Happy New Year everyone... a little late , but still well-intentioned.
Recently I needed to clean out some stuff from my storage unit (how many boxes of unused VHS videos does one person need to store?) and decided to also go through some of my old wprk boxes. I found some stuff that I think some of you might find interesting. At least I found it interesting.
Here's a Roto-scope frame from the first film I ever worked on - Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings. If I recall right this scene was never used, but I thought it was a great shot that showed some of the main characters and the actors that mimed their parts. Just like in regular animation the voices were recorded by actors (including John Hurt as Aragorn) and then the 'roto-actors' would act/pantomime to the recorded voices that were played back for them. It sounds awkward, but worked remarkably well.
Underneath is a drawing I did myself many years ago of Aragorn, Boromir and Gandalf based on this roto. This was probably towards the end of production and I'd been animating (sort of) for awhile. It doesn't look too bad considering how little I knew at the time...
3 comments:
That's great. Haven't seen that movie in a while (was looking forward to it when it came out, but was pretty disappointed). Had good things in it, though.
Still, it would be hysterical to see scenes done with the roto actors.
Agreed...I actually have trouble sitting through the entire way, but I still find some of the sequences masterful. As apparently Peter Jackson did.
Whoa! Just happened to stumble onto this via Google Image searching. This is very interesting! I've always wondered what the roto-actors looked like.
I have always been among the few who really like Bakshi's film. Probably because I grew up with it, so I am blinded by sentimental attachment :) But I also really like the artwork, though. My brother and I have always really liked how the Balrog and the Nazgul are depicted. But I also like Aragorn and Gandalf, as well.
Anyway, thanks for showing this. If you happen to have any more that are easy to get to (that don't involve you rummaging through closets and such), I'd love to see them. Actually, I've always thought it would be fun to see actual footage, pre-rotoscoping.
Merry Christmas!
~Joe
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