An example of an “uncanny” CGI would be the 2004 film “The Polar Express, which harnessed groundbreaking CGI motion captured technology as used in the creation of “Gollum” for the 2001 film “The Lord Of The Rings.” The film created characters in a close likeness as possible to real people, however, the resulting characters appearing more disconcerting than appealing, bearing a likeness to waxy, Madam Taussaud models. The CG models of the humans are uncomfortable for us in a way that is not possible with a CG creation of what does not exist in the real world, such as monsters. I agree with Listers’ comment of the danger of animation in film “descending spiral of spectacular superficiality” as computer effects become depthless and superficial as demonstrated by the 2007 film “Beowulf” in which all actors were motion captured and animated with CGI technology. The end result was disconcerting as the actors’ movements were too smooth and calculated to be believable. The characters facial expressions are closely simulated to real human expression however there is certain point when familiarity becomes more strange than appealing. The negative response from the uncanny has been likened to how much of a threat an uncanny being is to an individual or how life threatening or dangerous it could be. Despite Mori’s findings, CGI animation in films and games still strive to make human models as lifelike as possible, despite the risk of the end product falling into the uncanny valley. A small discrepancy in a CGI model can instead make the model lifeless instead of lifelike, such as the plastic-like quality to the character’s skin in “The Polar express.” In contrast, Mori discovered that switching a character’s features to become more carton-like, yet still with the ability to mimic human facial expressions eliminates the feeling of the uncanny and creates a sense of empathy towards the character. This suggests how films such as “The Incredibles” received a more positive reaction towards its characters.
The problem with attempting to recreate a human form is the simulation of nonverbal signals in the facial movements. Facial expressions such as surprise or happiness are less noticeable as uncanny, as they provide little threat to our wellbeing, however emotions such as anger may be interpreted as uncanny if the nonverbal signals are inaccurate, making the depiction of the emotion more difficult to read. A study at Princetown University found that apes also respond in a humanlike way towards the uncanny. When exposed to CGI simulations of apes, a negative response was evoked in the apes. Instead of interacting to engage the attention of the simulated ape, the apes would avert their gazes. This suggests that the human response to the uncanny is a defensive primal response to protect us from something that has the potential to harm us, or that may spread infection. During the experiment, the apes would also scrutinise the images carefully, similarly to how humans will observe an obvious human simulation and pick out the flaws that make the simulation obviously fake.
It is also possible for nonverbal signals to become confused, for example if a character is smiling, yet the nonverbal signals for anger or sadness are present in the top section of the characters face, making it strange to look at.
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