Technological Convergence

Pokémon Detective Pikachu was shot on a 35-millimeter film, for its live-action scenes, while also incorporating the use of CGI and VFX for its fictional aspects. The fictional characters were developed through CG animation. Ryan Reynolds performed the expressions of Pikachu through facial motion capture.

35-millimeter film: 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on film, 35 mm is the most commonly used gauge. The name of the gauge is not a direct measurement and refers to the nominal width of the 35mm format photographic film, which consists of strips 1.377 ± 0.001 inches (34.976 ± 0.025 mm) wide. The standard image exposure length of 35 mm for movies ("single-frame" format) is four perforations per frame along both edges, which results in 16 frames per foot of film. The gauge has been versatile in application. It has been modified to include sound, redesigned to create a safer film base, formulated to capture color, has accommodated a bevy of widescreen formats, and has incorporated digital sound data into nearly all of its non-frame areas. Eastman Kodak, Fujifilm, and Agfa-Gevaert are some companies that offered 35 mm films. Today, Kodak is the last remaining manufacturer of motion picture films. The ubiquity of 35 mm movie projectors in commercial movie theatres made 35 mm the only motion picture format that could be played in almost any cinema in the world until digital projection largely superseded it in the 21st century.

CGI: Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the application of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, computer animation, and VFX in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may be dynamic or static, and maybe two-dimensional (2D), although the term "CGI" is most commonly used to refer to the 3D computer graphics used for creating characters, scenes, and special effects in films and television, which is described as 'CGI animation'. It was first used in the 1986 film ‘Flight of the Navigator’. The evolution of CGI led to the emergence of virtual cinematography in the 1990s where the vision of the simulated camera is not constrained by the laws of physics. Availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional-grade films, games, and fine art from their home computers.

VFX: Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and CG elements to create realistic imagery is called VFX. VFX involves the integration of live-action footage (special effects) and generated imagery (digital or optics, animals or creatures) which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, time-consuming, or impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer-generated imagery (CGI) have more recently become accessible to independent filmmakers with the introduction of affordable and relatively easy-to-use animation and compositing software.

CG Animations: Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animated images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics to generate a two-dimensional picture, although 2D computer graphics are still used for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings. Sometimes, the target of the animation is the computer itself but sometimes film as well. Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to stop motion techniques but uses 3D models, and traditional animation techniques using frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations. Computer-generated animations can also allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it but advanced slightly in time.

Facial Motion Capture: Facial motion capture is the process of electronically converting the movements of a person's face into a digital database using cameras or laser scanners. This database may then be used to produce computer graphics (CG), computer animation for movies, games, or real-time avatars. Because the motion of CG characters is derived from the movements of real people, it results in a more realistic and nuanced computer character animation than if the animation were created manually.