We attended New York Comic Con for the first time this year, which took place October 5-8, 2017 at the Javits Center. We recently told you about what went into getting there, now follow along as we recount what happened at NYCC 2017 when we got inside!
As I previously mentioned, we only had Thursday badges. One of my main goals for the day was to participate in the 20th Century Fox War for the Planet of the Apes motion capture experience I had read about. I had looked at the Show Floor map ahead of time and saw that this booth was in the left bottom corner of the map, so once we got in, I headed in that direction and easily found it. Since the convention had just opened, the line was pretty short. I immediately got in line before it got any longer. Josh opted just to watch, rather than participate.
While standing in line, participants were given a waiver to sign. Before they gave me the waiver, they asked if I was over 18 (I’m 34). Then when it was almost your turn, they suited you up in mo cap gear, but only on your chest, arms, hands, and head. There was a head covering to wear (reminiscent of a shower cap, except soft material instead of plastic) underneath the mo cap head gear so as to keep your hair from getting in the way.
When it was my turn, the assistant offered to take video on my phone, so I handed her my phone, then I stepped up onto the fake horse, which the assistant advised me, “Get that horse rocking!” There was a short intro scene from War for the Planet of the Apes, which then led into the scene I would be starring in, where the apes take off riding on horses. I was Caesar, the main character. I grabbed the reins and made the horse rock back and forth, as instructed, then I tested out the mo cap response, first lifting up one arm, then later two arms. I also ducked under low hanging branches. However, one of the branches knocked my on-screen character off the horse, and the scene ended there.
Having watched a few people take their turns before me, I knew what was coming and how my turn would end. I thought beforehand about maybe leaning back all the way on the horse and seeing if that would allow me to avoid the final branch. But then again, I did sign that waiver, and I’m not as young as I used to be, so I figured it would be better not to risk injuring myself.
In any case, it was a pretty fun, albeit short, experience, but of course it would have to be short, since there was only one horse. It was pretty cool seeing the character on screen respond to my real life movements, even if it was just a small taste of a motion capture experience. But of course, I’m no Andy Serkis!
You can watch the video of my experience below:
Looks like it was fun . . . I think I would’ve gotten sick doing that . . . thanks for sharing!