WHOSE GOB OF SPIT IS IT? - Een analyse van de manier waarop het begrip aura inzicht kan bieden in verschillende perspectieven op het ambacht van de motion capture acteur

Abstract

Actor Andy Serkis is said to be the king of the motion capture technology. However, whether he truly deserves this title seems to be debatable. As motion capture actor for Gollum in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, you don’t actually see him on-screen. What you do see is a digitally rendered and enhanced version of him. This has raised many questions in popular discourses about where the role of the actor ends and where the animator’s begins. Film scholar Scott Balcerzak has an interesting view in this debate: he says that what’s left of Andy Serkis in Gollum is his aura. Since aura is a much redefined concept – with deferring thoughts on the stay or decay of aura – it can deliver interesting insights in how the debate on Serkis’ role in the creation of Gollum has developed in different discourses.