Dawn of Planet of Apes and Oscar for Andy Serkis ?

ALZ-113 virus causes the collapse of human civilization following martial law, civil unrest and the economic collapse of every country in the world. Ten years later, Caesar leads and governs a new generation of apes in a community located in the Muir Woods. While walking through the forest, Caesar's son Blue Eyes and Rocket's son Ash encounter a human.  The remaining humans in San Francisco, genetically immune to the virus, are living in a guarded tower within the ruined city. ……….  ..that is the storyline of ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’  a 2014 American science fiction film directed by Matt Reeves and written by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke,  and is a sequel  to the 2011 film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which began 20th Century Fox's reboot of the original Planet of the Apes series.

It is everybody’s dream to win an Oscar – the  Academy Awards is an annual American awards ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the film industry. Winners are awarded the statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit,  popularly known as Oscar award. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).  The awards ceremony was first televised in 1953 and is now seen live in more than 200 countries. The 87th Academy Awards is scheduled for February 22, 2015.

In the Kamal starrer Dasavatharam, in a song the director KS Ravikumar had the lyrics that even Oscar would wonder Kamal calling him ‘Ulaga Nayakan’.  Have heard many Sivaji fans say that Sivaji Ganesan could not win the Oscar for his nine distinct roles in Navarathri ("Nine Nights"), a 1964 Tamil Drama film by A. P. Nagarajan because foreigners could not believe (or rather accept) that the same man could show so much of differences in 9 different roles !!!!

There are rules and according to the rules of Academy Awards – a film must open in the previous calendar year and be screened for at least 7 consecutive days  in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify (except for the Best Foreign Language Film). The film must be advertised and exploited during their Los Angeles County qualifying run in print media, and……….. this rule would make Indian language films disqualified. !!

Daily Mail reports that Hollywood is divided on whether Andy Serkis should get an Oscar for his 'motion captured' role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  Serkis is tipped as a contender for his role in the summer blockbuster hit – but  Hollywood is yet to decide if performance is acting or 'made in a lab'.  Animation companies say industry is 'teetering on the edge of recognition'.

The report states that Hollywood is split down the middle over whether Andy Serkis should get an Oscar for his 'motion captured' role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.  The cinematic star is being tipped as a contender for a golden statuette for his role as Caesar (ape)  in the summer blockbuster. The movie proved a smash hit in cinemas internationally and brought in box office profits of $707.4m. The stars of the Apes are currently in Hollywood promoting the DVD release of the movie. Studio 20th Century Fox is promoting its cast for the supporting acting categories in the Academy Awards, and Serkis would be the first actor to win an Oscar for a 'motion capture' role, it emerged.

A managing director of UK film and television post-production house Molinare, said the star should be considered for an Oscar because whether he's played an ape or a man, it's all performance. Phil Elderfield, entertainment product manager at Vicon, which makes motion-capture systems, said Serkis's acting should be counted in as the award season in Hollywood gets into gear. 'We are teetering on the edge of recognition for some performances motion capture has delivered. This is a remarkable piece of work and Andy's performance is deserving of consideration.' But actors themselves are divided over whether the 'motion capture' performance is actually acting. Serkis's co-star Gary Oldman has cast doubt over whether his performance was 'the sort of thing' the Academy will accept because of the heavy use of computer generated imagery. There are also worries that the acting profession will end up redundant if Hollywood does consider the British man's performance to be acting and therefore entitled to be nominated for awards. Actors' unions have no objection though, and see the possible shift to accepting a performance made part-animation lab, part-acting is a good thing for actors.

Mankind can confuse and remain eternally confused on every quarter and see issues where there are none.

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, given to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track.  Unlike other Academy Awards, the Best Foreign Language Film Award is not presented to a specific individual. It is accepted by the winning film's director, but is considered an award for the submitting country as a whole.

Motion capture (Mo-cap for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics.  When it includes face and fingers or captures subtle expressions, it is often referred to as performance capture.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

10^th Nov. 2014.