This article was taken from the February 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
From the dark reflection of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror comes Waldo: a rude, animated bear that, thanks to his human masters, subverts British politics. Pulling Waldo's strings in real life is London-based Passion Pictures, which has developed a system of real-time CG rendering that allows control of what is, essentially, a digital puppet. "The script for Black Mirror 2: The Waldo Moment required a live actor to interact with the animated character -- that would have been quite cumbersome to do otherwise," says animation director Darren Walsh. "We needed complete live interaction on set between Daniel Rigby [who voices Waldo in real time] and all the other characters."
Passion Pictures experimented with the technique in its animations for Gorillaz and the "Compare the Meerkat" adverts, but using it in a drama allowed it to flourish as an acting performance. "Experienced puppeteers Rob Tygner and Richard Coombs both control Waldo at the same time, with Coombs focusing on the lip sync," says Walsh. "The number of variables they control at any one time is mind-boggling -- only seasoned puppeteers could pull off such characterful performances live on camera. One of the ground-breaking elements of the process is the way we can mix pre-animated sequences with live puppeteering, such as when Waldo rips off his own head and juggles it while still lip-syncing and interacting with live actors. This gives the director an actor with a very impressive range to direct take by take."
Black Mirror 2 is broadcast on Channel 4 from 11 February
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
