action subject wears a bodysuit fitted with reflec-
tive markers that allows a computer to record each
movement as digital images; this is then translated,
with as much manipulation as desired, into models
on which the screen figures are based. When the
images include facial contours and expressions, the
process is called performance capture. These tech-
niques are used to create virtual reality in animated,
experimental, and feature movies, as well as in
video games. Hironobu Sakaguchi and Moto Saka -
kibara’s Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within(2001; cin-
ematographer: Sakakibara), the first major motion
picture to use the technique to generate all of its
“cast,” broke new ground in the world of special
effects by featuring characters that—while convinc-
ingly human in features and motions—were entirely
computer-generated. Other movies followed, includ-
ing Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Ringstrilogy (2001–3;
cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie), in which the
character of Gollum was created by motion capture;
Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express(2004; cine-
matographers: Don Burgess and Robert Presley);
and Beowulf(2007; cinematographer: Robert Pres-
ley). Motion capture and perfor mance capture, as
well as rotoscoping—another version of motion and
performance capture in which animators trace over
live-action film movement for use in animated
sequences—constitute a provocative sign of what
might happen to the design and production of
movies in years to come.
Director David Fincher’s The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button(2008; cinematographer: Claudio
Miranda) raises another issue related to motion
and performance capture: actors’ credits. The
story is about a man who is born old and grows
younger, and Brad Pitt, who plays the lead charac-
ter, insisted on appearing as Button from old age to
infancy. Since the handsome actor is relatively
young, Fincher relied on electronic special effects
to create the illusion of Button’s reverse aging. To
accomplish this, Fincher first photographed every
facial expression of which Pitt was capable. This
provided the base from which 150 visual artists cre-
ated images reflecting the decrease in Button’s
aging (i.e., skin and hair) over the years. Second,
Fincher photographed a group of “body actors”—
actors whose bodies substitute for the credited
actor—playing the younger and older Button.
Images of Pitt’s digitally altered face were then
electronically inserted onto those body images to
create the finished product. We know that many
artists worked in the service of this single
actor/character and that Pitt and six other actors
actually played Benjamin Button. We also recog-
nize that acting involves both facial expressions
and physical movements, but the complex process
used here raises a question: who deserves the
credit for creating the character of Benjamin But-
ton? While all seven actors are listed in the movie’s
credits, only Pitt was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. But the
“actor” in this case is an electronic compilation.
Wherever special effects take movie production
in the future, there is the ever-present danger that
all the SPFX in action, adventure, and science-
fiction films will dazzle us but do little to increase
our understanding of the world we live in or the
drama of human life.SPECIAL EFFECTS 283