The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which gives out the Oscars, is generally loathe to make changes to their award categories. But they’ve shown more willingness in recent years, adding a category for Animated Feature Film, and expanding the roster of Best Picture nominees from five to 10 (and then changing it again).
Given their new-found willingness to adapt with the times, I would petition the Academy that it’s time to add another category to keep up with the way technology is changing movie-making: digital acting.
Maybe “digital” isn’t the right term; perhaps “virtual” acting is better. But this would cover any performance in which the performer’s own body is not viewed on the screen. Instead, they’re represented by some animation, puppet or other special effect.
This would cover motion capture performances like Andy Serkis’ stupendous turn as Caesar the chimpanzee in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” Motion capture is where the actor physically performs all or most of the action for a part wearing a special suit. The performance is filmed, and then digital animators “draw” over the actor’s body to change him or her into someone (or something) that looks completely different.
But the category would also cover traditional voice acting, too — a mode of thespian performance that has been not so much derided as ignored.
Voice acting, when it’s done right, does more than simply lend a character a voice. It fills them with a heart and soul that little blips of pixels or splashes of paint could never hope to do. I think of Ellen DeGeneres’ role as Dory the dim-witted fish in “Finding Nemo.” She gave that character such a resonant emotional center, Dory seemed to jump right off the screen.
Or think of Frank Oz as Yoda in the “Star Wars” films. Although the puppetry of “The Empire Strikes Back” and “The Return of the Jedi” seems crude by today’s CGI standards, Oz managed to give the little green guy the commanding presence of a great wizard/scholar.
Serkis has become practically a one-man band at giving his characters presence through motion capture, granting Caesar a cunning intelligence and empathetic heart. He pioneered this type of acting with Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, creating a character who was both utterly malicious and yet pitiable.
In fact, the only major objection I can think of to establish an Oscar for digital acting is that Serkis would probably win it most every year!
Reference
http://www.helloindianapolis.com/commons/pages/articles/opinion/academy_needs_an_oscar_for_digital_acting/237518/
