We recently caught up with Warwick Davis, best known for his roles in Willow, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Life's Too Short, and appearing in an iPad or iPhone near you soon. He revealed some interesting thoughts about the future of acting in this technological age, and the new ways in which an actor can reach out to their audience thanks to products like the iPad and iPhone.
Warwick, who has been completely immersed in the Pocket Warwick project, which he conceived himself, teamed up with a developer, for whom it is safe to assume this has been a time-consuming but fun project. The developement process itself has been something of a drama but Warwick Davis' first app, Pocket Warwick, is due to launch next Thursday, days after Apple's launch of the
iPad mini.
The obvious question is why would Warwick Davis want to create an app? Is it intended to generate publicity? Is it a means to make money? The app is free, but players can choose to spend their own cash to progress quickly (we've been assured that the game can be completed without parting with a single penny). Rather, this app was conceived out of what Warwick described as an "obvious progression" from theatre, movies and television onto a new platform.
Warwick explained: "It seems to be an obvious progression for me: you have to be prepared to change the way you do things, to look to new things, new ways to express your performance. Actors have to adapt to this whole new way of working - that’s what’s happening now with the gaming industry, where they use performance capture. I think as actors we’ve all got to learn to metamorphose and embrace that."
