Posted by Griff on
URL: https://www.shado-forum.com/Thunderbirds-Remake-Going-Nowhere-Fast-tp1512377p1512389.html

Okay, fair point.

What I mean by this, is that it is now possible to capture an actor from anolder 2D (even to the oldest motion pictures - i.e. Laurel and Hardy) filmand extrapolate their moment, actions, body language into mathematical 3D movement/action, in the same way that current motion capture (as used in NCS) detects and plots the moments of body motion of actors with point axis detection (i.e. NCS, Gollum in Lord of the rings). Then recreate exact CGI actors that replicate the original movements and bodystyle/actions exactly. Moreover, once the body/gate analysis has been created, it is possible to create new situations/scene with these 'actors' in entirely new situations.

I've seen it done, and it's frightening real. I was astonished. In the example I saw, they used Oliver Hardy, showed him from an original scene, and then 'he' walked out of shot and did a new piece to camera. To my 'trained eye', I could not tell the difference, except I knew it could NOT be original material. Expect to see A LOT more of this in the future.

It is even possible to capture facial characteristics exactly, the way an actor walks, moves, gesticulates etc.

It is also possible to capture the phonemes used say by Ed Bishop, and generate any new speech using his actual phonetic characteristics. Think of an updated, "Reflections in the Water"... now that is ironic. I certainly think Commander Straker would approve.

There is a whole new legal debate as to the ethics of portraying someone who has passed away. The current rational is that it should be handled as if the actor is still alive, and their relatives receive what the actor would have received. I guess it would also help keep the memory of that actor/person 'alive'...

This moral angle is always going to be a tricky one.

But, referring back to Star Wars, many - if not most - of all the actors 'signed away' their image rights/merchandising as they didn't realize George Lucas would REALLY capitalize on this area. One famous actress Carrie Fisher hated the fact that she could walk into a toy store and see herself portrayed as some crumby doll of Princess Leia. She made absolutely no money from the any image of herself, and indeed could not do anything about it. I believe she has "not spoken" to George Lucas since... It's the same for many many actors.

Difficult area... intersting to see how it develops

Griff

--- In [hidden email], "Griff Wason" <griff@...> wrote:

...I would LOVE the chance to see what Gerry would do with UFO. Now a GerryAnderson Hypermarionation version of UFO 2080's would get round a lot of problems for fans. It would be possible to pay testament to the original wonderful actors by recreating their persona's, voices and even track their original body movements, actions, and emotions.
>
> All we need are good and great story lines...
>
> Best to all :)
>
> Griff