Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro – the Academy Award for Best Actor has been bestowed on some of the most famous faces in film history. The idea that the most prestigious acting award in cinema could be given to a performance without a human face – or more accurately, an ape – seems ridiculous. But, incredibly, such a scenario moved one step closer to reality last week, when 20th Century Fox revealed it would be giving a hefty awards push to Andy Serkis, who clambered into a motion-capture suit to play Caesar, the genetically modified chimpanzee in this year's excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
"Our job is to try to have people be aware of and recognise great performances, even when they come in this case in an unusual skin," said Tom Rothman, the co-chairman and chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment in the Los Angeles Times. "I think it's one of the great emotional performances ever."
But it's a digitally enhanced performance. For the uninitiated, that means the actor wears a suit made up of markers and sensors, and moves about the set in the same way he would if he was playing, say, an ape wearing heavy make-up. Every little facial expression and movement is captured, and only later is the human actor "painted" over using pixels, into the creature we see on the screen. The intention is to make a non-human character move and behave in a more physically accurate way, but an interesting by-product is that CGI-heavy films are now easier for the human characters to act in. Having something to act "against", rather than a blank space to be filled in later by an animator, is far more fulfilling.
And if any actor is to receive a nomination for a motion-capture performance, it would surely be Serkis. And he's something of an expert in the form, having played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the gorilla in King Kong and Captain Haddock in the current Tintin movie. You'd expect him to be evangelical about the technology, then, and he revealed in a recent interview to the BBC that "the process of acting is absolutely identical. The emotional content of these performances live and die by what the actors bring to the roles on set. I never approach a live-action role any differently to a performance-captured role."
The argument is that performance capture is the same as make-up on a human character, just augmented digitally. But it was telling that none of Avatar's nine Oscar nominations in 2010 were for acting. So even though Sam Worthington was pretty sympathetic as the former marine Jake Sully, he was, in the main, a 9ft blue Na'vi created on a computer screen. Bill Nighy and Jeff Bridges both did sterling mo-cap work in Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron: Legacy respectively, but remained largely unrecognised by their industry peers.
So will Serkis's performance in Rise of the Planet of the Apes be a game-changer? There's certainly the sense that motion-capture will have to be recognised sooner or later. Avatar 2 and 3 will no doubt, judging by James Cameron's desire to push boundaries, refine the technique further. Gollum will appear again in Peter Jackson's two Hobbit films. And one of the most high-profile films of this autumn, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, uses motion capture in every shot to give the animation a lifelike feel (unlike, say, Pixar's Ratatouille, where there's actually a stamp labelling the film "100% Pure Animation — No Motion Capture!").
There are some good performances in The Adventures of Tintin – particularly Daniel Craig as the pirate Sakharine. But Pixar's slightly snide comment was revealing, sending a message that using motion capture for animations featuring quasi-real humans is not universally welcomed.
It also tends to make characters look like waxwork marionettes. They may move perfectly, but there's something not quite right, almost spooky about these almost-human forms. Other mo-cap animations, such as Beowulf, A Christmas Carol, Polar Express and Mars Needs Moms, all struggled with the same, distant, glassy-eyed problem.
But when motion-capture works, when it lends the sense of weight and reality to a non-human form in a recognisably real world – the results are awe-inspiring. It might be a while yet before we're heralding an ape as the best actor of the year. But a mo-cap nomination is surely not far away. Does a black tie go with a motion capture suit? Serkis is probably working that one out right now.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance: the specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 plus rear-mounted electric motor
Power: 843hp at N/A rpm
Torque: 1470Nm N/A rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.6L/100km
On sale: October to December
Price: From Dh875,000 (estimate)
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
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Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
