LUXEMBOURG: NEW FILM "ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO" USES COMPUTER AIDED PUPPETS - ANIMATRONICS

Record ID: 388556

  • Title: LUXEMBOURG: NEW FILM "ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO" USES COMPUTER AIDED PUPPETS - ANIMATRONICS
  • Date: 1st July 1999
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) RICHARD ST. CLAIR, SPECIAL EFFECTS TECHNICIAN, SAYING: "We are always asked whether the computer will take over completely. But I think not. I think there is a place for it, for things that you couldn't possibly do in the real world like dinosaurs walking through San Francisco and from an audience point of view they want to see real things, they like
  • Embargoed: 16th July 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LUXEMBOURG
  • Country: Luxembourg
  • Topics: General,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA23EJRQP75NLF1ZQOZ5HQ0RAJC
  • Story Text: Cinema special effects has been developing at an astounding rate in the past decade.After Steven Spielberg's 'Jurassic Park', many film makers said computers would soon take over from puppetry or animatronics, as it is known.But the makers of "The New Adventures of Pinocchio" see computer generated animation as a complement to the good old-fashioned puppet.
    With pigs that talk and space creatures that fly, film makers have been challenging the audience's take on reality with synthetic characters that seem to be alive.
    The latest film to use cutting edge animatronics is 'The New Adventures of Pinocchio'.Currently being shot in Luxembourg, this modern day fairy tale is based on the traditional adventures of Pinocchio, with a new twist -- this time it is kindly Gepetto the carpenter who is turned into wood.
    Director Michael Anderson says that it is the puppets who are the real stars in his new movie.Anderson says: "I think the scenes with the puppets are so heart warming and touching and I am trying so hard to concentrate on these scenes so you treat them like human beings and I am hoping that you will forget they are puppets and remember they are actors playing a part."
    Using computer generated techniques for a whole film, rather than using animatronics, takes a Spielbergian amount of cash.The film makers of 'The New Adventures of Pinocchio' didn't want to break the bank.They decided to rely on animatronics for special effects.
    The main advantage that animatronics has over computer generated characters is that it allows an actor to relate to the puppet as though it were a real character.Sarah Alexander, who plays Filinet, part of a duo comedy act in the movie, says that the kind of physical interaction you get from a puppet cannot be achieved with computer graphics.
    Alexander says: "Bizarre, but so clever, I've been so impressed with the puppets.They look like wood, they are fantastic you can see the grain...You are seeing eyes moving all the time so you know if the puppets eyes move then you can follow the direction of the puppet's eyes, which is interesting."
    Udo Kier, who plays the villain, Lorenzini, says that from his experience with puppets in the first film, 'The Adventures of Pinocchio', he has learned that puppets can be the perfect colleagues.
    Kier says: "I have experience with puppets previously because I worked with the puppets before with the Henson's puppets from the first Pinocchio.It's good I like working with puppets because they don't steal your lines and they don't try to out act you and out stage you.It's good, I like puppets, more than actors sometimes."
    It can take anything from two days to two weeks to create a sculpture of a puppet, depending on how complicated the design.The next stage is moulding which takes another couple of days.At the same time, the engineers are devising the mechanisms to fit inside the puppet's head.It can take as long as one month to complete a puppet and the cost for a basic design usually starts at around one thousand pounds sterling for a remote controlled puppet and eight thousand pounds for computer operated system.As the complexity of the puppets increases, so does the price tag.
    Once the latex foam puppet has been designed and built, it is brought to life, through computer technology, cable control, remote control and hand puppetry.
    For characters with smaller parts, hand puppets were built, for those with bigger roles, computer animatronics have been used.An off camera puppeteer can control the facial expressions on a puppet by remote control or with computer technology.
    Puppeteer Richard St.Clair says CG graphics have developed dramatically since Steven Spielberg's land mark movie 'Jurassic Park'.But he says that Special Effects technicians can always spot it.The computer generated giveaways, St.Clair says, can be observed in scenes which display anything organic, such as blood or flowing water, which is hard to duplicate.
    St.Clair admits that in certain circumstances computers win hands over puppetry.But he still believes that computers will never kill off puppets.
    He says: "We are always asked whether the computer will take over completely.But I think not.I think there is a place for it, for things that you couldn't possibly do in the real world like dinosaurs walking through San Francisco and from an audience point of view they want to see real things, they like to see spectacular stunts and nice creatures.
    There seems to be a bit of a back lash you know where people say 'well it's just a computer'.They like to see a stunt man jump off a high building.There's a lot more of a thrill.So I think there will come a point where there's a balance."
    St.Clair says the puppets will hold their own in the battle of computer graphics, animatronics and basic puppetry.
    Whatever the outcome, he says there will always be a need for a puppeteer to operate the puppet.
    But despite the advance in technology, for most puppeteers nothing can beat the traditional hand puppet.
    St.Clair says: "I don't think that you can beat a traditional arm up the neck....I think you can be a lot subtler with your hand than you can with technology.But I am sure it will catch up.You are actually connected, it is the performance rather than anything else.A really good puppeteer can make the simpliest things come to life.I mean look at Kermit -- it was a green sock.Everybody loved him.
    That's how all puppets started -- a hand."
    C.G.techniques will become cheaper in the future as technology develops, but most special effect experts agree that the best results on celluloid are achieved by marrying computer generated graphics with animatronics and puppets -- with no strings attached.
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