Julian Rosefeldt makes breath-taking, visually stunning film installations. In music and film, his work Euphoria presents in two hours a wide range of statements about capitalism, from Socrates and Karl Marx to Donna Haraway and Cardi B, and makes both the ‘euphoric’ and destructive sides of consumerism tangible.
The large-scale, immersive film installation can be seen in Amsterdam’s enormous Central Market Hall. Texts about economy and capitalism are spoken and sung by critically acclaimed performers like Giancarlo Esposito, Virginia Newcomb, filmed at impressive locations. Cate Blanchett provides the voice for a talking, singing tiger. They are musically supported with original music composed by Samy Moussa with an additional composition by Cassie Kinoshi, performed, in surround video, by life sized projections of a hundred and forty young singers from the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and further aided by five celebrated contemporary jazz drummers, including Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Erskine and Antonio Sanchez. The music is written by acclaimed composer Samy Moussa, with additional music by Cassie Kinoshi.
Rosefeldt incorporates existing texts from literature, politics and pop culture in his installations, which include the successful Manifesto with actress Cate Blanchett (Holland Festival 2017), and brings these to life in a new context. The real and imagined scenes play out in unexpected settings full of subtle cinematographic details, which invariably results in surreal sequences that leave a deep impression on the audience.
Project Details
Euphoria – Cate Blanchett – Facial Motion Capture
Mimic Productions collaborated with Syreal Entertainment to bring a surreal scene from the film Euphoria (2022). Using advanced facial motion capture and animation, we transformed artist and performer Cate Blanchett into a lifelike tiger, ensuring her nuanced performance was captured in every feline expression.
For the film Euphoria, Mimic Productions was tasked with creating a stunningly surreal scene featuring artist and performer Cate Blanchett as a tiger. This project required a blend of technical precision and artistic vision to translate a human performance into a believable, expressive digital character. Our team worked closely with the client, Syreal Entertainment, to ensure the final result captured the creative intent while maintaining the highest level of realism.
Project Experience
This project, titled Cate Blanchett – Facial Motion Capture, pushed the boundaries of traditional character animation by using a real-world performance as the foundation. By employing advanced facial capture technology, we were able to track the intricate muscle movements and subtle expressions of Cate Blanchett, preserving the depth of her performance in the final animated tiger.
The collaboration was a seamless blend of technology and artistry, highlighting how Mimic Productions leverages animation to tell unique stories. The goal was not merely to create a digital asset but to imbue the tiger with the same emotional range and charisma as the artist and performer herself, making the surreal scene from Euphoria feel entirely authentic.
Through their meticulous rigging and animation process, they ensured that every nuance of Blanchett’s performance was translated flawlessly, from the subtlest twitch of an eyebrow to the fiercest roar. The success of this project demonstrates the commitment to creating high-fidelity digital characters that truly reflect the soul of the original performance.
Mimic’s Contribution/ Facial Motion Capture
Using their proprietary facial capture technology, they meticulously tracked Cate Blanchett’s facial movements, capturing the raw data needed to drive the digital tiger asset. This process was essential for translating her unique performance into the digital realm with perfect fidelity.
Rigging & Animation
The rigging team created a complex, custom facial rig for the tiger, designed to respond accurately to the captured facial data. The animation team then used this rig and the motion capture data to animate the tiger, bringing the character to life with expressions that perfectly mirrored the artist’s performance.
