Resurrecting the deadand old?

[MrBoBo]

I was reading this -https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/21/peter-cushing-rogue-one-resurrection-cgi

What is your opinion of using digitally recreated dead people for entertainment purposes? And in general, it's effectiveness?

I saw Tron: Legacy and it was distracting as hell. He looked like a weird rubber doll. Haven't seen Rogue One yet, but i've seen a alot of people complain about a CGI Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher.

Having said that, I remember watching this advert a but couldn't tell, thought it was manipulated footage.


https://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/oct/08/how-we-made-audrey-hepburn-galaxy-ad

 

[Kyrian007]

Well, it looks terrible. There's never a need for it. I'm not sure what the point is. Maybe when the technology exists to make it look ok. That doesn't address the fact that its unnecessary, but at least it wouldn't look so unsettling. I've never seen one that doesn't look disproportionate. Like someone threw on a "big heads" cheat usually. They actually look like someone just took FF: Spirits Within level animated figures and Roger Rabbited them into live action... its still that jarring.

It didn't bother me so much in Tron Legacy, that wasn't supposed to be Flynn. Hell, it wasn't happening in the "real world." But Rogue One, those scenes did not even need to be in the film. Those characters could have been seen in holo, or from behind, or just speaking through an intercom or something. Or even just not written into the film, it would have changed nothing important.

 

[MrBoBo]

In Episode III Grand Moff Tarkin was just a guy with makeup.
Hell, Mon Mothma wasn't CGI.

 

[Bobular]

The question they need to ask them selves is, are they going to CG young Harrison Ford into the Han Solo movie?

No? You don't want your lead to look like a CG doll for the whole movie? Then why do it for other prominent characters?

I can see the use in doing it for background characters or other characters that the watcher wont be paying to much attention to but it could be a cool little bit of fan service like how they had Tarkin at the very end of Episode 3, I liked that, but when he was front and center in Rouge One it just looked odd.

 

[Bobular]

The question they need to ask them selves is, are they going to CG young Harrison Ford into the Han Solo movie?

They already have an actor for young Solo. I still don't want them to make it.

I know they have an actor, that's what I'm saying, they wouldn't do it for the lead character so why do it for other major roles?

Also I agree, I don't want them to make it as well.

 

[skywolfblue]

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, in principle...

Grand Moff Tarkin was in uncanny valley territory though.
Shame, because it was an absolutely stunningly detailed model. The subsurface scattering (his skin glowed too much) and lighting (all the other characters in the scene are lit juuust a little bit differently) shatter the illusion.

Leah I thought was alright. That scene lasts only a few seconds an maybe I wasn't looking hard enough. But I thought it was realistic, and so did my dad.

Though, this does have the potential to be abused as time goes on. Reviving and re-doing every single movie ever with 3D actors just to make a buck is... really doing those actors a disservice. I can see it now "Buster Keaton's Revenge 3D" where Buster Keaton is now a muscled action-movie hero brandishing Uzis...

 

[Saelune]

The question they need to ask them selves is, are they going to CG young Harrison Ford into the Han Solo movie?

They already have an actor for young Solo. I still don't want them to make it.

I know they have an actor, that's what I'm saying, they wouldn't do it for the lead character so why do it for other major roles?

Also I agree, I don't want them to make it as well.

Oh. I read too fast.

Solo's youth makes that situation a tiny bit different. But that actor is only eight years younger than Ford was, if I remember correctly.

Going off what you said, why did they replace that lady in white from Return of the Jedi with a different actress, but digitally recreate the others? I agree with Kyrian. There are very few situation in which you should bring a dead or old actor back. And if it's an essential character with an iconic look or a lot of screen time, replace them with a new actor. I hated what had to happen to Spartacus after the lead actor died after the first season, but it was better than any alternative.

I think it depends on the importance. Leia and essentially Tarkin (though perhaps a bit too long) were more cameos. I had honestly expected to see Leia's back, in that white outfit, but before Tarkin showed up, I wasnt expecting a face.

I laughed at how cartoonish Tarkin looked, but honestly, I got over it. He wasnt the main character, but I dont disagree that perhaps he should have had a smaller role.

I mostly am fine with doing this for essentially cameos, or like Hank Pym in Ant-Man, essentially a flash-back to de-age them.

Plus for tech to advance, it has to be tried first. The original Star Wars was very experimental, and I think we should respect that, not deride it, not angrily anyways. There is a charm in seeing through the illusions of old movies today.

(Ive been watching alot of old Star Wars, Trek, and the Conan movies)

 

[Saelune]

I think it depends on the importance. Leia and essentially Tarkin (though perhaps a bit too long) were more cameos. I had honestly expected to see Leia's back, in that white outfit, but before Tarkin showed up, I wasnt expecting a face.

I laughed at how cartoonish Tarkin looked, but honestly, I got over it. He wasnt the main character, but I dont disagree that perhaps he should have had a smaller role.

I mostly am fine with doing this for essentially cameos, or like Hank Pym in Ant-Man, essentially a flash-back to de-age them.

Plus for tech to advance, it has to be tried first. The original Star Wars was very experimental, and I think we should respect that, not deride it, not angrily anyways. There is a charm in seeing through the illusions of old movies today.

(Ive been watching alot of old Star Wars, Trek

Me too. I just finished the Star Wars trilogy again, the Silver Screen and Grindhouse editions, which use nothing but the original cinema reels. What an experience. I love that 35 mm film look.

Rogue One's faces aren't gonna age as well as the Star Wars trilogy. Actually, I don't believe in "ageing". What looks bad now always looked bad. The old effects and models were less jarring. Jurassic Park came out 23 years ago, yet CG characters still look pretty artificial in photographed settings. I'm sure it can be done, but it's a question of cost. It's just not worth it most of the time, unless it's for little things that are hard to notice, like Zhora flying through the glass with Joanna Cassidy's face over the stunt double's in Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

Well, original trilogy does age way better than the faces, but I expect that tech will advance considerably over time. And then we can look back and laugh at Rogue One Tarkin.

But well, I am also more ok with CGI than some. Personally, I think CGI Yoda looks way better (in Ep 2 and 3, ep 1 Yoda was trash) than puppet Yoda.

I would just prefer to tolerate bad effects than bad writing.

 

[KissingSunlight]

My biggest issue with Rogue One was the CGI Tarkin. Why couldn't they get an actor who reasonably look like Peter Cushing? In fact, the story would have been better if it features Tarkin trying to protect the plans to the Death Star rather than introducing a new character who is doing that.

 

[MrBoBo]

My biggest issue with Rogue One was the CGI Tarkin. Why couldn't they get an actor who reasonably look like Peter Cushing? In fact, the story would have been better if it features Tarkin trying to protect the plans to the Death Star rather than introducing a new character who is doing that.

They pretty much already had one.

https://youtu.be/K8J2l0XQG0g?t=63

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly it didn't bother me in Rogue One but in saying so I wasn't exactly paying attention of their faces.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

While I'm not against it as a narrative feature, because it opens up a lot of story possibilities, its uncanny valley as fuck. Now in 20-30 years it'll be perfected and you won't be able to tell and it'd be great to see Han Solo and Dash Rendar outrunning Tie Fighters. But right now, its bad. It looks like hi-res Reboot awkwardly pasted into footage.