the life AND times of An Animatrik stuntman
Actor and stuntman Nickolas Baric talks about the art of performance capture
Nickolas Baric discusses the world of performance capture
“You Need to look Beyond the empty mocap volume and visualise the fictional environment, adopting a whole New persona. the more You’re ‘in’ this universe, the Better Your ‘capture’ will Be” Nickolas Baric, stuntman and actor
Iremember the first action film I saw back in the Eighties. It was
Superman II, and I was hooked on the genre from then. The seed for my love of action was planted at an early age, as I became obsessed with TV series like The A-team, Fall Guy and
Six Million Dollar Man – to name just a few. However, the reality of one day working in Hollywood seemed like just a pipe dream. I was stuck in a blue collar job which was immensely laborious, but it paid the bills. My shifts were spent staring at papers flying out of a printing press at 50,000 copies an hour. I’d think to myself, “There has got to be more to life, right?” Then, one day, I came across an advert for a stunt training program.
Soon after the program was finished, I realised the real work had just begun. I got my feet a little wet, but it didn’t make me a real stuntman, not yet. So I started at the bottom and worked my way up. I went to acting school, pursued work in all levels of film and squeezed in all the experience possible. All the while, I’d train in as many different skill sets as possible: martial arts, weapons, wire work, gymnastic training and all types of outdoor recreation. This led me to become the all-round performer I am today. 20 years later, I’m a full-time stuntman, actor and motion capture performer extraordinaire.
It may surprise some to hear that motion caption capture is the most physically demanding of these disciplines. But, it’s also the most fulfilling. I’ve worked with four different mocap studios – performing stunts, choreographing fight scenes and acting my heart out. Most frequently, I collaborate with the games team at Animatrik. Headquartered in Vancouver, Animatrik is home to the largest independent mocap stage in North America. From Gears of War to Deadpool, motion capture has its own ‘cool’ factor that makes a stuntman’s life all the more exciting, original and super fun.
My first motion capture performance was the most tiring day of my life. It was a Dreamworks Interactive project called
Medal of Honor, the first instalment in a now hugely popular first-person shooter series. The experience was strange at first. I had to wear a tight black leotard covered in tiny reflective balls. You get out onto the volume, which is a floor at the studio, surrounded by optical tracking cameras to record movement. It was just bizarre, but in the best possible way. Animatrik made me feel welcome, collectively working to make the experience as smooth and troublefree as possible. The team are adept at keeping performers in check and on track throughout a shoot.
“Just act natural,” they said. I was in good company, working alongside a collection of veteran mocap actors who filled me in on all the technical processes. It took almost no time to adapt to the Animatrik stage, because that’s what we do as stuntmen. Every performer needs the ability to adapt, to improvise on the fly. That day, we recorded hand-to-hand combat, weapon kills, sprinting and more. Each action had to be performed at different angles, at different speeds – though we can only bend out of shape so much when landing and reacting. After eight hours, the experience can completely wipe you out. Flexibility, stamina and endurance are key, as is a highenergy attitude.
From all the gags we perform to the range of unique apparatus, motion capture is a whirlwind of activity. The cameras move digitally to provide extra space for actors on stage and reduce potential hazards. We’ll shoot as much as we can back to back, interacting with imaginary characters. We’ll carry out tactical manoeuvres in every direction and perform gun hit reactions from every angle. There’s so much repetitive work throughout the day to craft a wide variety of scenes – for gameplay, stunt action, cinematics and more.
When working on Gears of War, Microsoft’s cinematic director had me running up a steep incline to replicate 200mph gale force winds… while strapped into a heavy harness, 20-pound vest and snow boots. My endurance was killed that day. But it goes to show anything is achievable in motion capture, so long as you’re creative enough.
Creativity is made all the more important by fast turnarounds on a mocap set. The goal is to complete shots as quickly as possible, and setup is minimal. only battle scenes that require major choreography or aerial rigging for wire works require preparation. In other words, it’s rare for a stunt sequence to be rehearsed ahead of time. Performers must be ready for immediate action and reaction on the fly, in every scene.
There’s only one limitation in the motion capture world – and that’s your own imagination. You need to look beyond the empty mocap volume and visualise the fictional environment, adopting a whole new persona. The more you’re ‘in’ this alternate universe, then the better your ‘capture’ will be.
I can’t imagine what the next level will be – technology evolves much too fast to predict nowadays. Eventually, we won’t be able to tell the difference between reality and CGI, which is both amazing and scary. I’m looking forward to consistently bringing a high level of creativity, diversity and energy to every upcoming project. Here’s to the future.