Andy Serkis: The King of Motion Capture Has a Totally Crazy New Project

Andy Serkis is the master of motion capture. Having brought iconic characters like King Kong and Gollum to life, he would like to take it to the next level. The actor and filmmaker would love to lead a indeed an astonishing and ambitious project.

Who is Andy Serkis?

60 years old, Andy Serkis is an actor, British screenwriter, director and producer. He first made a name for himself in the world of motion capture, of which he was a pioneer. He thus gave life to iconic characters such as Gollum, King Kong, Snoke in Star Wars and Caesar in Planet of the Apes. In fact, Andy Serkis has become so comfortable with the technology that he has become its symbol.

But for a few years now, he has also been filming without motion capture, without a net in a way, directly with his face uncovered. We have thus been able to meet him in the MCU in the role of Klaw, in the series Andor or even in the recent The Batman. He has even tried his hand at directing since he notably directed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018) and the terrible Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021).

A new major project

Andy Serkis wants to leave motion capture behind and move up a gear. Indeed, he would like to direct a film dominated by artificial intelligence. During a roundtable in Great Britain, Andy Serkis announced that he was working, with his studio Imaginarium, on a new project called Narrative History.

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According to Deadline, this project should feature 2D characters, first dubbed by voice actors, before they enter the real world. A real world that would take the form of an augmented reality.

These would therefore be AI characters created by artists and directors. They will evolve in a world where we can have direct relationships with these characters in computer-generated images.

explained Andy Serkis. The project is still a little vague, but if we understand correctly, the actor would like to create a sort of Ready Player Onelife-size. A universe, created by AI, in which 2D drawings would come to life. It would ultimately be a bit like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 2.0.

The use of AI in the artistic world is controversial. Some artists are for it and see it as an unprecedented technological advance, while others see it as an immediate danger to human creativity. Andy Serkis would like to reconcile public opinion with AI:

Even the biggest visual effects companies don't create things as amazing as people in their basements. It's very misunderstood, very misused, and generalized. In the same way that people probably thought the Internet was going to destroy everyone's lives.

Andy Serkis also addressed the question of the use of the identity of certain actors. The use of a face by AI. In fact, more crudely, he addressed the notion of deep fake. Andy Serkis is keen to put in place a policy to protect actors who would be ready to sell their image to AI:

It took a long time for actors to understand what it means to put on a costume or makeup and then stand in a suit and do essentially what they normally do, which is act. We need to have the right permissions in place so that these artists can monetize their work properly.

Andy Serkis' project still seems to be in its infancy. At the moment, it's an untitled project with no release date.