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Investigation 12/20: Digital Aging/De-Aging

Over the past couple years the technique of Digital Aging/De-Aging has begun to show up in a growing number of films and TV shows. From making an actor look younger like they used to, aging an actor up to what they might look like, and even bringing actors back from the dead, digital aging and de-aging has changed a lot about how actors can look. With the technology only now reaching a usable form, filmmakers, studios, and actors now face the question of it's use in filmmaking today.

Why Digital Age/De-Age?

Using digital aging and de-aging of actors can lead to multiple different filmmaking techniques that wouldn't be as possible without it. One example of this is that by digitally aging and de-aging actors the filmmaker is given more freedom as to how much of a characters life they want to portray. While different actors could take the main actors place to show aging, digital aging and de-aging can permit a single actor to look whatever age the script desires. This also creates consistency throughout the film both in the actor playing the character as well as their performance. Another technique would be the restoration of how an actor used to look in the past. While some films might a de-age a character for plot reasons, other films might de-age an actor to make them look how they did in their "glory days". One example of this can be seen within Samuel L. Jackson's performance in Captain Marvel. Within the film, Jackson is digitally de-aged to both fit within the timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but to also emulate his look in older films such as Pulp Fiction and Jurassic Park.

Ethics Of Digital Aging/De-Aging

As technologies such as digital aging and de-aging and deep-faking continue to become better as the years progress, the ethics surrounding the usage of these tools begin to be questioned. If an actors likeness can be digitally recreated and used, will they have a say as to what it's used in? What happens after they die? Will they be compensated for the use of their digital likeness? These are all questions that are brought up when discussing digital de-aging. One example of an actor who has been de-aged following their death is Peter Cushing. Cushing played Grand Moff Tarkin within the original Star Wars and was digitally reconstructed for Rouge One on top of actor Guy Henry. Cushing had passed away in 1994, 22 years before Rouge One would release. With this, it affirms the idea that Cushing himself had no say as to the use of his likeness and cements the fact that this problem can and will happen again in the future. (Link To Image)

Work Log

  • 12/14 - No Project Work
  • 12/15 - Worked on project "script"
  • 12/16 - Found props for project usage
  • 12/17 - Refresher on garage band
  • 12/18 - Worked more on project "script"
  • 12/19 - Experimented with new photoshop techniques
  • 12/20 - Finished pre-production blogpost


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