Much like you, I don't know a heckuva lot about Tintin other than that he solves crimes, has a dog and is racist. Hence, I'm the perfect audience for Steven Spielberg's first ever Hall H presentation for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Mr. Spielberg was given a standing O as he came to the stage wearing a loose-fitting tie and logo-free ball cap. Eddie Ibrahim of Comic-Con gave him an "Inkpot Award" after a sincerely epic montage and he immediately thanked the audience for "all being in the same world" of staying kids. "I've been a kid all my life," he said. "Just as my wife."
The topic quickly turned to Tintin, which Spielberg admitted that he hadn't known anything about until he read a French review of Raiders of the Lost Ark that kept comparing the two. Building on this, Tintin is a journalist who always winds up as part of the story, much how Indiana Jones always winds up at the center of the adventure.
Regarding the performance capture in the film, you won't see Daniel Craig's face in the movie, but you'll see his performance rendered digitally by the people at WETA.
Before it was decided to make the film as performance capture, there was a test of a CG dog opposite a live action human. Spielberg then showed a test they did with a cute digital dog against a real actor - it turned out to be Peter Jackson in a goofy "Captain Haddock" outfit. As he mumbled in a Kiwi accent, the dog did adorable things including knocking over a bottle of rum, drinking it, getting drunk and falling in the sea.
Afterwards, Jackson surprised the hall by appearing on stage. (Hey! Isn't he supposed to be making The Hobbit right now!?) Jackson then said how great it is to work as a producer with Spielberg, adding "he has real potential."
The two then spoke about the technique of performance capture, comparing it more to painting than the filmmaking he's used to. Jackson chimed in that both he and Spielberg aren't so good with computers, "I can barely send an email!" Jackson then praised the stories of Tintin as being "wonderfully anarchic."
Then some footage. We're in a doorway at night and a creepy looking rubbery guy with a big nose is threatening a teenage boy (Tintin) and a cute dog (Snowy). Tintin defends himself and shoots the guy and then calls to an older woman to say, "there's been a gunshot call the authorities!" and runs into the street. The "camera" goes with him and we see a wonderful, 3D streetscape.
Then we're on the outside of a boat at sea - Tintin is at a porthole eavesdropping on some baddies. We then cut inside the boat, where Tintin gets socked in the jaw by someone with a ridiculously large nose (again) with Snowy (so cute!) gnawing on the baddie's leg.
Turns out it is not a baddie, but Captain Haddock - the "last" of the Haddocks. He seems to know that Tintin has intel on "the Secret of the Unicorn" which, turns out, is a ship. (Yeah, I was hoping for winged beasts as well.)
There followed a quick display of shots, including a magnifying glass, a treasure map and a model ship hiding clues. Then a quick moment with a biplane attacking Tintin and him taking it down with one bullet.
I can't lie, the look of Tintin is a little strange. It looks SOOOOO much better than, say, The Polar Express, but it still kinda creeps me out. Snowy is wonderful, and some of the close-ups on the faces looks striking. In fact, these specific close-ups look so photo-real that it kinda makes some of the other shots look clunky. Maybe I'm just hesitant to jump full-in to this technology, but unlike, say, Avatar, I'm not yet sold on the look of this film.
After the footage, Spielberg entreated us to go see the movie - if it does well, there'll be the planned sequel. "I want to make MY Tintin," Jackson chimed in.
Spielberg described his partnership with Jackson as his best since George Lucas, and told the story of how they first met: him handing Jackson his Academy Award in front of a billion people.
During a Q & A with the audience, Spielberg mentioned that Jurassic Park IV would be happening in 2 to 3 years (we have a story and a writer) and then brought the house down by shaking the hand of a man in a t-shirt that read "I want to shake Steven Spielberg's hand and say thank you." He's a real mensch.
