17 Aug, 2011
Critiquing a fight scene in a movie or game is a pasttime. Admit it, you quietly do it in the theaters while your friends are laughing away at how silly it all looks on screen while munching on popcorn. While most people would say, “Aw yeah, that looks so cool,” the back of your mind is silently screaming, “No! That’s NOT how you hold that weapon! And what the hell was that?! You can’t kick like that in real life!” We’ve all been there, done that, right?
MoCap, or Motion Capture, makes it all the more fun, as we watch our favorite characters hack and slash their way through swaths of enemies in realistic style. Now, that’s some real performance art right there. But MoCap is different from Performance Capture. The latter focuses on body language, voice, and facial expressions, things that Ninja Theory thinks is more than just a performance – it carries as much weight as the story and characters that they so lovingly craft in each of their games.
In an interview with GamaSutra, co-founder of Ninja Theory Tameem Antoniades explained the reasoning behind the use of performance capture, and why does it play such a crucial role in Ninja Theory’s games. “Performance capture is differentiated from motion capture,” Antoniades explained. “[It captures an actor's] body and their voice and their face simultaneously.”
Enslaved, the beautifully thought out but poorly received title that was released last October, garnered critical acclaim for its story-telling techniques and beautifully detailed worlds. It is Ninja Theory’s strong suit, after all. Performance capture work on the game was done with House of Moves in L.A., and now Ninja Theory is working with Giant Studios, the superstars behind the work of the Avatar movie. Will they be lending their hand in Ninja Theory’s upcoming DmC?
Sorry, there was no answer for that, but it’s certainly a very nice thought to have in mind when the title releases later next year.
In Ninja Theory’s world, everything must have rhyme and reason, otherwise it’s considered fluffy stuff. Actors must create chemistry with each other, and also with the characters they are cast to play. But part of the challenges in performance capture is making the actor feel comfortable. Don’t like the sound of having a wedgie in a skintight MoCap suit? Yeah, they don’t either, even though they get paid the big bucks. “Actors are very insecure, and when they wear a skintight [motion capture] suit, they can clam up,” said Antoniades. “Let them move, and express, and loosen up. It’s quite a liberating experience I think, and it’s very important to do that before you start shooting so they know it’s going to be okay.”
Of course, you also have to make sure the chemistry flows. While some actors may seem like the right fit for a role, in the end it sometimes doesn’t work out. “The importance of rehearsals can’t be overstated,” said Antoniades. “Sit there quietly and take notes… What you’ll find is the people you’ve cast for a role aren’t suited for a role, but they may be suited for another role so you swap people around… And occassionally you find that one person doesn’t fit and they’re not right for it and you have to be prepared… If your gut says that, you just let them go.”
Recording audio on set is also just as important as keeping the chemistry and energy flowing. Doing audio work afterwards would make for a disaster. “We tried to record it afterwards, but it just didn’t sound the same,” said Antoniades. You lost the magic, lost the spontaneity.” No wonder voice dubs sound so terrible.
Now as the director of his own projects, Antoniades said the best thing to do is to watch all of the action take place on a screen. After all, the gaming audience won’t be crammed into a studio to watch a live performance. “…you are trying to capture performance to camera, not watching a live performance,” Antoniades explained.
With all of the complexities involved in trying to capture the perfect moment with performance capture, it’s no real surprise that most studios don’t go this route to tell their tales. However, for Ninja Theory, it’s the perfect fit, as they thrive on telling rich stories. “[Storytelling] is how we understand the world,” said Antoniades. “In games, especially, storytelling isn’t considered the most important thing, rightly, in many cases. But if you are doing a story-based game, everything has to support the story, and if you are creating living breathing characters… One of the most important thing is creating a story that has an emotional impact.”
In order to create such an emotional impact, everything has to be picture perfect. One thing that’s off can destroy a moment. All of the magic comes down to the final moments of editing. No pressure on the editing team. No, really. “Editing is where it all comes together into an actual story. Editing is the storytelling finale,” said Antoniades. “What you have in the edit has to make sense, has to be good. Let people watch it.”
With all this talk of story-telling and character development, some fans were in a hurry to say that they were concerned about Ninja Theory’s handling of DmC and their beloved devil hunter Dante. However, the latest trailer crawling out of the Gamescom frenzy shows us otherwise. Perhaps Dante will get an attitude adjustment too. But we don’t really want that. …right?
Read the full interview with Ninja Theory here.
Recent Comments