Actor Andy Serkis is known for his motion capture roles in film. His most recognisable work has been as Gollum / Smeagol in both “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “The Hobbit.”
When “The Dawn of The Planet of the Apes” comes out this July, Serkis will reprise his role of Caesar the ape he played in the 2011 film.
However, he’s not just voicing an ape. Serkis acts out the entire role, crawling around and making very specific facial expressions to translate on screen.
Everything the ape does, Serkis does along with the team of actors who lend their talents to the other apes in the film.
20th Century Fox released a splitscreen video that shows exactly how Serkis and actors Toby Kebbell, Larramie Doc Shaw, Terry Notary, and Karin Konoval bring the apes to life on screen.
It’s pretty cool.
First, the actors get into full body motion capture suits. The white markers on the actor’s faces help track their movement on the digital animal. The tracking picks up everything from spoken words …
… to movements …
… and facial expressions.
Magic Puppet 