Rogue One (Off-Topic)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, December 20, 2016, 02:46 (2676 days ago) @ CruelLEGACEY

I didn't like it as much as VII. I thought VII was a decent star wars movie.

I really disliked the uncanny valley CGI people, particularly Leia. Everyone knows who it was. They didn't have to show the creepy wax face.

To me, she looked flawless. It was Tarkin that was creepy.

Too much expression and color on Tarkin's face.

It's the motion. It's always been how it moves.

Specifically, the fact that it is ALWAYS moving. He never just holds an expression. It's like the animators are afraid to let a single muscle on his face stay still for even a moment.

It's called restraint. Reminds me of how 343 bragged about their motion capture in Halo Anniversary, where they changed Keyes from being somewhat stiff to being Hammy MacHamfist, playing to the balcony.

Ok, can we just draw attention to "Hammy MacHamfist" and how that's the best thing I've read all month XD

Back on topic though... There's a moment (and I literally mean moment) in Episode 2 where the animators delivered exactly the kind of subtlety you're talking about here. I jumped out at me in the theatre.

This scene, at the 20 second mark:

There's about 1.5 seconds where Watto stops wiggling his face around constantly and you actually see a glimpse of realistic facial expressions. I remember watching the DVD with the commentary track and one of the lead animators pointed out how happy he was with that precise moment for the very reason we're talking about. Too bad that lesson couldn't carry over to Tarkin in Rogue One.

Okay, okay, I'll admit it. Those three seconds of the prequels were good.