Why Gollum and the Mona Lisa are more similar than you think:
The year is 1305. A painter from the Italian city state of Florence called Giotto has just changed the course of art forever.
His frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel depicted people in three-dimensions, in a three-dimensional world:
His frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel depicted people in three-dimensions, in a three-dimensional world:
It might not look like much, but before Giotto European art hadn't been about portraying reality as we perceive it.
It was almost exclusively two-dimensional, depicting people without any weight or depth such that many figures could somehow occupy the same space.
It was almost exclusively two-dimensional, depicting people without any weight or depth such that many figures could somehow occupy the same space.
But Giotto's reintroduction of linear perspective - present in ancient art - was about representing reality as it appears to our eyes, and it was one of the landmark moments in the Renaissance.
A wave of artists soon followed in his foosteps...
A wave of artists soon followed in his foosteps...
But these painters weren't like artists as we imagine them today, rebellious and bohemian - they were scholars, scientists, and mathematicians.
Giotto showed that paintings could create an illusion of the real world, but that threw up a host of problems which needed solving...
Giotto showed that paintings could create an illusion of the real world, but that threw up a host of problems which needed solving...
Unlike in Medieval art, people couldn't be depicted as flat figures occupying no real space.
To make their work realistic painters had to figure out how create depth and lighting, form proper perspective and animate humans.
Fra Angelico was among the first to try:
To make their work realistic painters had to figure out how create depth and lighting, form proper perspective and animate humans.
Fra Angelico was among the first to try:
And this is partially why Leonardo took such an interest in human anatomy. His notebooks were filled with advice to young artists, compiled by his heir Francesco Melzi into a treatise entitled "On Painting."
Here's what he wrote about the importance of understanding anatomy:
Here's what he wrote about the importance of understanding anatomy:
And here are some of his sketches. These were, he explained, vital knowledge for a painter. The outward human appearance could not be realistically portrayed without knowledge of its inner form.
Knowledge that he - and others - applied in their art.
Knowledge that he - and others - applied in their art.
The painter Paolo Uccello, meanwhile, was so obsessed by vanishing point that he apparently withdrew from society and spent sleepless nights trying to figure it out.
The Hunt in the Forest (1471) shows his efforts both to understand and visualise it.
The Hunt in the Forest (1471) shows his efforts both to understand and visualise it.
Leon Battista Alberti in 1431, Piero della Francesca in 1474, and Luca Pacioli in 1498 all wrote artistic treatises, in each case with huge emphasis on the mathematics of perspective and the geometry of the real world.
And the progress these painters made was astonishing.
From three-dimensional human figures which lacked dynamism to human forms full of life and emotion, and from basic perspective to frescoes which gave the illusion of reality.
An era of rapid progress.
From three-dimensional human figures which lacked dynamism to human forms full of life and emotion, and from basic perspective to frescoes which gave the illusion of reality.
An era of rapid progress.
In Northern Europe, where the potential of oil painting had been unleashed by Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the 1430s, artists started representing materials with astonishing photorealism.
Renaissance painters had learned to recreate reality in art.
Renaissance painters had learned to recreate reality in art.
Fast forward a few centuries to the birth of Computer Generated Imagery in the 1970s, and suddenly artists - digital this time - were faced with the same problems of the 14th and 15th centuries.
For CGI, like painting, attempts to create an illusion of reality.
For CGI, like painting, attempts to create an illusion of reality.
The awkward poses and stiff movements of early CGI aren't so different from those of the Early Renaissance, when painters hadn't yet learned how to breathe life into their figures.
A situation which, in both cases, rapidly changed.
A situation which, in both cases, rapidly changed.
A key part of animating humans - or any creatures - is 3D rigging, the process of creating a virtual skeleton with which to guide the figure's movements.
Sometimes entire virtual skeletal and muscular systems are even created to ensure maximal realism.
Sometimes entire virtual skeletal and muscular systems are even created to ensure maximal realism.
Which sounds familiar to what Alberti wrote in the 1430s:
"In painting the nude we place first his bones and muscles, which we then cover with flesh and clothes, so that it is not difficult to understand where each muscle is beneath."
"In painting the nude we place first his bones and muscles, which we then cover with flesh and clothes, so that it is not difficult to understand where each muscle is beneath."
Light is also vitally important in any illusion of reality. The human eye is incredibly powerful and we can tell when things aren't lit correctly and therefore look *wrong*.
The number of shadows required to make something realistic is astonishing:
The number of shadows required to make something realistic is astonishing:
And so CGI artists have long worked to represent light properly, which is often what makes or breaks a scene - especially with green screen, when the lighting doesn't match.
Hence why there are specialists and programmes specifically dedicated to CG lighting.
Hence why there are specialists and programmes specifically dedicated to CG lighting.
And, of course, the depiction of textures is a vital part of CGI. It, again, can either make something look obviously unreal or totally suspend our disbelief.
That's what Jan van Eyck was labouring to do in the early 1400s.
That's what Jan van Eyck was labouring to do in the early 1400s.
Being more specific, consider something like cloth.
Notice how Filippo Lippi manages to portray Christ's knee beneath his robe, imitating the real way in which fabrics fold over solid forms. So much has also been a big challenge in CGI.
Notice how Filippo Lippi manages to portray Christ's knee beneath his robe, imitating the real way in which fabrics fold over solid forms. So much has also been a big challenge in CGI.
What about emotion? It's one of *the* hardest things to animate and it was also one of the hardest things to paint - both because of its expressiveness and the complex textures and movements of the human face.
Leonardo wrote at length about it:
Leonardo wrote at length about it:
All of which is encapsulated in Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings, created through a mixture of motion-capture and fully digital animation.
He is regarded as the first truly great CGI character, capable of expressing real emotion and - in appearance - seemingly real.
He is regarded as the first truly great CGI character, capable of expressing real emotion and - in appearance - seemingly real.
Which has something in common with the Mona Lisa, Leonardo's most famous painting, in which he exemplified the revolutionary "sfumato" technique - a blurring of colours and countours around the eyes and mouth to imitate real human expressiveness.
The conquest of reality.
The conquest of reality.
CGI artists and Renaissance painters were faced with the same problem - how to create an illusion of reality.
From the diffusion of light to the way human skin stretches, this task requires a deep study of the natural world and plenty of hard work.
From the diffusion of light to the way human skin stretches, this task requires a deep study of the natural world and plenty of hard work.
Leonardo and his contemporaries may have been decorating churches while modern CGI artists are working in film and video games, but both are attempting the same thing.
And, in both cases, it is impossible not to admire their artistry and skill.
And, in both cases, it is impossible not to admire their artistry and skill.
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