It takes only a few seconds for several cinematic examples with digital actors to come to mind. Action, fantasy, adventure and science fiction are the genres that rely most on graphics and animations, but the industry's leading figures are convinced that in the future of Hollywood there will practically be no limits. Today, we can appreciate the latest advances with the first episode of ReForm, a series of short films on Vimeo.
A Brief History of Digital Stars
The Polar Express debuted in 2004. Decent story, horrible characters. In 2007, Robert Zemeckis tried again with Beowulf, and even with three years in his favor, the results were similar. Two years later Cameron arrived carrying Avatar under his arm, and his film became the most commercially successful in history. Those of us who have lived surrounded by computers reacted with some coldness to Avatar's visual quality, but the rest of the planet placed dollar after dollar to see it in 2D, 3D, DVD, Blu-ray, cropped and extended. 3D may be losing steam in theaters, but if there is something that is here to stay it is the intervention of high technology in the filming and acting processes. The most surprising thing is the constant progress. If we think for a moment, Avatar is six years old, and for many it is already obsolete. With that in mind... what is to come?
The ReForm Series
The ReForm series from the Creators Project, under its first episode "Los Humanos Digitales de Hollywood", gives us a glimpse into the work of the Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California. For those in charge, the next big step is nothing less than virtual reality as we all dreamed it, that is, developing elements that bring us closer to the classic concept of the Holodeck, and for that, the digitization of humans is a critical step. Their Light Stage X platform captures a person's face down to the last detail, and according to actor Stephen Lang (Colonel Quaritch in Avatar), it can basically "duplicate" an actor. Even so, no one loses sight of the extraordinary difficulty that exists in digitizing a face. If a minor aspect, such as a muscle movement or the light in the eyes, is inferior to what is expected, the risk of being "trapped in the valley" is very great.
The Future of Acting
Now, could this lead to the definitive replacement of actors? The possibility exists, and on more than one occasion the short film mentions the idea of recreating a famous politician digitally, finding a suitable voice actor, and making him say something he never said. But if there is any realism behind each digital character, it is because the actor or actress of the moment transmitted it, and current artificial intelligences are still extremely far from imitating that emotional depth, and that innate ability to "pretend" that each actor possesses. A very good short film, worth investing the 14 minutes it lasts.
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