Collider.com has an interesting article with Steven Spielberg on the film and the decision to use motion capture.  Here are the highlights:

“It was based on my respect for the art of Hergé and wanting to get as close to that art as I could… Hergé wrote about fictional people in a real world, not in a fantasy universe. It was the real universe he was working with, and he used National Geographic to research his adventure stories. It just seemed that live action would be too stylized for an audience to relate to. You’d have to have costumes that are a little outrageous when you see actors wearing them. The costumes seem to fit better when the medium chosen is a digital one.”

Spielberg and his crew used the latest in motion capture technology, with over 100 cameras films taking each shot,picking up every last bit of movement. Spielberg had a bit to say about this:

“I just adored it. It made me more like a painter than ever before. I got a chance to do so many jobs that I don’t often do as a director. You get to paint with this device that puts you into a virtual world, and allows you to make your shots and block all the actors with a small hand-held device only three times as large as an Xbox game controller… When Captain Haddock runs across the volume, the cameras capture all the information of his physical and emotional moves. So as Andy Serkis runs across the stage, there’s Captain Haddock on the monitor, in full anime, running along the streets of Belgium. Not only are the actors represented in real time, they enter into a three-dimensional world.”

Spielberg than made a curious remark about the emotional side of the film. Spielberg is very experienced in bringing out the emotion in his films, and but I’m dying to see what that will mean for the Tintin Movie.  Here Spielberg praises Jamie Bell’s performance. After all,it’s not all directing but acting as well. Don’t let the futuristic outfits and computer generated final results fool you: there is a huge amount of work put into the acting in a motion capture film. On this subject Spielberg remarked:

“[The on-screen portrayal of Tintin] will be Jamie Bell’s complete physical and emotional performance.  If Tintin makes you feel something, it’s Jamie Bell’s soul you’re sensing.”

I literally cannot wait to see a trailer. I find myself screaming around the house saying ”I need to see a trailer NOW!” (well… OK, maybe I don’t, but I want to).  In my opinion,  it may very well be the most important movie trailer in the history of computer-generated movies,  and will certainly be the most important trailer for a motion capture film.

Special thanks to Mike Dutton for finding this information. There are some other articles at collider.com worth a visit you can find a link to at the end of their article. Hopefully there will be important news soon.

In a recent interview with Michael Kahn,the man in charge or editing ”Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”, Michael informed us that the Tintin Movie will be edited ”just like any other film”. Michael has been editing for Spielberg since ”Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in 1976 and this year celebrates his 75th birthday. He has edited such action packed classics as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park,and Saving Private Ryan.

The Tintin movie is the first movie Michael has ever edited for Spielberg using Avid (a digital way to edit movies) instead of the Moviola, an old fashion tool used to edit movies invented way back in 1924. But Michael assures us that the editing process of the movie is still the same. He said the videos still needed a few touch ups in the background and such since the shots themselves weren’t finished, but that would not affect the actual editing of the movie. The Tintin Movie will be put together just like any other film would.

Right now you might be asking yourself  ”So what? Why wouldn’t it be?” But actually this is important. Although there are now many more 3D movies then there were even just a few years back,it is still not uncommon to see movies where the directors constantly try to impress the audience by throwing things out of the screen…especially in films created by computer.  Granted the effect is a lot of fun,but not if it slows down the story of the movie. But when it comes to Tintin not only are the directors directing the movie like they would any other film, but even the editing process is the same as other Spielberg films. Not only can we have faith that Spielberg will not tie up the story of the Tintin Movie because he,for instance,keeps shooting the Unicorn’s cannonballs at the screen or something like that (that would be completely out of character for him). We can even have faith that Kahn will make decisions on what seconds of the movie to keep or get rid of based on what is best for the story and flow of the movie and what Spielberg has always expected from him, not on what ”looks cool in 3D”. Both men are professionals with many many years of experience. We could not have hoped for a better crew working on this movie.

I enjoy editing home videos and such things in my spare time and I know that editing is a very precise and time consuming job. I admit I had never heard of Michael Kahn before,but I now have a respect towards him and anybody else who has been editing such great work for so many years. He certainly deserves it. Special thanks to Proman for finding this information,and to all of you who find leads and videos. Keep up the good work!

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjdOG-w0Zz4

picture found on http://www.edgarwrighthere.com/2011/02/21/michael-kahns-ace-lifetime-achievement-award-tribute-reel/

Its been a week since the Empire Tintin Issue came out and I’ve had time to digest the images in it.

Below are my thoughts on those images. Note, the images, not the film itself. There is a big difference between a handful of stills and a full length film. Not to mention there is still a year to go and a lot can change. When the film is released I will judge it on its own merits and not pre-judge it.

However, several stills have been released by Spielberg and Co. so they are fair game. It has always been my intention with this blog to write what I think about the film. When I like something, I say so. When I dislike something, I will also say so. You are free to disagree with me and voice your own opinions in the comments in a polite manner fitting of Tintin fans.

The Good

Scanned from Empire Magazine

This shot is the cream of the crop.

The texture of Silk’s beard, the look of the Twins, the detailed background, the composition of the shot, the lighting – they are all perfect.

The Not As Good But Still Good

Scanned from Empire Magazine

Dark and moody, full of portent and potential action. The low camera angle and heavy shadows gives the shot a nice feeling of tension.

From Empire’s online gallery

I wrote earlier that I didn’t like “the harsh light behind Haddock”. Interestingly, the print version of this image is much, much darker. This is down to the technological and production differences between VDU displays that emit light and printed matter that reflect light. In the print version, the back lighting looks less out of place and I much prefer the image even though it is harder to make out the details.

The Worrying

From Empire’s online gallery

A close up of a scanned image from Empire. Click the image for full size

These two images are the only ones from the film that show the full body lengths of our main characters plus Snowy. In both of them, something looks off-key. Haddock in particular look unnatural in his pose in both. Maybe this is just Andy Serkis’s acting of a drunk and it will look OK in context.

Snowy also doesn’t look right. This may be because he is the only true character animation in the film whilst everyone else is motion-capture.

Given the quality of everything else, I willing to bet that in the film everything will look right but it does leave me with a Polar Express type worry.

The Bad

I really don’t like this cover. The detail is exquisite but both Tintin and Snowy look really unnatural but without any of Herge’s charm. It would of been much better if they had only used actual images from the film. I suspect that this image is influencing my opinions and unduly increasing my worries about the two previous images.

Am I Excited? You Bet!

Despite all the quibbles and doubts I have about the images, all the signs are that will Spielberg & Jackson capture the look and the spirit of the books. Roll on October 2011!

The first two stills for Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, have been released.

An iconic scene from The Crab with the Golden Claws

Is this Tintin meeting Haddock for the first time?

Both images have been revealed by Empire Magazine and the December issue (available 4th November) will have more comments and news from the cast. Including this:

So what can we expect from the story? Here’s what Spielberg told us. “The first part of the film, which is the most mysterious part, certainly owes much to not only film noir but the whole German Brechtian theatre — some of our night scenes and our action scenes are very contrasty. But at the same time the movie is a hell of an adventure.”

The images follow a weekend-long teaser that slowly released close-ups of their cover. A full version of which is now available.

This image was specially created for the magazine and is not from the film.

All images are copyright to someone, though who the hell knows because Empire doesn’t say. So please credit Empire magazine if you reproduce them.

In a recent edition of Empire Magazine, Spielberg and James Cameron gave and interview about motion capture and similar techniques used in Avatar and Tintin. An interesting article but with little about Tintin except this titbit.

You can find a PDF of the full interview here. Thanks to Archibald for the link.

“There will be no cell phones, no TV sets, no modern cars. Just timeless Europe.” – Steven Spielberg

Le Monde magazine interviewed Steven Spielberg about his work on Tintin. The interview was presumably done in English and translated to French for publication and I’m translating it back into English via Google so the wording may not be spot on. However, the meaning is clear, the Tintin movie will not be some hideously re-imagining of Tintin. Spielberg goes on to say.

“Peter Jackson and I have the opportunity to honor the art of Hergé, his tone, his palette, his characters.” He denies [The translation is garbled here, possibly "to amend the famous Tintin tuft"?] He added: “The body language is very important. There is no question of touching it. We religiously respect the art of Hergé.”

From this interview, it certainly sounds like the Tintin movie will stick closely to the classic Tintin look-and-feel though they have previously described it as “film noir”. We may have a better idea in the new year as Peter Jackson has previously indicated that the first images of the CGI will be released in January.

Also due in January is an announcement on Peter Jackson’s choice of books for his film or films. The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun are widely tipped as favourites.

Source: Steven Spielberg révèle ses secrets pour adapter Tintin au cinéma (via Spielberg, Jackson Talk More “Tintin”).

A new photo of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on the set of Tintin.

Photo from Estrenos deCine.

The 20th Anniversary edition of Empire Magazine is out and it has been guest edited by Steven Spielberg. Most importantly, pages 20 – 25 are dedicated to Tintin. After a quick read, here are the highlights:

• The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn will cover parts of the Crab withe Golden Claw and Secret of the Unicorn.
• Red Rackham’s Treasure will be the second film …
• … and is currently in pre-production and has financing.
• A third film is not planned at the moment
• An additional week’s shooting will happen in New Zealand in June
• In the original 20 minute test reel, Jackson played all the parts
• The film will “have this film noir kind of look. Something very atmospheric” – Spielberg

Lieutenant Delcourt, the commander of the Afghar desert fort in The Crab with the Golden Claws is being played by scottish actor Tony Curran. The red-hair Glaswegian has a number of very minor roles under his belt but was first noticable in Underworld: Evolution and in the last year or so, he has been landing more significant roles.

“Steven was great. The first thing he said to me was: ‘All this motion capture work is new to me as well, so let’s have some fun with it’.”
Along with Bell, who plays the bequiffed Belgian adventurer, and Craig, in the role of villain Red Rackham, Andy Serkis – who shot to fame as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings – stars as the whisky- swilling sidekick Captain Haddock in the first of atrilogy of Tintin movies, due for release in 2011.
And Curran admitted the English actor’s experience in performancecapture filming was a valuable asset.
He said: “Andy’s role in the Rings movies was pretty ground- breaking and he also did King Kong. He’s been around the block a few times with motion capture and that certainly helped the rest of us.
“The film will use the movements, expressions and the voices of the actors, but in an authentic, animated form.
“I think that was important for Steven and Peter as they wanted to stay true to the comic-book style of Herge’s original Tintin stories.”

Source: Scots Actor Lands Dream Role in Big Screen Version of Comic Classic

You Tube: Tony Curran in Underworld Evolution and a couple of fan videos – My Immortal Tony, Tony Curran Does He ….. ?

Nick Frost chats to the Birmingham Mail about Tintin (and his new film The Boat That Rocked).

Nick says of making The Adventures of Tintin: “It was amazing, as Spielberg is a real hero of mine. I vividly remember watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When you see him come out from behind his monitor, punching the air and doing a dance because you’ve done a good take, it’s like ‘oh my God, that’s Steven Spielberg!’.”

Full article: Upfront Nick has to bare his all