Via L.A. Times & Gil Birmingham

When Gore Verbinski was directing his upcoming movie, “Rango,” a spaghetti western-like tale set in a desert town overrun by bandits, he did what he typically does: have his principal actors, led by Johnny Depp and fellow cast members that include Harry Dean Stanton, Abigail Breslin and Ray Winstone, act out key scenes.  (and lets NOT forget Gil Birmingham!!)

The actors wore western costumes — Depp sported a giant cowboy hat and bandana and Winstone packed a sidearm. They had the usual array of props, including whiskey glasses and sawhorses, on a stage at Universal that also featured a saloon with a 40-foot-long wooden bar and the requisite swinging doors and even a chuckwagon.

In animated movies, actors usually voice the lines of their characters in a recording booth. But Verbinski figured he’d draw out more lively dialogue if the actors physically performed their scenes onstage — just like on a live action set. “It was just like rehearsing a high school play,” said Verbinski, best known for directing the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. “Why give up on what we do in live action?”

With the extensive use of computer-generated animation, or CG, in movies such as the “Pirates” franchise, “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland,” the lines are blurring between live-action and animated pictures in a way that Walt Disney himself could have scarcely imagined. That has created opportunities for directors, cinematographers and even production designers to transfer their skills from one medium to another.

RANGO – March 4, 2011

Read lots more here

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