With the help of motion capture, Andy Serkis’s iconic portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings created one of the most memorable characters in films. For The Hobbit, the actor and director returned to the big screen as Gollum, mesmerizing audiences across the globe once again.
Now, by teaming up with children’s charity Barnardo’s, Andy Serkis opened up his digital studio The Imaginarium, situated in central London, to vulnerable teenagers. 12 young people aged 15 to 23 were invited and shown how special cameras and body suits translate an actor’s movements into an animated character in order to create unique characters such as Gollum. Moreover, these young people could also try on a performance capture suit. Andy Serkis told the London Evening Standard:
“We’re trying to provide a platform for people who don’t have access to education or who may be disenfranchised in life, or have been up against it.”
Opened in 2011, The Imaginarium, was founded by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish to “ to fuel a new generation of storytelling in film, television and videogames”. Not only does the digital studio offer services for movie makers and developing a wide range of their own “film & television projects, games and other digital applications”, The Imaginarium also offers offers workshops and internships for all those that are interested in performance capture.
