Motion capture acts are becoming increasingly popular as a tool for production that gives detailed performances to characters that aren’t human.
Andy Serkis is the one who is known for his expertise in the same. He is most famous for portraying Lumpy and Kong (motion capture and voice) in Peter Jackson’s 2005 version of King Kong.
For his role in the film, he used a unique device called the Kongolizer. It is likely related to motion-capture technology that is employed to bring CGI characters to life.
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Andy Serkis Used an Unusual Kongolizer Device for King Kong Role
Hollywood actors, Tom Hardy & Andy Serkis took the Wired Autocomplete interview (where celebs answer the internet’s most searched questions about themselves). Hardy uncovered a question from the Google board that asks, “How does Andy Serkis play King Kong?” To this, Serkis replied,
“I played him on set with Naomi Watts, in a gorilla muscle suit. And I was on top of Cherry pickers and cranes, and all sort of adjustable in height, ladders so that we could be in close proximity to each other or I could be at the right height, and then I had a thing called Kongolizer, which then projected my voice through these big speakers, so I could sound like a big gorilla.”
Kongolizer is described as a “method of having sound come out of speakers to give a sense of scale and distance for the character.” It’s a creative sound system employed to enhance the auditory aspects of the performance to create a more realistic portrayal of the iconic character.
In another interview with Today, Serkis said, “It [Kongolizer] dropped my voice by about three octaves in real time, and then it went through these huge speakers on set.” Not only in King Kong, but he also employed the Kongolizer tool for his roles like Supreme Leader Snoke and Gollum.
Other Motion Capture Performances of Andy Serkis
Rather than keeping his performances in different genres, Andy Serkis continued to be his best in the world of motion capture. He proudly took on the dual role in the Jungle Book story—not only acting but also directing. The actor played Baloo in the film.
From playing heroic Captain Haddock in Tintin to villainous Supreme Leader Snoke, Serkis also tried the distinct nature of characters in the motion capture. Then his most iconic motion capture performance was of Gollum which really put him on the map.
Matt Reeves, the director of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was blown away when he saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes (the film’s predecessor).
In the flick, Andy Serkis portrays Caesar—an intelligent chimpanzee adopted as a baby by a scientist. As Caesar matures, he leads a rebellion against humans.
Regarding the performance of Serkis, Reeves told Wired that the craziest “thing about that story is that the most relatable character is not a human, but an ape.” The director also asserted that he had “never felt that level of emotional connection with a computer-generated character before.” So, not only did Serkis change the motion-capture industry as a whole but also made an impact on lives.
