 I'm sure most of you are sleeping while I'm writing
these lines. It's way too late for me to be awake, but I believe my biological clock has
changed. I just can't go to bed before midnight. Even counting sheep doesn't work for me,
because each time I try, I remember the advertisement in which a little boy calls the
sheep "zuzu," and I get distracted. The later I sleep, the later I wake up. The
extremely short 2-week semester break resulted in this unbalanced shift.
Anyway, let me describe what I saw lately. This was a movie composed of a thrill ride-like
train trip to the Kingdom of Santa Claus at the North Pole. Some of you might remember
that I mentioned "The Polar Express" in one of the previous issues in which I
wrote about Tom Hanks. Actually, this movie was worth seeing, since it's a piece of art
created by using the "performance capture" technique. "The Polar
Express" is the first film to have been shot entirely in performance capture.
So, what is performance capture? It is "a process by which an actor's live
performance is digitally captured by computerized cameras and becomes a human blueprint
for creating virtual characters....Beyond mere motion, this highly developed system was
designed to capture every discernable movement and the subtlety of human expression from
an actor's performance, down to the slightest nuance or flutter of an eyelid.
Additionally, unlike existing mo-cap [motion capture] systems that are limited in range,
it could simultaneously record 3-dimensional, high-fidelity facial and body movements from
multiple actors, through a system of digital cameras providing a full 360 degrees of
coverage," according to the film's production notes
(http://wwws.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/polarexpress).
Thus, the movie is neither real, nor unreal. It is definitely more than a simple
animation. Each facial expression is clearly observed, resulting in a more persuasive
sense of reality. Moreover, the movie looks like an oil painting--the vividness of the
colors can easily blow one's mind (for instance, mine).
Furthermore, the camera usage was almost perfect. In some scenes, the camera looks through
a printed page where letters float between the audience and the reader character.
The main purpose of the movie is to keep the Christmas spirit alive via a bedtime story,
which is accompanied by roller coaster-worthy action scenes. There are even some
death-defying moments, which may create a sense of disconnection between the story and the
movie's action. However, in my opinion, those episodes prevent the movie from being
nothing more than a slow-moving Christmas story.
Still, there are some exaggerated scenes that could cause this movie to be considered
basically a children's film. The second half of the movie in particular is based on an
excessively juvenile script. [Quick reminder: The movie is dubbed in Turkish, which
might be a possible reason for the weakness of the script. As you may appreciate, there is
no exact translation between two different languages.] Besides, the child characters are
sometimes too exaggerated. This is best underlined by a criticism that I read a few days
ago: "If your kids look like the ones in the movie, seek help immediately."
Although "The Polar Express" is at first glance a children's story, it's worth
seeing for its artistic side, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it to some extent.
Have fun & stay cool!
Rating (out of 5)
Atilla Karakurum (IE/IV)
atilla_karakurum@yahoo.com
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