On Saturday, November 22, the DGA Special Projects New Technology Subcommittee presented the seminar Facing the Future: New Developments in Facial Performance Capture. Members gathered in the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater 2, to learn how to use this cutting-edge technology when working with live actors to create animated characters, and how to achieve productive collaboration on the set and in post. The panel included creators and collaborators on the international box office hits Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as the latest installment of the hit videogame franchise Call of Duty, entitled Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Following the welcome by DGA Special Projects New Technology Subcommittee Chair Randal Kleiser, ILM VFX Supervisor and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Second Unit Director Pablo Helman delivered the day’s first presentation about the Medusa Facial Performance Capture system used on Ninja Turtles. Helman’s presentation also included video selections from an interview with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Director Jonathan Liebesman who was working on a TV pilot and unable to attend the seminar. Jonathan spoke about the challenges of working with the live actors on the stage and the benefits of being able to translate the subtleties of their facial expressions onto the animated characters. A DGA member since 2007, Helman is an 18-year veteran VFX Supervisor for ILM and also served as Second Unit Director on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A DGA member since 2005, Liebesman’s filmography also includes the features Battle: Los Angeles and Wrath of the Titans.
Digital Domain Director of Visual Development Greg LaSalle and Blur Studio Co-Owner/Creative Director Tim Miller followed with presentations about the Mova Capture Technology for high resolution facial performance capture used to create CG characters that retain the nuances of the live actors’ original performances. Co-inventor of Mova, LaSalle most recently served as Facial Capture Supervisor for Guardians of the Galaxy and Gravity. Miller is a VFX Supervisor and a director of projects ranging from National Super Bowl spots and videogame cinematics to the opening title sequence for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
The final presentations of the day came from Director Remington Scott and Faceware Technologies Vice President of Business Development, Peter Busch, who discussed Faceware, used by Scott on the popular videogame Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Before helming the latest installment of the Call of Duty game series, Scott supervised the performance capture on The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, which won an Academy Award® in Visual Effects and also worked on the Visual Effects Academy Award® winner, Spider-Man 2. Busch previously worked on animated features for Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures.
The seminar concluded with a Q&A session moderated by Kleiser where Busch, LaSalle, Miller and Scott discussed the future of facial capture technology and answered questions from audience.
DGA Special Projects New Technology Subcommittee:
Randal Kleiser, Chair
Members: Barbara Roche, Oz Scott, Arthur Allan Seidelman, Christina Stevens, Susan Zwerman
For more Special Projects Committee Events click here to visit their web page.