In Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the effects magicians at Weta Digital employ the same technology used by James Cameron for Avatar to create photorealistic CGI apes based off the motion-capture performances of Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong) and many other actors.
Below is a new featurette from Fox that offers the best glimpse yet into Weta’s work and how it translates to the finished product. You get to see Serkis and his companions not only perform on a sound stage i.e. where Avatar was shot in its entirety, but also out in real world locations.
I caught a screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and must say, it’s an amazing film. Not only based on Weta’s digital effects, but also the emotional character-driven script and performances by the mo-cap actors. In many ways, the ape performances outshine those of their human counterparts.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes arrives in theaters this Friday, August 5. I highly recommend it.
