(Repost! This is a repost of an earlier posted blog that was lost in a server crash and upgrade)
We live in the future. We live in a world where we carry supercomputers in our pocket, we have cars that talk, and we can bring long dead actors back to life to star in movies. It’s that last bit we want to talk about on today’s show. We now have the technology to reanimate a performer digitally, creating a performance that the actor never actually “gave.” Peter Cushing “starred” in Rogue One IN 2016 (22 years after his death) and James Dean was recently announced to be “cast” in an upcoming Vietnam war drama (and he died 64 years ago, BEFORE the war even began). Or we can create convincing actors who never actually existed, like Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Racoon, Vin Diesel’s Groot, or Andy Serkis’s… EVERYTHING! But what do these performances mean for the centuries old tradition of acting and theater? Is this new technology a boon to the arts or will it mean its death knell? Is the technology even new? And what do we make of the dangers that virtual reality actors pose OUTSIDE of the entertainment industry. It has the potential to be used for everything from non-consensual porn to misleading political ads. On today’s show, Mav is joined by returning guests Stephanie Siler, Meron Langsner and Michael Chemers to discuss the psychology, history, dramaturgy and cultural impact of deep fakes and digital acting. Give it a listen and let us know your thoughts.
Citations and Links:
- This episode’s Call for Comments
- “The Actor and the Über-Marionette” by Edward Gordon Craig
- The Uncanny by Sigmund Freud
- “How the ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ FX team created a realistic ape army” by Rick Marshall
- “Deepfakes: Fighting fake videos, from Silicon Valley to Washington” by Levi Sumagaysay
- “Deepfakes, Revenge Porn, And The Impact On Women” by Chenxi Wang
- “What Are Deepfakes? A Guide to the Face-Swapping Technology Being Used in Revenge Porn” by Elizabeth King
- “We Are Truly Fucked: Everyone Is Making AI-Generated Fake Porn Now” by Samantha Cole
- “James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama” by Alex Ritman:
- “CGI versions of Elvis Presley and Paul Newman almost joined James Dean in ‘Finding Jack’” by Will Richards
- “In the age of deepfakes, could virtual actors put humans out of business?”
- • “How the Uncanny Valley Works” by Ed Grabianowski
- • “Why ‘Uncanny Valley’ Human Look-Alikes Put Us on Edge” by Jeremy Hsu
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Check out Meron Langsner’s website at: http://www.meronlangsner.com
- Check out Michael Chemers on UCSC’s website at: https://theater.ucsc.edu/faculty/chemers
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
- Follow Mav’s Personal Blog: http://chrismaverick.com
- Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast
- Follow us on Instagram: @voxpopcast
- Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast
- Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download