Digital Actors

1. The use of digital animation and human acting is not just one or the other; it is a mix of both. In order to create the characters in Avatar, actors and the digital augmentation were both needed. As James Cameron, the director of the film said “it is an actor-driven process". The digital animation just enhances the acting and lets acting reach the places it would never be able to reach before. The 10-feet blue monsters in Avatar would have never been so brilliantly pulled off or look as life-like without the help of both digital animation and human acting.

2. Yes, I believe that the actors who portray the animated characters should still be eligible to win acting awards because they are doing just that, acting. The digital animation that is added to the movie does not change the acting; it just enhances its appearance. If an actor plays their part badly, the digital augmentation cannot fix it, it will still be bad. The acting is a template for the digital animator. British stage actor Andy Serkis states "There's a purity to it. You can't rely on anything else but your own skill as an actor".

3. I think human actors will not be obsolete, because film is a work of art. People will never tire of using people in their films. Film making is not only for those big corporations who do it for money, but also for those who want to express themselves through video and film. Although i feel that the amount of movies in the future containing human actors might lessen. There is also the essence that humans bring to films that can't be duplicated by technology, the emotion of the actor. Humans may be harder to work with and need more to satisfy and get a better take, but technology can't replace everything. Film is more than just money and convenience and for that reason; i think that human actors will never become obsolete.