Uncanny valley

In medal of honour-warfighter, the cutscenes are actually visually and technically extremely impressive. This shows the potential for 3D animation, and how far its coming in very recent years shows that it is getting better all the time. I have to say this is one of the most realistic animations I have every seen. But they still enter into the realm of the uncanny valley- when they look so real but theres something that makes you feel uncomfortable. I think this is in the dead eyes. As when drawing a picture, the eyes are the most important part, they make it believable. If the eyes are wrong the drawing doesn't look right and it loses realism. It is the same with animation but probably even more so as its moving. The eyes show emotion as well which can really add to the empathy of the audience. 

I also find the mouth a little unnerving. It looks like how a human mouth would move, as it actually doesn't move that much when we talk, but theres something about it being portrayed in animation that is just wrong. it doesn't look right even though it technically probably is. I think maybe if they exaggerate the movement it would be more believable but that defeats the object of it being realistic. 

A clip that shows the uncanny a bit more obviously is from the polar bear express.

Although this animation isn't designed with a realistic look, the movements are done using motion campture as demonstreted by Tom Hanks below. 

This means that they were obviously trying to get the movements right but unfortunately it just looks very strange. It's still a nice film with its story line and the scenery is nice but as adults watching the film there is definitely something off about it.

This is a big limitation for 3D animation as believability helps tell the story and if you feel uncomfortable, thats all your going to think bout through the movie. Im not sure its a technical issue or an artistic issue or maybe a bit of both. Maybe the motion capture needs even more points and the animators need to put even more detail into the movements.