k, according to DreamWorks (1, 4), is that the actors worked more with storyboards and alone than they did together. Voice therefore becomes vital in characterization and in establishing mood.
To make Shrek, DreamWorks used an ExpertVision HIRES FALCON ten camera system to capture and apply realistic human movement to the characters. This system also incorporated SmartTracker, an advanced proprietary software pioneered by Motion NoAnalysis, a tool that assisted animators in applying motion capture to animated characters. To tell the story, DreamWorks needed a motion capture system that would allow them to stretch the animation boundaries. This combined both live action and puppeteering motion capture (Mejia, 32).
Nick Smurthwaite (22) stated that the innovative software used in the film is "shapers" which allowed the animators to achieve sophisticated facial and body movements by applying interacting layers of bone, muscle, skin, hair, clothing, and in the case of Donkey, fur. The producers also filmed the voice over performers in the recording studio so that the animators could then match the actors' facial movements to the characters they portrayed.
The facial animation software developed specifically for the film allowed the creative team to express complex human emotions and reactions through a layering system based on human anatomy. The skull of a character was formed in the computer and then covered with computer simulations of the face muscles. Next, the skin was layered over and programmed to respond to the manipulations of the muscles in much the same way that a human face would, complete with wrinkles and other imperfections. Finally, 180 animation controls were wired into the face like nerves to enable the animators to achieve precise lip synching and access a range of expressions as varied as those any human actor might produce (Smurthwaite, 24).
Further, Smurthwaite (22) noted that in each char...