Visual Effects and Making of Maatraan

During the Maattrraan success press meet, KV Anand and VFx expert Srinivas Mohan explained in detail how Suriya's head was surgically replaced on top of another character. The team also shocked the press members how a brand new movie of Suriya or Rajini can be released even 100 years from now since they have done 3D scan of important facial expressions. The team explains how Suriya's 22 unique expressions were captured and overlaid on top of Suriya's body double(s). 

The Adventures of TinTin - Hollywood struggles with use of Motion Capture

Interestingly, Hollywood has not been very successful so far in use of Motion Capture Technology. Motion Capture has been termed a failure in Spielberg's TinTin for not being able to bring the right eye movements, emotions and facial expressions. Even Oscar Awards snubbed the adventures of Tin Tin by not nominating the movie last year. Many blame Motion Capture for Tin Tin's below-average box office performance in the US. Here are a few complaints and why Hollywood is planning to drop this Motion Capture technology,

• "The Adventures of Tintin did manage to capture bodily movements very well, even though the facial features on many of the characters were cartoonishly exaggerated" - Crave Online, 2011

• Spielberg and his colleagues should remember that there's another performance-capturing device which is far more sophisticated than their latest boxes of digital tricks, It's called a camera. - The Economist, Oct 2011

• All the eyes of the characters in “The Adventures of Tintin” are empty and soulless, and it makes the movie feel the same way. The eyes of all the characters are lifeless, dead, animatronic abominations. There is nothing at the heart of it. - Media Post, Oct 2011

• Reaction to TinTin was so bad, it may lead to the end for the Zemeckis style of motion-capture film making, which has proven increasingly unpopular with audiences." - New York Times, Oct 2011

Maattrraan perfects the use of Motion Capture

However, the reception for Maattrraan's use of Motion Capture Technology is positive. The results are out for everybody to see as discerning reviewer and common audience have not pointed out flaws in visual effects in Maattrraan. The best scenes in Maattrraan were the ones involving the conjoined twins. Both Suriya's expressions were so real that many critics could not identify which one is real and which one is motion capture generated. The real compliment to the team is when critics and audience took the technicalities for granted -- sign of victory for CG/VFX.

Making Video of Path Breaking use of Motion Capture Technology

If you are film-maker or ardent movie-buff, this video is a must-watch video. For the rest of the fans and anti-fans of heroes, please watch this video to see how Tamil Cinema has been pushing the boundaries in world cinema on technical fronts. 

Making Video on Vijay TV with Suriya, KV Anand, Harris and others

Srinivas Mohan Explains VFX/CG during Press Meet

Video Credit - ThamizhThirai