Hasta La Motion!

Lord Of The Rings star Andy Serkis is preparing to open a training academy in London to school actors in the art of performing with the latest computer-generated filming techniques.

The British star shot to fame playing Gollum in the fantasy film series, which used specialist motion-capture effects to create a character from Serkis’ facial expressions and movements.

Serkis used the technology again in 2005 epic King Kong to portray the mammoth gorilla, and he’s convinced that with the success of James Cameron’s Avatar, which used performance capture to create life-like alien characters, more actors will need to be trained to use the technology.

He is setting up a school, called The Imaginarium, to pass on the skills he has learned.

Serkis says, "Actors, on the whole, are just really poorly educated about the whole process. There is still an idea that CGI (computer-generated imagery) characters are going to take over the world. For me, it really is a question of allaying the fears that all filmmakers have, but particularly with actors.

"With The Imaginarium we want to create a creative hub for visual artists. We are basing it on the notion of a theatre and we want people coming in and out. There are certain techniques you have to learn."