Video about the use of “Avatar’s” motion capture performances with glimpses of the equine-like creatures of Pandora
What’s blue (no – not “blue roan” blue but cerulean or royal blue), has six legs, has a tongue like a butterfly and forges a bioelectric bond with its rider?
Don’t feel bad. I didn’t know what those blue equids in Avatar were called, either. Until now.
Direhorse
Wouldn’t you love to know the origin of that word? I know I would.
I wanted to write this post back in December when I first saw the movie, but I had trouble finding videos then that showed the real-life equine actors.
In the fictional world of Pandora, direhorses are said to be a third larger than the largest Terran draft horse. And have a top speed of 95km per hour.
For more information, check out this entry about the direhorse in the Pandorapedia. Another link that mentions possible classic science fiction roots for this creature is this Avatar Wiki.
Motion capture photography
You can see the sensors on the real life horses in the video. You can see them better on the actors.
Motion capture photography has come a long way since I was a freelance photographer’s assistant tagging along with magazine photogs on assignment.
Once, I was called in for an assignment to help with a photo to appear in one of the major glossy business magazines.
One of the local children’s hospitals had a gait improvement clinic that used motion capture photography to study problems with how a child walked. For the assignment, one of the children volunteered to have the sensors attached to his clothing so he could walk up and down a darkened hallway for the photo.
If I recall, lasers were involved, too. For such a high-tech photo, it all boiled down to a little boy studded with reflective bumps walking back and forth in front of us in the dark.
I never saw the finished result. I doubt it looks as good as what we see in Avatar. After all, unlike with the filming of Avatar, we couldn’t see the finished result in a viewfinder as we shot.
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Tags: Avatar, James Cameron, motion capture
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