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August 4, 2006
Synthetic Actors
Via Blank Screen Media, a New York Times article about a new camera system to be unveiled at Siggraph that promises "to create compellingly realistic synthetic actors by capturing the facial movements of real actors in much greater detail than is currently possible." The Contour camera system has already been embraced by David Fincher who plans to use it in his adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," about a character who ages in reverse. The Contour system, I think, raises some interesting questions for how we define visual entertainment and what we'll expect of it in the future.
According to the Times, the Contour system will allow filmmakers to transform the appearance of actors in the computer, making it possible for viewers to control the point of view, creating what is being called a form of "navigable entertainment." Times reporter John Markoff goes on to write, "the Contour system requires actors to cover their faces and clothes with makeup containing phosphorescent powder that is not visible under normal lighting. In a light-sealed room, the actors face two arrays of inexpensive video cameras that are synchronized to simultaneously record their appearance and shape. Scenes are lit by rapidly flashing fluorescent lights, and the cameras capture light from the glowing powder during intervals of darkness that are too short for humans to perceive."
As Grand Text Auto explains it, filmmakers get "an extremely high resolution digital model, photographed textures and motion capture of the actor’s face." While the phosphorous powder cannot be used on certain body parts (on the eyes, inside the mouth), Contour is working on plastic teeth molds with embedded phosphor powder. Of course such a camera has clear implications for film production, making it possible for directors to digitally control camera angles. But the larger question is whether the technology will allow filmmakers to cross what Masahiro Mori, the Japanese robotics specialist, has called the "uncanny valley," which describes the negative emotional responses people have when encountering robots and animated figures begin to very closely resemble humans (as the Times argues, some have attributed the negative responses to Tom Hanks' Polar Express to this principle).
Andrew at GTA argues that the Contour system does nothing to cross the "uncanny valley of AI," but one or two of the commenters have a slightly different reading. I don't yet know enough about the Contour system, but it's difficult for me not to feel some sense of loss whenever I read about a new "advance" in digital video technologies. I'm not terribly attached to recording on film, but as systems such as Contour develop, I have to wonder what kinds of narratives it will enable and what kind of stories will be supplanted by the new medium.
Cross-posted at Dr. Mabuse's Kaleidescope.
Posted by chuck at August 4, 2006 12:55 PM
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Comments
Hi Chuck,
This is very interesting indeed - thanks for posting it!
I know what you mean by "some sense of loss" - I feel exactly the same way. Like you, I am not terribly attached to the medium of film either (as in that whereby light passes through a strip of clear acetate), and I've always maintained that nostalgia, to a certain extent, is a little (dare I say it) self-indulgent. Technology is exciting - bring it on! But the changes in technology which used to leave me delighted is now leaving me a little empty. Are we really going anywhere with all these developments (and I deliberately say "developments", as opposed to "advances")? Or maybe I am just growing old (not an unlikely possibility, since next year is a significant birthday and I'm told one's outlook on life changes drastically upon hitting that number)? Whatever it is, it's hard to deny that I am increasingly ambivalent about the whole issue.
On another note - do consider cross-posting this on Dr Mabuse! It would be interesting to hear what the others think about Contour. :-) Thanks again.
Cheers
Jenna
Posted by: Momo at August 5, 2006 12:12 PM
Jenna, I'll cross-post ASAP. Not sure why I didn't cross-post this entry earlier. I can certainly detect a strong degree of self-indulgence in some of the directors who've promised to record only on film (particularly some of Spielberg's comments about the materiality of acetate film).
At the same time, I think there are reasons to be skepitcal whenever a new technology is introduced as having the potential to "revolutionize" the production of motion picture entertainment.
Posted by: Chuck at August 5, 2006 12:39 PM
Wait a minute! I saw this in a movie once.
Starred Albert Finney and Susan Dey. Looker.
Posted by: Lance Mannion at August 16, 2006 10:02 PM
Yeah, I thought about both Looker and Simone when I was writing this entry. Interesting that both "synthetic actors" are women.
Posted by: Chuck at August 17, 2006 7:55 AM