Marvel has taken the first step in bringing comic film fans “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The casting of Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, the leader of the cosmic super-team.
It may be difficult for Marvel to cast other parts in the film, due to the unique characters involved. A raccoon that is anthropomorphized and a walking tree makes it a bit of a hardship to find the right actor or actress to uphold a watertight ship.
Groot and Rocket Raccoon are created through computer-generated elements. Marvel already has the animation plans set and have diligently been working on the characters. Digital effects will be a challenge for this film.
While Marvel is in its own world when it comes to presenting films with the best of digital effects, but “Guardians of the Galaxy” comes with its own set of hurdles to jump.
Even though the hero is as well known as Captain America or other superheroes from the comic book pages of Marvel, the digital completion is a bit more complex.
Executive producer Victoria Alonso spills the beans about the creation of the film that began in June.
Production has already started! Completely. It started months ago and we have an entire team in London already – we start shooting in June. Our director, James Gunn, travels next week and its going, baby! It’s a fast train to a beautiful place.
The teams and studio are already working on crafting “Guardians of the Galaxy” the best they can – to create a complete success in the comic book film genre. As a film that will follow “Iron Man 3,” the work is cut out for Marvel.
The digital effects that are being talked about for “Guardians of the Galaxy” begin with Rocket Raccoon. This lovable character comes complete with human intelligence but loves his weaponry. Michael Rooker is designated to play the voice of Rocket. Rumors were that Marvel was searching for a big name star. At this point in the procedure of production, it’s an open door as to who may actually end up with the role.
Animating Rocket Raccoon and even Groot, the lively animated tree, is all up to the effects team. Since a convincing character in the raccoon is solely reliant on the animation team, this leads to questions. How will they enhance the character to make it great? Alonso sums it up:
We’re going to do a combination. You can’t do any motion capture with a raccoon – they won’t let you put the suit on [laughter]. But we will do rotomation, probably, for some of the behavior. Rocket will have his own personality, of course, and clearly we can’t do mocap on a tree, per se, but we definitely will have performers to emulate what James Gunn will lead to be the behavior and the performance. He’s very clear on where he wants to take the characters.
With Marvel genius Joss Whedon being in charge from a directing perspective, it should all turn out great. The characterization of Rocket Raccoon will be memorable in any case.
Rotomation involves wrapping animation around performances (facial and physical) of the actor. The idea of hiring an actor to lend Rocket a voice to have him come alive may not be completely accurate. If Rocket and Groot need a live actor to bring them to life, it could lead to difficulties or at least more effort in creating the film. Although fans would appreciate the effort. An example would be Gollum from “The Hobbit.”
However it is accomplished, “Guardians of the Galaxy” may just prove to be one of the best comic book films offered in 2014. Look for “Guardians of the Galaxy” in theaters on August 1, 2014. The film is rated PG-13.
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