Vicon, a motion capture technology specialist for the entertainment, engineering and life sciences industries, together with Audiomotion Studios, have set a new world record for the most people motion-captured in real-time–19 people. The attempt, which featured two UK based hip hop dance crews, took place in Oxford on March 9 and was adjudicated by Gary Marshall, motion capture supervisor at Framestore, and Rebecca-Louise Leybourne, @ThatMocapGirl.
The types of motion to be used in the record attempt was decided through a fan vote on social media; a dance group was picked as the best format for the attempt from other choices including a cheerleader pyramid, or a rugby scrum. B-Boy crews were organised by the Hip Hop Heritage project which works to preserve Hip Hop culture and is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Andy Ray, sales director at Vicon said: “We’re often asked as a business how many people a Vicon system will capture in real-time, and up to this point we haven’t had a definitive proven answer. So we decided to go for a fully validated method of seeing what could be done! Dancing, and indeed B-Boy dancing, with a group of people who have never done mocap before was incredibly challenging. All of the dancers required a crash course in ‘mocap 101’ on the day and the complexity of the motions carried out provided tough conditions for the Vicon and Audiomotion team. Especially as it became apparent that some of the signature break-dance moves were damaging the markers!”
Mick Morris, managing director at Audiomotion Studios, said: “We had been discussing this idea with Vicon for sometime and I’m really glad we went all out for the record. We are very proud to have been a part of it. No other studio has been able to do this and it’s down to Vicon. This is the recognition they deserve for making the world’s finest motion capture systems.”
The record was achieved on Audiomotion’s main stage using: 36 F40 Vicon cameras and Blade software, piping to solved skeletons in Autodesk’s MotionBuilder.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More