the problem-- when live action directors get their hands on animation, their first reaction is always "ZOMG this is so much easier to direct than live action!" but the problem is that they are approaching the medium the wrong way-- instead of thinking about all the possibilities for stylized movement, they are only thinking "now I don't have to worry about building sets, casting an actor who looks like the character, where I can put the camera, etc." It's like give someone internet access and their vision for what they can use it for stops at "now I don't need to buy postage stamps and stationary anymore!" When it comes to ideas for how animation they think small, but they have such industry clout that they can throw tons of money at anything they work on.

These guys are really great at taking an idea and making it into something real that they can put on film. However, when it comes to imagining animated worlds and how to exploit the fact that they are not bound by the limitations of realistic movement, they are completely out of their league. Spielberg may be the king of film, but when it comes to animation he's not going to hold a candle to the likes of John Lasseter.

Completely agree.

And while I do think this film looks nice, I recall Spielberg or someone important involved in the production saying this film would look like no other movie before. In actuality, it looks just like Zemeckis's mo-cap films.

 

[terry78]

Basically it's very stylized in order to look like classic panels from the books. Live action would require makeup for the characters and I think it would be even a little more awkward to try and capture it a la Speed Racer. And Snowy would still have to be CG considering how he kind of "talks" like Snoopy and Garfield.

 

[Project862006]

this looks nothing like zemeckis work

at all

 

[Timstuff]

This is why I really appreciate James Cameron!

James Cameron has a background in special effects and conceptual design, and prior to landing directing gigs he was doing concept art and special effects for other peoples' films. I think that's given him a better understanding of how special effects and computer animation can be utilized in film than guys like Spielberg and Ron Howard.

 

[Timstuff]

this looks nothing like zemeckis work

at all

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that. This looks just like the kind of stuff Zemeckis does but with about 50 million dollars more spit shine.

 

[ALP]

this looks nothing like zemeckis work

at all

Yeah sure, it looks far more like Toy Story.

 

[Crockett]

You're saying Golden Crab and Red Rackham will be merged into one film ? That makes no sense to me.
No Prof Calculus doesn't bother me as long as the shark mini sub is there ( must be there it is an iconic TinTin vehicle ).

Omar Ben Sallad is in the movie, there's actors who are cast as the crew in Karaboudjan, we've seen the yellow seaplane and Haddock's introduction to the comics is going to be the same for the movie. Now for Red Rackham's Treasure I'm not 100% sure but I wouldn't want them to have the adventure that started with The Secret of the Unicorn, having a cliffhanger ending and save Red Rackham's Treasure for the sequel.

 

[Darkness Falls]

i honestly don't remember the cartoon at all, besides the characters
to my recollection they've done a good job on the look/designs

 

[ALP]

My question is, if Tintin looks like this in the comics then why not just make a hand drawn or Pixar-type film? It would have been far more accurate to the comics.