The many live-action talent in the Austin area, which is alive with television and movie projects, can take heart that their talent is still needed to impact the hearts, minds, and souls of audiences. With growing specatacle, digital effects, and performance-capture, film talent can take heart that their live-action work is what really impacts audiences personally and subjectively. Spectacle can entertain but not provide the heart and hope that live-action dramas can.  

It is interesting to observe that Avatar is tied for the most Academy Award nominations in categories for the best in the following: picture, director, musical score, art direction, cinematography, visual effects, and sound. These nominations are not in categories for best acting.

Best acting Oscar nominations this year are for live-action actors. Digital effects and performance-capture seem to affect an audience more as spectacle than on an internal level. Live actors still seem to have more power in connecting with and affecting an audience. Live acting that projects human personality, empathy, and soul still seems to connect more powerfully and vitally with audiences.

Spectacle and digital effects can entertain, but they do not have the power of the human actor to affect the hearts, minds, and souls of audience members in internal, subjective, and emotional ways. This is not to say that actors in performance-capture depictions are less skilled. To the contrary, it takes acting skill to work with performance-capture technology. It is just that technology affects audiences more as spectacle and live-action actors have more of an advantage in humanly affecting, impacting, and connecting with audiences. This reassures me and other actors as to our ongoing value and significance in our highly technological world.

See Dr. Diane Howard's recent film reviews, recommendations and publications.