Whether you find the titular characters in Tom Hooper’s live action adaptation of “Cats” adorable or horrifying, the truth is that a lot of work went into the singing and dancing creatures.
The director and his team pioneered a new “digital fur technology” that merged footage of the actors on the film’s set with VFX, instead of the usual motion capture method that’s been employed in movies like “Planet of the Apes,” and “Avatar.” Here the actors become the cats without losing any trace of their on-set performance.Hooper’s cats have long twitching tails and ears that react emotionally.
The technology, despite helping to create an uncanny valley of cat-humans, is impressively detailed, particularly when you realize that the actors were dressed in tight, green suits during filming.
To allow VFX to take over during post-production, the cast wore motion capture suits and face dots, which
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