The Polar Express is one of the most popular holiday movies and is watched by millions of fans every holiday season. When it first came out in 2004, viewers had mixed feelings about the technique that was used to create the movie. Motion-capture had only been used for visual effects until then, so the technology was still new and viewers thought it made the lifelike characters look kind of "creepy." But after a while, viewers warmed up to the idea and now love the holiday classic.
Director Robert Zemeckis and a team of filmmakers is the reason why The Polar Express exists. Without their innovative ideas, many other movies wouldn't exist today either. Here is how The Polar Express created a new type of animation and began a new era in Hollywood.
6 ‘The Polar Express’ Was The First Movie Created Entirely With Motion-Capture Animation
Not only will The Polar Express always be a holiday favorite, it will always be the first movie to be created completely with motion-capture animation. According to CNN, motion-capture animation is a “process [that] allows a filmmaker to use actual human beings acting out their roles on an empty soundstage, and then merges them into a three-dimensional computer-generated world.” Until The Polar Express came out in 2004, motion-capture was just a visual effects technique. No one dared to try to make a movie entirely with this type of animation. But director Robert Zemeckis and a team of filmmakers changed that.
5 The Filmmakers Created A Complex System To Capture The Actors’ Performances
To be able to do what others haven’t done before, Robert Zemeckis and the team of filmmakers had to create their own system to use motion-capture for an entire movie. It’s a complex system that filmmakers use today, but it didn’t exist before the early 2000’s. According to Animation World Network, “...they assembled one of the most complex capture systems ever: four Vicon systems linked together, with 72 cameras in an area measuring 10 feet square. This configuration allowed the realtime body and face capture of up to four actors interacting with one another. The capture of facial performance was done with 152 facial markers, each measuring about two mm in diameter. The data obtained from the facial markers was converted to a muscle system custom-designed for this production, and the facial rigging was driven by the muscle compression for each muscle represented in the system.”
4 The Actors Had To Exaggerate Their Performances For The Sensors To Work
Since the filmmakers had to create their own motion-capture system, the technology was still pretty new and didn’t always work exactly how they wanted it to. Tom Hanks played five different characters using the motion-capture system (and he was rewarded handsomely for his work), but he had to exaggerate his performances for it to work and so the sensors could pick up all of his movements.
According to Byrd Theater, “Fifteen years ago, the sensors were not as strong, so the motion captured performers had to be… animated themselves. Nowadays, sensors can record the slightest movement, so these more ‘theatrical’ performances are no longer necessary.” Because of what the filmmakers did on The Polar Express, actors no longer have to worry about exaggerating their performances to be able to use motion-capture animation.
3 The Filmmakers Created A New Way To Record The Animated Film
Along with the new system they created, the filmmakers created a new way to record the scenes. Most 3D animated movies are planned out with scenes being shot at certain camera angles, but the filmmakers came up with another way to shoot a motion-capture animated movie. They created a way where you don’t have to shoot a scene within a certain camera angle. According to Animation World Network, “Large scenes, for example, with captured performances were initially created without a specific camera… This initial scene, called ‘rough integration,’ contained only body motion and it could be played back in realtime from any angle by a director of photography (DP). This approach allowed the DP to establish shots by using a ‘wheel’ interface for positioning and moving the camera in the scene while the rough capture was being replayed in real time, in a mode similar to live action.”
2 The Filmmakers Still Used A Little Bit Of Frame By Frame Animation
Although the filmmakers used a different way to record the film, they still used a little bit of frame by frame animation to fix any movements that the sensors didn’t pick up right.
“The shots continued ahead to ‘full integration’ of body and facial capture after they were approved by the director and the editorial team. Once this stage was finished the shots moved on to the animation department, where the original performances were fine-tuned in different ways,” according to Animation World Network. The animators mostly animated the characters’ hair since the sensors couldn’t pick up hair movements, but they fixed some of the body movements with frame by frame animation as well.
1 We Now Use Motion-Capture All The Time
After The Polar Express came out, there have been multiple movies completely created with motion-capture animation, including Monster House, Mars Needs Moms, A Christmas Carol, and Avatar. The popular Avatar franchise wouldn’t even exist without the technological advances Robert Zemeckis and his team came up with. We also use motion-capture every day with our phones—”memojis” is a form of motion-capture since it records your movements and voice in real time. Although it's become a part of our daily lives, motion-capture animation is still mostly used for visual effects in films (ex. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, King Kong, Lord of the Rings), but it is slowly becoming more popular to use for entire films. It will probably become even more popular once the Avatar sequels are released in the next few years.
