Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Our very own Mr. Beaks just interviewed Andy Serkis earlier today. It killed me to not be able to do it myself, but scheduling meant it was Beaks who got lucky enough to spend a half-hour talking with the man I most want to hear mentioned on the morning they mention the Academy Award nominations. Last Saturday night, a number of our readers saw Serkis make a special appearance at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood, and they were good enough to send in a couple of reports to hold you over while Beaks transcribes...
Hey Harry -
Call me Drinky Crow. Long, long, long time reader, first time submitting. Thought someone would have sent pictures of this in by now, but in case you haven't heard, Andy Serkis introduced a showing of 'The Two Towers' at the Arclight theater in Hollywood on Saturday night, and stayed around for some Q&A afterward.
He is a slender and agile man, with facial hair that projects an aura akin to a carny pitchman. Put him in lifts and a horribly orange-striped suit, and you'd have one hell of a carnival barker. He also seemed very eager to talk about his perspective on the creation of Gollum. He sounds (quite rightfully) very proud of his work, and looked like he enjoyed having an audience that was really interested in the emotional dimension he brought to the lil' guy.
Much of what he said has been covered elsewhere, but hearing the effects process from the point of view of the performer was a whole new way to think about the digital magic that Weta has created. We all know about the cameras, shooting the scenes three times, the 25 cameras and the facial muscle mapping. Hearing him talk about shooting the scenes on set was fascinating. "I had to wear a white one-piece thing called a unitard or something. I'd never heard that word before but unitard was how I felt wearing it." Maybe you had to be there, but it was really funny.
He talked in depth about how he created the voice and the movements for Gollum, how his rock climbing kept him in shape for Gollum's acrobatics, and how Gollum's cravings for the ring were akin to heroin addiction, and that addiction was his way into the psyche of the character. Physically, he found his way into the role by watching his cat cough up a hairball. He said he was already physicalizing the role starting with a clenched up throat, and watching the involuntary gag reflex of his cat coughing up a hairball, he found the way that Gollum half-coughs his moniker. Hack, hurgh, hurgh, hurrum, hrghollum, hrghollum...
This got wild applause.
He also discussed the scene where Smeagol tells his Gollum half to go away. Apparently, this wasn't done during principal photography and was added after the editing for 'The Two Towers' was well underway. Andy profusely thanked Fran for handing him such a wonderful scene, and then showed us how he played it in one continuous take. He didn't shoot that sequence playing the two halves of Gollum separately, he ran through it all at once. Then, to prove it, while sitting in his chair, he did half of the scene, just shifting from side to side in his directors chair, and it was incredible. It was Gollum... The audience was stunned to see Gollum simply appear out of thin air. I was close enough to see his face and the subtle nuances of body language, and the amazing shifts back and forth, and it was Gollum from on-screen. Peter Jackson's company of artists hands down, 100% nailed this wonderful performance. It was incredible to see it live, and more incredible to see how precisely Gollum's animators captured this. Incredible, there's no other word for it.
And of course, Mr. Serkis received a wild round of applause for this showstopper. In case he reads this, let me say it in print... Congratulations on a brilliantly done job, Mr. Serkis, your performance is one for the ages.
There were many more little details that slipped by. On the subject of awards, he neatly sidestepped the question. Each organization has their own guidelines and criteria for awards, and each has been interpreting the creation of Gollum with regard to their own discipline. What does this mean for the Oscars? That's a question he gently side-stepped with a wait-and-see approach. The most interesting detail he said on this subject slipped out very early in his Q&A. He mentioned that Screen Actor's Guild lawyers were trying to change the terminology for the effects people from 'motion-capture' to 'performance capture'. To anyone who knows SAG and their lawyers, that is a linguistic change that has some very interesting ramifications, not to mention possibly some very expensive ramifications for producers. For those unfamiliar with such things, here's the layman's version: Jar-Jar Dinks=Motion capture. Gollum=Performance capture.
Drinky Crow
Y’know, when we made the AICN TV pilot, I performed Moriarty as a real-time CGI character that interacted with Harry on a greenscreen stage, and just from trying to craft five or six minutes worth of a performance while strapped into a motion-capture suit, I can tell you that I have limitless respect for what Serkis and WETA accomplished. I can also tell you that no matter how much work WETA did, the soul that really ultimately makes Gollum real is the product of Serkis being so freakin’ amazing. You want to talk to him about all of this? Check this out...
Greetings all!
Got a question for the man behind Gollum? Andy Serkis will be chatting live on SciFi.com this Friday January 31st at 6pm PST!
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is in theaters everywhere on December 17th.
Enjoy!!
Here’s one more take on the event last Saturday.
Hey Harry,
I'm not sure if anyone sent you information on the special screening of The Two Towers last night at the Archlight in LA. After the movie there was Q&A with Andy Serkis. Highlights included Andy doing the voice of Gollum in the split personality scene. Also, explaining he got some inspiration from listening to his cats cough up fur balls.
He mentioned that SAG was thinking of changing the name of Motion Capture to Performance Capture. This is to better reflect the acting skill that goes into what he did in the Two Towers. He also tackled the issue of if he should be recognized with award nominations for acting. He felt it should be at least considered, because his performance is what drove the creation of Gollum. He has put over 2 and half years of his life into it. But he did concede that there is a definate grey area in this matter and that the Academy does change with the times so, maybe there could be a new category in the future for this type of work. At one point they filmed an E True Hollywood Story spoof with Gollum acting like a spoiled star and taking calls from Jar Jar Binks. Hopefully this ends up on some version of the DVD. But the big news that came out was that they had filmed a scene that may or may not make The Return of The King, showing how Smeagol killed his brother Deagol to get the Ring. Can't wait to see that.
Elecam
Thanks, and I’m jealous of every single one of you who have had a chance to meet him face-to-face so far. Hurry up with your interview and your special surprise for the readers, Beaks. I can’t wait for both...
"Moriarty" out.
