Last month Sony PlayStation released God of War Ragnarok, an adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studio. If you’ve played this game, you’ve probably killed Fernando’s stuntman Jay Huerto more than once.
Released on November 9, Ragnarok became the best-selling PlayStation game. Huerto, who first got his hands on a copy, is both an avid gamer and one of the stuntmen who do motion capture or motion capture in video games.
Mocap is one of the most advanced visual effects (VFX) tools available to film, television and video game artists. This allowed VFX artists to work with actor Andy Serkis to create Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.
“For motion capture, you will wear a suit with reflective markers or LED lights depending on the system, and it will record the movements of the performer for programmers, animators and directors so that they can put it in the game scene. Use Unreal Engine or a similar type of software or program they use to create the project,” Huerto explained.
In God of War, Huerto died in several ways at the hands of the game’s protagonist, Kratos.
“I get hit, and I’m just going through different reactions for eight hours, like chopping off the head, chopping off the head, splitting the body in half,” Huerto said. “So it’s just me trying to understand: how should I be?” express it? This is the solution. How do I sell this overpriced or unrealistic hit. No physics. You just use your imagination and let the animators take it from there.”
“It’s heaven because you don’t have to hide pillows,” Huerto laughs. “They might be there and the software won’t capture them. It will simply capture what the markings on your suit reflect. the next day is fine. work has not been interrupted.”
Huerto got the job through his friend and stuntman Eric Jacobus, who did motion-capture stunts for Kratos. The duo also worked on motion capture for Midnight Fight Express.
“I started playing Kratos and somehow started killing myself because I was reacting to all the punches,” Huerto said. “I killed myself here. It’s strange to think about it.”
These days, stuntmen do more than just take hits. In addition to his work in motion capture, Huerto has done pre-show or pre-rendering (i.e. rendering scenes from films before they are filmed), action choreography, and live stunts at theme parks such as Universal Studios.
He has worked on action films such as Liam Neeson’s The Passenger as well as non-action films such as Get Out and Jordan Peele’s Us.
“There are a lot of violent moments in both films,” Huerto said. “And that’s where our special effects team comes in, so we’ll be choreographing and filming previews of the violent parts of these films. So we’re working very closely with Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke on those scenes where you’re fighting or with scissors or whatever something like that. These are all great films. Get Out won an Oscar. So it was exciting to be part of the creative process.”
His stunt work also took him to Beijing. He was working on a theme park at Universal Studios but COVID-19 shut it down, so he’s doing some prep work for Universal Studios Beijing, which is now reopening with a show inspired by How to Train Your Dragon.
“A lot of stuntmen have overseas contracts,” Huerto said. “There are a lot of stunt shows around the world and it’s really fun. It’s so exciting to open a park and be part of a franchise. I’m just having fun and watching what’s going on in China and Beijing. about it. What a great time. Really. I’m glad I did.”
Jumping off buildings and getting hit is not your typical career you can only dream of, but ever since he saw Hong Kong stuntman Jackie Chan in The Bronx Brawl, Huerto knew what he wanted to do. One viewing and Huerto realized that this was what he wanted to do, and has been doing it ever since.
Chan not only did the stunts, but also acted, directed, choreographed the fights, and even sang – all of which Huerto did as well. In addition to the work for which he is hired, Huerto makes his own films, which gives him the most satisfaction as he has complete control over what happens on the screen.
It was thanks to his 2017 Four Points Film Project that I was able to follow him through the entire production process of the film in 72 hours. It was so much fun that I have since volunteered for his program and even donated my son to play.
Huerto has always been a big fan of the DC character Harley Quinn, and when he saw the Suicide Squad trailer, he realized that his girlfriend Jacqui Verdura looked and sounded like a Harley who started college. Just keep coaching her so they could very well be fan movies.
“I’ve seen a lot of different Harley Quinn fan movies, but they weren’t focused on the action,” Huerto said. “They focused on the psychology of Harley Quinn, which is great, but I make action films. I know what Harley is capable of: She has Poison Ivy super strength, she can do gymnastics, and she has a lot. So she can fully fight and we can have a Batman V Superman martial arts fight with Harley Quinn. . For five years on YouTube, he scored 14 million views. Huerto was probably killed at least 14 million times in Ragnarok, which should make any stuntman happy.
Post time: Dec-14-2022