Yesterday was the opening of Mocap: The Stage produced by Hideki Sugiguchi from Motion Actor Inc. and Hiromi Shinjo from AC Factory, which gave theatergoers an inside perspective of the many different personalities and situations that one might come to expect within the motion capture business.

▶︎ Read More: See here for further details on the play, including the staff and cast list.

This is Yoshitaka Naoi reading the plot of the play from the above flyer:

#もーきゃぷ
あらすじを読んだら褒められて調子に乗ったので、
ロングバージョンを作ってしまった！
ナレーション風で読んでみました！
あらすじだけでもわくわくする内容ですよね！
ぜひ劇場でこの物語がどうなっていくのか
目撃してください！

ご予約はこちらから↓https://t.co/CoxzvndokZ pic.twitter.com/agR66HuNUN

— 直井よしたか@Paty (@Y_Naoi_Paty) November 1, 2023

▶︎ Relatable Moments

The story begins by illustrating some very realistic situations that are commonplace for a motion capture studio, which anyone working in or around this industry will be familiar with. These studios typically operate as a type of service that is provided to the customer, therefore the golden rule revolves around the needs of the customer.

Generally speaking, the actors themselves are unique, each person having their own quirks and expectations, so studios will see all kinds of personalities coming to record, those with varying levels and types of experience as well as greatly differing ages, etc. There are also those who are more demanding of the studio, believing that as a service, they need to be treated with utmost hospitality. We could even go so far as to label these personalities as ones with a sort of “chip on their shoulders.”

During a scene that depicted what it’s like during an actual recording session, there were times when assistants needed to hold objects for the actors to grab, but they need to be as discrete as possible and not get in the way of the motion capture cameras that pick up the movement of the actors. At one point, one assistant scolded another to crouch down and not obstruct the cameras.

Another situation that was extremely relatable was how the actors recorded a scene according to the storyboards that they were given, but the illustrations and/or descriptions weren’t clear enough to get a good image of the scene, so the directer ended up complaining that the scene turned out different than expected. This became a very comical moment when the director kept pulling out and waving the storyboards around in everyone’s face.

Yet another situation depicted what it’s like when the customer suddenly changes the schedule or reschedules a recording session. Typically, there’s nothing the recording studio can do about it but scramble to make the studio available for the customer. It’s a constant struggle to make schedules work.

There was another moment where one of the actors wanted to wear a costume rather than the usual motion capture suit because it helps her get into character… but since the costume was mostly white, it’s difficult for the cameras to pick up the white markers, and therefore it’s difficult to get reliable data. When that happens, the animators have to go in and fix the motion data by hand, which is a long and laborious ordeal that would better resolved by simply doing another recording session to get good data.

So, although the story begins pretty normally and rooted in the real world, it slowly steps into the realm of fantasy when a new motion capture system is introduced that not only records an actor’s motion but also detects the five senses as well. This is achieved by placing two markers on the actor’s head and activating a sort of energy field to receive the sensory data, which is expressed to the audience as a kind of VR experience for the user where they can see far away or fantastical locations. At one point, the character played by Mao experienced the depths of the ocean as well as the far reaches of space. It reminded me a lot of the Lawnmower Man or The Matrix in this regard. Since the experience is so realistic by connecting to the user’s senses, the characters actively questioned how safe it was and what would happen if they were attacked or shot while in the field. The engineer reassured them not to worry because they implemented safety protocols that would only cause them to feel a small degree of pressure.

But… they didn’t expect the system to go absolutely haywire, causing everyone connected to go berserk and attack each other, so it becomes a fearsome battle to regain control over the system and those still influenced by it.

No matter how hardcore the action becomes, it’s all done in a very humorous manner that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at many moments. Some of the best moments was when Mao’s character talks about her fondness for Bruce Lee and begins to act like him. The “Bruce Lee” fight between her and Sugiguchi was so absolutely amazing, it needs to be watched multiple times over.

▶︎ Merchandise

There’s also a good amount of official merchandise available at the venue! Here’s a look at what’s available with further details in English below.

• T-shirt (white or black): 3,000 yen – Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large
• Muffler Towel: 2,000 yen
• Select Cast Member Polaroid Photos: 1,000 yen / 500 yen
• Pamphlet: 1,500 yen
• Performance DVD: 4,950 yen (pre-order)

There are also some exclusive Motion Actor, Inc. merch available as well:

• Clear File: 500 yen
• Smartphone Stand Keychain: 400 yen
• Sticker: 300 yen

Here’s a quick look at some of the goodies that I picked up at the first public performance of the show:

▲ Black T-shirt, pamphlet, 2 Polaroids (Hideki Sugiguchi & Mao)

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There’s also a really nice 2-page interview with Hideki Sugiguchi and Mao in the December 2023 #304 issue of CGWORLD, so definitely check it out!! The very end of the article he mentions how motion actors are typically obscured in the background, so it’s difficult for regular consumers to really understand what exactly they do. So, by starting with this stage play, he hopes that people will have a better understanding and appreciation for all the hard, dedicated work that goes on behind the scenes by many talented motion actors and technicians.

2日目！

舞台もーきゃぷ、業界誌のCG WORLDさんでもご紹介いただけました！

クレッセント様、ご協力いただきありがとうございます！

業界の方々にとってもモーションキャプチャーは、まだやった事がない方々には敷居の高いものだと思います。… pic.twitter.com/78JIwXw33Q

— 杉口秀樹（株式会社モーションアクター） (@jagar001) November 16, 2023

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▶︎ Related Links

• Mocap: The Stage
• Mocap: The Stage Official Twitter
• Motion Actor Inc.
• AC Factory