Spielberg’s new movie first teaser video has been released by Paramount, May 17, 2011, to great excitement from the fans. This follows on from the release on Monday of two posters from the forthcoming movie, The Adventures of Tintin. Directed by Spielberg, produced by Peter Jackson, how can this movie fail at the box office?
Developed under the working title of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, the 3D movie is still in post-production at Weta in New Zealand, responsible for the movie's Art Direction, Design and Visual Effects. Interest was already buzzing around the large display of Hergé Tintin books, mugs and toys in Weta Cave a couple of weeks ago when Suite101 was there, but no hint of "performance-captured" images from the 3D movie could be seen.
Performance-Capture Technique
Performance-capture, using live actors filmed with motion-capture techniques, is the relatively new blend of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) with animation. As a technical innovation it is still evolving, and its use in translating the visual style of iconic graphic print stories for the screen is getting mixed reviews.
Does this performance-capture with 3D add new dimensions to the 2D comic strip original, or does it lack something with the absence of classic European comic blue-line emphasis from Hergé's original?
Purists have been debating whether motion-capture is animation since Beowulf (2007) yet judging from the appearance of the Tintin preview, it will not seem otherwise, at least to young fans, once the movie is released. The question of how well the technique and post-production visual effects have managed to breathe life into facial close-ups is being much more strongly debated on the forums, but probably will not deplete the buzz created by this well-used movie marketing technique.
It's Tintin alright, but is it Animation?
The whole question of whether this modern blend of 'real' acting and computerised images in feature films can be categorized as animation stems mainly from two sources. The first is the criteria designated for the Oscars Animation category. The second is from long-term animation consumers who offer ongoing feedback on the aesthetic experience, which many often compare with a notion of tradition in the field.
With writer input from some of Europe's finest, especially long-time Dr. Who writer, Steven Moffat, the audience can expect something stronger than mere reproduction of a children's comic book story. "The first part of the film, which is the most mysterious part, certainly owes much to not only film noir but the whole German Brechtian theatre," Spielberg told Helen O'Hara for the Empire Magazine preview.
The first of three Tintin movies from the Spielberg/Jackson collaboration expected to be released back-to-back, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will be released in UK 26th October 2011, well ahead of the US December holidays release.
Valerie Williamson - Dr. Val Williamson is a freelance journalist and academic specialising in historical and popular culture topics.
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