New Delhi: Atlee’s upcoming film Raaka has entered the Guinness World Records after 37 performers were motion-captured at the same time for a sequence in the film.
Motion capture is used to record physical movements and turning them into digital data for computers. Performers wear special suits, while cameras track how they move. That movement is then mapped onto the character being created on screen.
For Raaka, the challenge was scale. All 37 performers, ranging from a four-year-old to a 70-year-old, had to be tracked at once inside the same space. Ninety-two cameras recorded their movements, while separate cameras captured their faces.
The team also used Unreal Engine, a technology widely used in video games and increasingly in films, to see digital versions of the characters moving as the actors performed. Rather than waiting until post-production to see how the motion-capture data looked on screen, the crew could watch it happen almost live.
Behind-the-scenes footage released by Sun Pictures shows rows of performers in motion-capture suits running and performing action together, while technicians watch their digital versions on monitors.
The record was certified on 15 September in Mumbai. Guinness World Records lists Sun TV Network Limited and director V Arunkumar, better known as Atlee, as the record holders. The motion-capture shoot itself took place in February.
“Growing up, we always heard about Guinness World Records with so much wonder, never imagining that one day we would be blessed to achieve one ourselves,” Atlee said.
The number 37 had already been floating around Raaka’s promotions before the record was revealed. Sun Pictures first posted it without explanation on 17 September, setting off guesses about what it could mean. Some fans linked it to Atlee’s 21 September birthday, since three multiplied by seven is 21, while others thought it could be a release-date clue.
Sun Pictures later teased a “global triumph” before revealing the Guinness record on Monday.
Raaka stars Allu Arjun and Deepika Padukone. The makers have said the first proper glimpse of the film will arrive in December.