Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Will Lucas Resurrect Dead Actors Digitally?
Has George Lucas been buying the film rights to dead celebrities to put them back on the silver screen? A similar feat was accomplished recently as Jeff Bridges plays opposite a younger version of himself (see Synthespian Wannabe: Tron Legacy's Jeff Bridges).
British comedian Mel Smith, a friend of Lucas', stated:
This kind of effort has been tried before, with different technology. In a 1991 commercial for Diet Coke, ad agency Lintas: New York used simpler techniques to bring dead stars back to life. Humphrey Bogart in All Through the Night (1942), Louis Armstrong in High Society (1956) and James Cagney in snippets from Public Enemy (1931) and The Roaring Twenties (1939) were placed in the commercial spot.
"George has been buying up the film rights to dead actors in the hope of using computer trickery to put them all together, so you'd have ORSON WELLES and BARBARA STANWYCK alongside today's stars."
(Diet Coke sold by dead celebrities)
The footage was taken to R. Greenberg Associates, who edited Woody Allen into old film footage in his 1983 movie Zelig. Through a process called "rotoscoping," technicians isolated the images of Bogart, Armstrong and Cagney from the vintage movie clips. Then the legendary stars were computer- stitched into the contemporary nightclub scene.The work was painstaking. Cagney was shorter than the modern blond actress with whom he is seen ordering a Diet Coke. So the editors blew up the image until his height matched that of his co-star. The Golden Age actors were carefully colorized frame by frame to match the hues of the fresh footage. In the stunning final product, Bogart wanders among the nightclub clientele, exchanging greetings with a patron probably not even born when Bogie died in 1957. Louis Armstrong blows away on his trumpet, sharing a knowing glance with Elton John.
If the story about Lucas is true, he's trying to do more than that. It would involve a digital recreation of the actor. But just think of what could be done. Industrial Light and Magic could create different versions of an actor from different films; you could have 37 year-old Bogart (from The Petrified Forest, 42 year-old Bogart from Casablanca and 55 year-old Bogart from Sabrina. Here's looking at you, and you, and you, Bogie.
(Bogie in Casablanca)
ILM will need some additional sfnal gear to do this effectively. It's not enough that your digital recreation look like Bogart; it needs to act like him, and for that you'd need a personality construct like that described in William Gibson's 1985 novel Neuromancer:
Molly had gone back to the loft hours ago, the Flatline's construct in her green bag, and Case had been drinking steadily ever since. It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct, a hardwired ROM cassette replicating a dead man's skills, obsessions, knee-jerk responses.
Via The Sun; see also Marketing Ghosts in the Commercial.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/7/2010)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 2 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...' - John Brunner, 1975
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'- Peter Watts, 1999
AI Worms That Spread
'...there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net now' - John Brunner, 1975.
Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools
'... when you and the Flatline punch through that ice and scramble the cores.' - William Gibson, 1984.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
Is Optimus Autonomous Or Teleoperated?
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
Robot Masseuse Rubs People The Right Way
'The automatic massager began to fumble gently...'
Solar-Powered Space Trains On The Moon
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
Optimus Robot Can Charge Itself
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
Skip Movewear Arc'teryx AI Pants
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
'Robovan' Name Already Taken - Elon, Try These
There are alternative names that are probably in the public domain by now.
How Old Are Tesla Designs?
You be the judge.
Is Your Autonomous Tractor Safe?
'The field-minder finished turning the top-soil of a two-thousand-acre field.'
Smart TVs Are Listening!
'You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard...'
Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.'
Oh Great (Part 2), Fence-Climbing Robots
Please, no stingers.
