Benjamin TED Talk In movies when it came to characters aging, special effects were limited. Instead of using complete computer generated special effects, movie producers hired different actors to play the different ages of one character. Although, in the newest movie starring Brad Pitt, movie productions had a whole new challenge they wanted to tackle. Their challenge? How to make the main character, Benjamin Button age while still looking like Brad. That, had never been accomplished in the movie industry.
If it was something that the movie industry had never accomplished, then they would have to think outside the box. They could not just simply place Brad's head on another actor's body. No, they had to alter his face so that layers of wrinkles are shown, droopy eyelids, and a crinkly forehead of an eighty-four year old Benjamin Button would appear on forty-three year old actor Brad Pitt. This was an experiment, without knowing if the outcome would be favourable or not.
They had to face their problem, they had to pull together something for the movie board, to show them that yes, they would be able to get the special effects down, and capable of creating a character that goes through his entire life in the movie. Their hypothesis? 'We've got a problem.' How could eighty or so of the movie crew finish shooting half of the movie without using all of Brad Pitt instead of just only his facial features? Their only way out... was to bring everyone together and have numerous meetings... thinking outside the box... They had to break down the steps, analyze, gather data and go beyond anyone's expectations.
What these people could not find within the movie industry, they searched for possible answers elsewhere. Where could to find technology they could use to help age Benjamin Button? They had to gather materials and create an analysis and constantly experiment. They had a breakthrough though, when they completely remade and upgraded a motion
capture device for the face. The device could capture hundreds of little movements a human face was capable of making. They used this handy technology and placed in on Brad to capture the expressions Benjamin Button would make in the movie. Successful experimenting and analyzing? Yes.
With this advancement, the people behind the movie could take this technology and go somewhere with it. They could now use four actors of different stature and build, looking nothing like Brad and make them appear like Brad as he aged. Therefore, this was the basics of what they were looking for. This was the building block, the very structure of what t
hey needed to advance further into the challenges they faced. Next, more experimenting and analyzing. Lighting? Camera angle? And of course, excellent acting skills.
Their prospect of whether to go with production of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button had been floating around with executive producers wondering if such a technological equipped with mounds of special effects based project would be possible. They had their little what ifs.. they admitted they had a problem, they drew a hypothesis, they gathered their materials and they experimented, and analyzed. A group of people, with the hopes to bring motion capture of a novel to an on-screen movie reached a conclusion and successfully brought The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to the top of the box office, with 13 Academy Award nominations including Best Pictures.
