C.G.I Peter Cushing

[Gant]

Now I'm no fan of the Star Wars franchise, I guess I was just a little too old when they first appeared.. I think I've seen about half an hour of the first one, not sure, don't really remember..

But....I'm hearing and reading all kinds of reports that in the latest instalment.. rogue something.. There's a complete CGI performance by the late great actor Peter Cushing. People who've seen the film tell me it's quite amazing... If so, and it's truly successful, then what does that mean for the future  ?

Can all our favourite and sadly departed movie stars live again on the big screen... ? Or could we someday see a Young Clint back on screen with James Cagney or Steve McQueen... ?

I'm not sure how this works ethically.... But it sure is an interesting idea..

[Christopher]

I'd wondered how they did that. I'm guessing they might have had an actor stand there and then replace him with the computerized version of Cushing.

[Gant]

Yeah... That's how I read they did it...

[Matt]

I haven't seen Rogue One yet, but I remember when they used CGI to put Tom Hanks in a scene with real JFK footage that everyone was shocked they could do that. So, this is the next step.

Now, what's next?

[The Schofield Kid]

A young Clint was able to appear with JFK as well in In The Line Of Fire.

[Matt]

D'oh, how quickly I forgot.

[The Schofield Kid]

I think this ad was made about 30 years ago when R. L. Ermey was in Full Metal Jacket. It features John Wayne who had been dead for a few years.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/CV8lrFko2uI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/CV8lrFko2uI</a>

[Gant]

These are all cool and great examples of splicing old footage into new film.. But from what I understand the makers of the new Star Wars film have been able to create a totally new performance from Peter Cushing..

What interests me is the ethics of this.. Actors appearing in films in new roles long after they're passed and have no way of accepting or declining said roles... And what this bodes for the future.. If the technology exists (which it seems to) then  I reckon we're gonna see a lot more of this..

[Brendan]

The CGI Cushing was very well done. There's another CGI actor in Rogue One as well.

I remember the first time it being done in full was in Tron: Legacy. They had a young CGI Jeff Bridges for a big chunk of the film. You could tell that was CG but it still looked very good.

The movement of CG Cushing was a give away and the mouth movements too. But hey, it's only going to get better.

Now all actors and actresses can remain forever young in their movies.

A friend of mine (who post effects work) firnly believes that they did something to Brad Pitt for Allied. He said Pitt looked too perfect.

[The Schofield Kid]

I wonder if you need permission to create a CGI character from an actor who is dead? And does the estate or family get royalties?

[The Schofield Kid]

The CGI Cushing was very well done. There's another CGI actor in Rogue One as well.

The young Carrie Fisher CGI looked terrible. It was only a couple of seconds but it looked like a bobble head.

[KC]

The young Carrie Fisher CGI looked terrible. It was only a couple of seconds but it looked like a bobble head.

I heard on the radio that they're not going to try to CGI her for future episodes.

[The Schofield Kid]

I heard on the radio that they're not going to try to CGI her for future episodes.

I really hope that's true.