With the release of ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes‘ right around the corner, the marketing machine is really kicking in as they hope to have the same level of a summer blockbuster as the first film. Recently, the studio released this great behind the scenes production footage showing an amazing side by side comparison of the the motion capture performance of Andy Serkis and the ape that he becomes! While not a new trailer or video of our cities decaying, this is really for those of us who love to see how films go from concept to the big screen.

While first becoming prominant with Gollum in ‘Lord of the Rings’, performance capture has increasingly become featured in science fiction and fantasy films. While it looked great in the first entree into the new ‘Planet of the Apes’ series, this clearly kicks it up a notch. The video gives us many of the main apes that are in the movie in a side-by-side with the actor that is being motion captured for the performance. In this clip you get a chance to see Serkis as Caesar, Toby Kebbell as Koba, Larramie Doc Shaw as Ash, Terry Notary as Rocket, and Karin Konoval as Maurice.

Special effects never cease to amaze me with the ever improving quality and original ideas that they come up with. Check it out bleow:

How awesome does that look? Are you eagerly awaiting the July 11th release date for the film or are you not interested in those “damn dirty apes”?

Synopsis:

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species. Andy Serkis, celebrated for his performance in the last film, reprises his role as Caesar. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes also stars Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Public Enemies, The Great Gatsby), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises, The Harry Potter film series), Keri Russell (The Americans, Mission Impossible III), Toby Kebbell (The Prince of Persia, Wrath of the Titans, Rock N Rolla), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In, ParaNorman), Enrique Murciano (Traffic, Black Hawk Down), Kirk Acevedo (The Thin Red Line) and Judy Greer (The Descendants, Three Kings, 13 Going on 30).

Directed by Matt Reeves, ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ stars Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Enrique Murciano, Kirk Acevedo and Judy Greer. The film is set to release on July 11, 2014.

Source: Slash Film