In recent years we have seen some classic animated films transformed into new live action versions. So far these have all looked great and the use of CGI combined with great acting and filming has left the new films with their own charm.

This was certainly true with Jungle Book. Recently Netflix released the film Mowgli, providing us with the rare opportunity to compare how the same set of characters have been imagined and produced differently for 2 different films.

So if you are interested in CGI or love films check out the video below!

CGI stands for computer-generated imagery and is the process for creating animated images. In this video Martin talks a little more about how special effects are created and what place actors and real life references have in brining a CGI character to life! 

He also discusses and demonstrates how different styles and approaches to generating CGI animals totally change our perception of a character and how we, the audience respond to them.

This is similar to the way we make choices when illustrating characters or even on a design based project. The detail, colour and references you use help to build personality.

Making the right decisions is essential when you are re-creating a real life animal. Animators spend months studying the form, movement and temperament/nature of an animal. They then 'rig' the animal and simulate everything from it's bone structure to veins, skin and coat.

Here both films have stuck a lot closer to real world references of a Black Panther however there are still some differences between the way these two characters have been created which totally change the persona we expect them to have! Check out how much more human the Bagheera from Mowgli looks! He even has eye brows.

Jungle Book

Mowgli

The most obvious difference between the two Ka's has got to be the colours used for the characters skin and eyes but if you look a little closer you will notice a whole host of more intricate details that makes these characters totally different!

In Mowgli you can see that Ka looks far more feminine with more detailed features. Choosing to give the character an identifiable gender also influences our expectation of how the character will act.

Finally both versions of Khan are pretty scary and battle torn. Again we can see more exaggerated features in the Mowgli version of the character. His personality needs to feel menacing and tell the story of his past. Find out version which Martin prefers and why he thinks one character is more successful that the other in the tutorial above! 

If you are interested in CGI or animation it is definitely worth taking the time to research the process of rigging a character so you fully understand the term and know a little about the process.

You can learn to rig characters in applications like Maya, Blender, Cinema 4D, After Effects and loads more! 

Let us know which characters you think were the most successful and why in the comments below!

If you want to learn more the creative industry and what roles you might enjoy working in give our survival kit a go!