1. Performance Capture and CGI By Danielle Frekot
Visual Effects in Film
Performance Capture and CGI
By Danielle Frekot

2. Performance Capture: What It Is
Multiple cameras capture an actor’s movements from all angles
Actors wear formfitting suits with markers to capture movement
Takes place in a stage area called a volume
Andy Serkis as Gollum from Lord of the Rings (photo source: left and right)

3. Performance Capture: What It Is

4. Performance Capture: Is It Real Acting?
It is an alternate style of acting
While not the same as traditional film acting, it does use acting skills, just differently than what people may be used to seeing.
"There's a purity to it. You can't rely on anything else but your own skill as an actor; it enables the actor to shoot the scene in one take without worrying where the camera is." 
- Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis as Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (photo source)

5. Actors on Performance Capture in Avatar

6. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI)
CGI has garnered a bad rep
In its early use, the goal was to create a spectacle- to show off the new technology
Nowadays, its goal is to enhance the image on screen while remaining realistic
The Matrix (1999) (photo source: left and right)

7. CGI: OLD VS NEW Terminator 2 (1991) (photo source: top and bottom)
Star Trek (2009) (photo source: top and bottom)

8. NEW VIEW: USE CGI IN REALISTIC WAY
 “There’s nothing worse than watching a movie where the CGI stands out so much that it looks artificial.”
- Star Trek (2009) cinematographer, Dan Mindel
“If we need vfx to tell a story in a better way, then why not do it?... But it’s another thing to be seduced totally by the visual effects.”
- Twilight: New Moon cinematographer, Javier Agnirresarobe

9. BUT DON’T FORGET THE ANIMATORS
“We wanted the creative choice of performance to be made by actors and not made by animators, and that takes nothing away from great animators… the animators were responsible for showing that performance came through in the CG characters and that is a huge skill in itself.”
- Avatar producer, Jon Landau

10. Recent Examples of Visual Effects (VFX)

11. Recent Examples of Video Effects (VFX)
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12. Conclusion
New technology like CGI and performance capture can be a good thing when used to enhance realism
Performance capture is actor-driven
The effects are more like make-up or dressing
The focus on looking realistic creates a challenge for the animators, and their talents should not go unnoticed
It is the blend and balance of animation and performance that makes visual effects successful

13. bibliography
Abramowitz, Rachel. “Will ‘Avatar’ be the Death of Film Acting?; Hollywood Divided Over Impact its Technology Will have on the Craft.” The Washington Post. Feb  ProQuest.Web.
Egan, Jack. “Finetuning is the trend of filmmaking’s newest blend: high-tech films seek right mix of lensing and CGI.” Daily Variety. 14 Dec. 2009: A1+. Business Insights: Essentials. Web.
Nestor, Frank. “PERFORMANCE CAPTURE IS ACTING.” Back Stage – National Edition (2011): 12,12,15. ProQuest. Web.
Pallant, Chris. “Digital Dimensions In Actorly Performance: The Aesthetic Potential Of Performance Capture.” Film International ( ) 10.3 (2012):  Art Source. Web.
Singh, Greg. “CGI: A Future History of Assimilation in Mainstream Science Fiction Film.”Extrapolation (pre-2012) 48.3 (2007): 543,557,440. ProQuest. Web.