One Clear Advantage Animation Has Over Live-Action, According To Alec Baldwin
We all live in a very special cinematic age. It used to be that reality was its own kind of barrier in the expression of a filmmaker's imagination, but the development of visual effects has made it so that any story can be brought to life with full impact. Because of this, the line is most definitely blurred between what formally had to be an animated movie and what can now be in live-action... but as Boss Baby star Alec Baldwin recently told me, there is a quality to animated movies that can never be fully captured in another medium:
I recently sat down with Alec Baldwin during the Los Angeles press day for Boss Baby, and a part of our conversation was dedicated to the thin line that currently exists today between live-action and animated movies. Recognizing that Baldwin has done a number of both over the course of his career, I asked him about the difference in what he gets out of the experience, and he went on to explain what he sees as the most significant element that separates the two cinematic art forms.
Given how influential and ubiquitous visual effects have become in the film industry -- and not only in blockbusters -- it is significant to point out what is a very significant line in the sand here. Amazing as CGI can be, in the live-action realm it is always being used to try and replicate reality... which animation naturally has a special kind of freedom. The entire look of an animated film gets to not only be decided by creative minds, but also built pixel by pixel to be built to exact specifications. It's actually kind of magical when you think about it.
You can watch Alec Baldwin talk about live-action filmmaking versus the animated movie process in the video interview below:
Audiences will get to hear Alec Baldwin's voice come to life in a completely animated world when Boss Baby arrives in theaters -- and be on the lookout for more from my interview with the star.
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Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.