"There is a place, like no place on Earth..."Given the deliciously weird trailer for Tim Burton's upcoming twist on 'Alice in Wonderland,' it's obvious that the eccentric filmmaker has created some characters, like no characters on Earth, as well.
And since waiting for the DVD to see how the filmmaker goes about his FX craftwork is soooo 2001, we're thrilled to present an exclusive glimpse at the progression of The Tweedles, The Dodo, The White Rabbit and The Dormouse.
For those unschooled in 'Alice' lore, the Tweedles, aka Tweedledee and Tweedledum, are the fellows who resemble twin Mini-Me's in fat suits (and in the film are both played by one actor, Matt Lucas), and The Dodo's the bird (fun fact: named after author Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).
Step 1
Matt Lucas (left) -- who portrays both Tweedledee and Tweedledum -- is first photographed in green screen wearing the "Tweedle suit," along with his double (right).
Step 2
Lucas and his double switch places and film the same scene, capturing Lucas in the opposite role.
Step 3
A reference shot incorporating both of Lucas' facial performances (which will later make their way into the final shot) is handed over to layout and animation, where the body performances (matching Lucas' on-set performances) are created.
Step 4
Layout of the Underland garden is combined with the character animation for the Tweedles, the White Rabbit and the Dodo, with photography of Lucas' facial performances floating above the Tweedles to serve as reference for animation matching.
Step 5
Feathers and hair of the furred characters -- along with movement of clothing and jiggling of facial and belly fat -- are realized.
Step 6
Here is the final composite of all elements -- animation, layout, surfacing, lighting, matte background -- Lucas' color corrected facial performances integrated and "tracked-in" to the computer-generated heads of the Tweedles.
Reader Comments (2)
roberta at 10:43AM on Feb 4th 2010
what a load of rubbish to say that the dodo was named after Lewis Carroll. the name dodo was being used in the 1600s whilst Lewis Carroll wasn't even born until the late 1800s. did the people who used the term 200 years prior to his birth have some sort of premonition that a book would be written by Lewis Dodgson with the dodo as a character?
Julia at 7:47PM on Feb 5th 2010
The character, not the species, was (apparently) named after him. The
dodo in his story was said to have been a caricature of himself. Of
course he didn't come up with the name of the species.