:00:00. > :00:00.You're up to date with the headlines.
:00:00. > :00:40.It's digital art, but art that seems to follow you around the room.
:00:41. > :00:44.A collection of exhibits at London's Whitechapel Gallery that date from
:00:45. > :00:47.1966 right up until the present day.
:00:48. > :00:51.Everything here has some sort of relationship with technology,
:00:52. > :00:53.from CCTV chandeliers to karaoke performed with lyrics taken
:00:54. > :01:02.# Though this medium has been greatly abused
:01:03. > :01:08.# I choose to reach you through it. #
:01:09. > :01:11.Moving swiftly on, this exhibition goes by the name
:01:12. > :01:20.That term was coined all the way back in 1974
:01:21. > :01:25.by the father of video art, Nam June Paik, from South Korea,
:01:26. > :01:27.who was really excited about the potential
:01:28. > :01:35.This is one of his pieces from 20 years later, from 1994.
:01:36. > :01:40.Go further back in time and you get to this,
:01:41. > :01:46.the history of moving images, which is all blips and blogs
:01:47. > :01:54.until you move a bit further away from the screen.
:01:55. > :01:56.Videogames feature too and it's weird watching games in this
:01:57. > :02:01.gallery setting, as you do start to appreciate the artistry that goes
:02:02. > :02:03.into their creation when viewed in this context.
:02:04. > :02:09.Look at me, I'll be hosting an art programme next!
:02:10. > :02:13.The games in this work are some of the most expansive in history
:02:14. > :02:16.and indeed also some of the most expensive in history to develop,
:02:17. > :02:20.But there's one videogame on the horizon
:02:21. > :02:23.which promises to dwarf everything and it's been funded by the fans.
:02:24. > :02:34.We entered the universe of Star Citizen.
:02:35. > :02:40.It blew away its initial crowdfunding goals,
:02:41. > :02:50.making videogame Star Citizen the most successful
:02:51. > :02:53.It's an ambitious game for PC, featuring a gigantic explorable
:02:54. > :02:58.universe, with tons of spaceships to pilot
:02:59. > :03:01.All online and massively multiplayer.
:03:02. > :03:05.It's the brainchild of Chris Roberts.
:03:06. > :03:07.In the 1990s he created the successful Wing Commander
:03:08. > :03:16.Star Citizen is going to be an absolutely massive game.
:03:17. > :03:19.So big, in fact, that the company behind it, Cloud Imperium, have got
:03:20. > :03:26.four different studios in three different countries.
:03:27. > :03:28.This is the Los Angeles studio, currently being made ready
:03:29. > :03:31.for all of the developers and designers to move in here.
:03:32. > :03:34.There are a lot of different activities going on in the studio.
:03:35. > :03:38.but ships can be purchased with real world money
:03:39. > :03:40.and played with in limited, pre-release tasters of tiny
:03:41. > :03:56.It's been a difficult campaign, but we're winning this thing.
:03:57. > :04:00.As well as in the US, developers Cloud Imperium have studios in
:04:01. > :04:07.Just outside Manchester is where I caught up with Chris Roberts.
:04:08. > :04:09.He first announced the game back in 2012.
:04:10. > :04:11.It was supposed to be released two years later.
:04:12. > :04:17.It's still in development now, which means Star Citizen is late.
:04:18. > :04:19.One of the oxymorons of crowdfunding is that
:04:20. > :04:28.you're asking for money to make this game.
:04:29. > :04:30.You don't know how much you will get.
:04:31. > :04:33.Unless you want to pocket the rest of the money,
:04:34. > :04:36.I want to make the best game possible,
:04:37. > :04:40.so if you give me $100 million I'll give you a $100 million game.
:04:41. > :04:43.If you give me $10 million, I'm making you a $10 million game.
:04:44. > :04:46.Of course there are big scales between those things, but you don't
:04:47. > :04:48.know upfront that you will get $100 million.
:04:49. > :04:51.But the time it is taking to recognise the grand vision of this
:04:52. > :04:56.If you are in the game business, games get cancelled all the time,
:04:57. > :05:00.By the time you hear about the game it's probably been in development
:05:01. > :05:03.for three years and already had a bunch of delays.
:05:04. > :05:06.But that, I guarantee you, isn't the first time we got
:05:07. > :05:07.pushed back, you just didn't know about it.
:05:08. > :05:12.So there's a whole bunch of stuff that I know, from when I was an EA
:05:13. > :05:13.or working with Microsoft making games,
:05:14. > :05:15.where loads of games got cancelled, loads got pushed back.
:05:16. > :05:17.Things always took much longer than they thought,
:05:18. > :05:20.but the general public isn't aware of that.
:05:21. > :05:23.I think maybe on the crowdfunding side we can all do a better job.
:05:24. > :05:34.If I was crowd funding again I would, like, spell this out more.
:05:35. > :05:37.While the team in America continue to work on Star Citizen's persistent
:05:38. > :05:40.universe, in the UK they work on the single player story driven
:05:41. > :05:42.element of the game, called Squadron 42.
:05:43. > :05:46.Roberts has assembled a starry cast, including Mark Hamill,
:05:47. > :05:56.We shot last year at Ealing Studios in London.
:05:57. > :05:59.We shot for about three and a half months and did this
:06:00. > :06:08.which was the longest shoot I've done for any movie.
:06:09. > :06:13.The next year? The year after that?
:06:14. > :06:15.We are starting to layer on additional game features and
:06:16. > :06:22.We'll flesh out the star system and then towards the end of the year
:06:23. > :06:25.we will open it up so you can visit some other star systems and that's
:06:26. > :06:29.And, in parallel, we are working on Squadron 42.
:06:30. > :06:32.We we're aiming to have that done by the end of this year.
:06:33. > :06:57.Back to talk of gaming and in the heart of picturesque
:06:58. > :06:59.Amsterdam, it is not just about beautiful canals, museums,
:07:00. > :07:02.a lot of bikes, and a vibrant nightlife but also a hotel that is
:07:03. > :07:09.It is a work in progress and not one for those lusting
:07:10. > :07:12.after a spa but when all levels are complete, every room here should
:07:13. > :07:21.With devices old and new and a library loaded with games to
:07:22. > :07:24.choose from, this is hoped to become a destination
:07:25. > :07:34.It is still early days for this project but it is clearly
:07:35. > :07:47.But this doesn't mean game over for sightseeing,
:07:48. > :07:57.it is just a little something extra to take or leave as you desire.
:07:58. > :08:00.Just before Christmas there was an awakening in the force.
:08:01. > :08:04.Well, obviously a whole lot of us did because Star Wars: The Force
:08:05. > :08:09.Awakens has earned almost ?1.4 billion in the worldwide box office.
:08:10. > :08:11.The film has earned praise from diehard fans
:08:12. > :08:14.for its combination of practical and computer-generated effects
:08:15. > :08:18.and it has even been nominated for a visual effects Oscar.
:08:19. > :08:20.Over 400 shots for the film were put together here
:08:21. > :08:28.in the new London office of Industrial Light and Magic.
:08:29. > :08:30.A large portion of time was spent working on this
:08:31. > :08:33.character, a bar owner, played by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o.
:08:34. > :08:38.And I was lucky enough to peek behind the curtain and get
:08:39. > :08:41.an exclusive break down of one of the film's most complex scenes.
:08:42. > :08:45.This is the entrance into the castle.
:08:46. > :08:48.It is a technically tricky shot because it is joining three
:08:49. > :08:56.We go into the studio set further inside the bar and we have to join
:08:57. > :09:03.As she turns around, you can see that her face is covered in dots
:09:04. > :09:11.and it looks like every possible muscle they could have tracked.
:09:12. > :09:13.They are evenly distributed across her face.
:09:14. > :09:16.We will take those markers and track those, and work out where
:09:17. > :09:19.they are so we will be able to rebuild a 3-D representation
:09:20. > :09:31.Then we can analyse that and work out what expression she was making.
:09:32. > :09:39.Then transfer that into the CGI person.
:09:40. > :09:42.So the cap gives us a block version of the actor's performance, but the
:09:43. > :09:45.animation layer on top really brings the character to life
:09:46. > :09:47.and captures all the subtleties of the performance.
:09:48. > :09:51.Simple things like how much of the whites of the eyes you can see.
:09:52. > :09:54.Things like that that helps to transmit the performance.
:09:55. > :09:57.And the genius about this kind of motion capture is she can be
:09:58. > :10:03.on set with other actors, so there is a proper interaction.
:10:04. > :10:04.Yes, it's super important that whoever
:10:05. > :10:07.is performing is onset, not just for the performer who we are taking
:10:08. > :10:11.data from but also for the other actors, so they can see the person
:10:12. > :10:18.Give us an idea of how long a scene like this would
:10:19. > :10:25.It was one of the first shots sent over to us and it was pretty much
:10:26. > :10:36.Because of the complexity of the camera moves but also it had to
:10:37. > :10:52.In terms of rendering, we will do it in different passes
:10:53. > :10:57.You have the castle and the flags, we will split all of that up to keep
:10:58. > :11:10.At the end of the day, it was something we got going
:11:11. > :11:14.To render a file, we'd process it overnight and we
:11:15. > :11:20.We wish the team all the best of luck at the Oscars at the end
:11:21. > :11:35.That's it for the short version. Don't forget to follow us online.
:11:36. > :11:37.Thanks for watching AMCU scene. -- and see you soon.