For a little over 25 years, creative artists in the filmmaking industry have continued to innovate and advance with a tool known as "computer-generated imagery." This tool saw it's first successes in classics like Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park in the early 1990s. A majority of blockbusters these days utilize the tool to a capacity and it's arguable that high-budget projects are lost without it in today's world. But in the last decade, a new side of "CGI" has been explored that taps into the idea of digitally making actors look younger. And in more recent cases, "CGI" has been explored to recreate actors who are no longer with us in the realm of reality.
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The first true attempt at this angle in digital enhancement was in 2010's Tron Legacy with actor, Jeff Bridges. Conceptually, being able to see a young Jeff Bridges interact with the real older actor sounds intriguing. But this dive into the unknown was polarizing for critics and audiences, simply because the technology wasn't at the right level to make the concept believable yet. Over the past couple years, the idea has been played around with once again for Marvel tentpoles like Ant-Man and Captain America: Civil War. Digital facial alterations were essential for small story elements in each respectable film, in order to create the youthful appearances of Michael Douglas and Robert Downey Jr. It took six years to get the technology to a place where the CGI could look convincing enough without distracting audiences from being taken out of the experience. I am still mostly unsure of what exactly is done to create such creepy movie magic, but I'm personally convinced the idea can work now.
However, last month we were treated to two instances of this technology being utilized again in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And from my eyes, the digital facial mapping was shown there was far from stellar in comparison to the Marvel examples. Without giving away spoilers, there were moments where it was convincingly incredible but other moments where it looked absolutely terrifying in a negative way. This leads me to believe that from this point moving forward, it's all about how the tool is utilized from a filmmaking perspective. Because anybody can say they're going to use CGI but not everybody knows how to use it in the right way. That's where the beauty of puppetry, visual trickery, and artistic choices come into play for the magicians in Hollywood.
Unfortunately last month, along with the losses of many other talented people in 2016, we lost Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher within a day. A few weeks later, fans have begun to speculate about the fate of Carrie's beloved Star Wars princess character. The Force Awakens left Leia in a position where her story could go emotionally and physically in many different interesting directions. We could delve into a completely separate article discussing the possibilities behind what exactly was planned for Leia in the upcoming Episode VIII as well as beyond. But rumors started to swirl that the executives at Disney and Lucasfilm were arranging meetings with the Fisher estate to discuss possible inclusions of the character in future movies. What sparked controversy was the possibility of utilizing CGI to keep her character alive because the technology technically exists now that would allow audiences to continue to see Leia. Rumors were recently debunked and dismissed so future episodic films will supposedly find a proper way to tribute the character and write her out of the story.
It is still strange that the rumor is a rumor that can exist in this period of time because technically speaking, any deceased actor could be brought back to life with the technology if all moral sensibility was thrown out the window. Is it going too far to possibly include characters like General Leia in future Star Wars movies, thanks to CGI tools? I think there are valid arguments to both answerable sides of the coin. Carrie Fisher has left behind a legacy of memorable performances in 4 Star Wars movies already so there's no need to keep her around. But if her arc is treated with true and honest respect, then the right filmmaker could properly insert her character into a future film. As a reference, the seventh Fast & Furious film is the prime example of the right way to use CGI technology in order to say farewell to a beloved character in a film due to the unfortunate passing of the actor. At this current moment, we don't know what the storytellers behind Disney and Lucasfilm had planned for Leia so discussion of using her in the future is extremely sensitive. But whatever happens, I'm sure the path that will be taken will be respectable. Cinema is still relatively new as an art form in civilization and we're still learning ways to innovate in the filmmaking business. Digital facial mapping in concern to deceased actors is a scary territory but if approached in the right way, there is a time and place for this tool to accomplish some amazing moments for the film.
