Gomer Goes Ape

Well, it’s been a while…….again!

This time it’s something film related (SHOCK!) that has got me to my keyboard. 

There has been a debate in Hollywood for a few years now for recognition of Performance Actors, y’know, these guys you see running about in Lycra with green dots on their faces.

Andy Serkis really championed this with his performance capture for Gollum in Lord of the Rings and when you see how Andy’s performce shaped the character of Gollum, you can see why it’s become a bit of a debate.  Basically, Gollum wouldn’t have existed if it wasn’t for the performance of Mr Serkis.  Granted there’s also a lot of extremely talented Animators who also put in amazing work to bring these characters to life but IMHO, they need the base performance to get them started.

Now, my surprise hit of the year was ‘The Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ where we see Andy Serkis again bringing life to an animated character, this time in the shape of the lead ape character of Caesar.  I know that this type of performance capture has been done before with Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’ but watching Caesar perform on screen is, to my eyes, just like watching any other actor and this film would’ve died without the skill on display here.

So, should Performance Capture actors, like Andy Serkis, be nominated for an Oscar if the performance is worthy?  I reckon so but, like Hollywood, GeeDub’s readers are a fickle bunch and I’m sure that you’ll all have your own opinions on the matter.

Catcha

Gomer