Cinematography technique · used in 7 films
Performance Capture
Recording an actor's body and face with sensors, then transferring the movement onto a digital character. The actor's subtle expressions carry over to a creature that does not exist.
Examples
7 films that use it
Happy Feet
George Miller · 2006
Human dancers performed the dance scenes. Tap dancer Savion Glover provided Mumble's tap dancing and co-choreographed, and performers went to a Penguin School to learn how to move like birds. The feet and the timing look like real tapping because they come from a real dancer.
Where to see it: Mumble discovers tap: While escaping skuas, Mumble finds that his feet make rhythm.
Avatar
James Cameron · 2009
Actors wore sensors on their bodies and faces, and a virtual camera let Cameron frame the digital world like a live set. The blue Na'vi still move and look like the actors. You read their feelings from tiny expressions.
Where to see it: Jake and Neytiri's scenes: the Na'vi characters carry the movements and expressions of their performers.
The Adventures of Tintin
Steven Spielberg · 2011
The film's characters are digital, but the actors' faces and movements drive them. Haddock's stumbles and Tintin's sharp reactions come from real performances. You get a cartoon world with human timing.
Where to see it: Haddock in the desert: Haddock, sunburned and thirsty, tells the story of an ancestor, and his comic movements and speech carry the scene.
The BFG
Steven Spielberg · 2016
The BFG's face and voice come from a real actor, and his small, shy gestures carry through the digital giant. You read his feelings as if he were a real person. The big digital body still carries the actor's small reactions.
Where to see it: Meeting the Queen: The BFG gets nervous at Buckingham Palace, and his awkward gestures and shy face show how out of place he feels.
Avatar: The Way of Water
James Cameron · 2022
The crew built a new underwater system that used ultraviolet light, since infrared is absorbed by water. Actors were trained to hold their breath and perform underwater. The swimming and diving you see on screen is based on real performances.
Where to see it: The reef: the Sully children learn to swim and dive with the Metkayina.
Avatar: Fire and Ash
James Cameron · 2025
The Ash People and the Sully children are all performed by actors and then built in digital form. The effects team won a Visual Effects Society award for the Varang character. You see Oona Chaplin's performance in her face.
Where to see it: Varang: the leader of the Mangkwan is played by Oona Chaplin and built as a digital character.
Questions
Quick answers
- What is performance capture in film?
- Recording an actor's body and face with sensors, then transferring the movement onto a digital character. The actor's subtle expressions carry over to a creature that does not exist.
- Which films use performance capture?
- Hulk (2003), Happy Feet (2006), Avatar (2009), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), The BFG (2016), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and 1 more films in the CineCode library.
- What kind of technique is performance capture?
- It is a cinematography technique. Related cinematography techniques include others listed on the CineCode techniques page.