VANCOUVER — Animatrik, a provider of motion capture and virtual cinematography services, is teaming up with actor, stunt coordinator and movement coach Terry Notary to deliver an exclusive workshop. Titled “Character and Movement”, the workshop will focus on the acting skills that drive CG character performance.
For the past 20 years, Notary has helped create characters for some of the Hollywood’s most ambitious films. From Avatar to Avengers: Infinity War, he has designed the movement of aliens, apes, creatures, villains and superheroes. Notary has developed his own technique of working with each actor’s ‘blueprint of experience’ and teaches his students how to utilize and understand their most powerful vehicle of expression; the body.
Two workshops will take place in Vancouver: Saturday, June 23rd and Sunday June 24th, running from 9:00am to 6:00pm. Each workshop is limited to just 10 students per class. The fully-suited experience costs $750 per day, with lunch included. Attendees will take away demo reel footage of their live-action performance and virtual character side by side.
The workshop presents a culmination of Notary’s experience, developed across careers as a world-class gymnast, Cirque du Soleil acrobat, actor and movement specialist. Attendees will learn how he approaches the unique craft of motion capture acting – a discipline wherein actors must keep in mind the digital, unseeable world their CG avatars eventually inhabit. Notary will also reveal how directors can best communicate across a motion capture volume, delivering coherent instruction for an imaginary character.
“Like an elite athlete or a trained musician, an actor too must discover the delicate balance of the mind and body,” says Notary. “It is in this place that one can allow the effortless state of expression to reveal itself.”
“Motion capture is a unique medium,” adds Brett Ineson, president and CTO at Animatrik. “Actors have little context to immerse themselves in a role and must often imagine themselves in forms other than human. Terry is a master at this. He has portrayed extraterrestrials, apes, and all kinds of creatures, so is perfectly positioned to teach the finer elements of this exciting and developing profession.”
Notary previously collaborated with Animatrik on a number of huge blockbuster titles, including Warcraft, Kong: Skull Island and the Planet of the Apes trilogy, for which he also served as stunt coordinator and movement choreographer for the primate-portraying cast. Animatrik operates one of the largest independent motion capture stages in North America. Recent engagements include Ready Player One, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Justice League and Thor: Ragnarok.