Spring Break
Modern 3-D interpretation of 'A Christmas Carol' debuts in theaters Friday
By: Rebecca Bennett
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Features
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"You have the underlying intellectual material, which is what Dickens wrote, and you embellish it with music, and you embellish it with color, and you embellish it with performance, and now with what is the 3-D aspect … we've been able to really immerse the audience in Dickensian London," said Zemeckis in an Oct. 26 teleconference.
Zemeckis said the modern animation remains more true to the original 1843 novella because it allows moviemakers to delve further into the fantasy of the tale, capturing more of the spectacular and surreal tone with which Dickens penned his story.
There are no cameras involved in the movie-making process, at least in the traditional sense. Actors perform scenes in stages surrounded by infrared lights, which detect movements from sensors placed strategically on the actors' joints, facial features and even pores. This digital performance is captured on a hard drive, which is fleshed out with digital hair, skin and clothing by animators. The virtual actors are then placed in animated settings, and then computers are used to finally "shoot" the scene.
Zemeckis said his cast, which includes Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn, liked that they could focus on pure acting without relying on costumes, makeup, or elaborate backdrops. The actors also enjoyed being able to record entire scenes at once and act all day, something uncommon when shooting live-action films.
"[The actors] immediately fall in love with it within the first hour of working because they realize it's all about performance," Zemeckis said.
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