CGI Tarkin? What do you think?

I never say no to some new Tech to be tried out and getting better in doing so....But I would consider a mask + a body doppelgänger/double a better option for a movie?
Tron with Young Jeff Bridges was somehow okay because the world around him was crazy 80s neon style...The lighting was different. It obscured the face.

At the end it´s all about which option is faster ( And eventually creating a better looking solution). A team on creating a CGI-Tarkin or a Team in the masking room with an actor?

 

LFL is certainly making sure they remain involved with pioneering technology at tge forefront of filmmaking. If anyone could do it well, I feel they could.

Still, I just feel kinda strange about it from a moral standpoint. No one truly knows if Cushing would've consented to his likeness being used in this way.

Also, I feek **** we're getting his chracter fleshed out well in Rebels and got a ton from te Tarkin novel. While a Tarkin cameo would be fun, I'm not sure it needs,to hapoen stoty-wise.

 

This would be a HORRIBLE idea, for a number of reasons:

-It's incredibly time consuming and expensive. And since I don't think that Tarkin will be the main baddie here, what's the point?
-The past results with this have been mixed at best. Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy and Patrick Stewart/Ian McKellen in X-Men: The Last Stand all looked meh. Stewart in X-Men Origins: Wolverine looked terrible. Michael Douglas in Ant Man looked good, as did "young Arnie" in Terminator Genisys. But those were like one scene each and the T-800 was in a fight scene.
-In these cases, you had Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Arnold, etc one-set to model off of. Peter Cushing has been dead since, what 1994? So that makes things even more difficult (not to mention kind of creepy/awkward).
-They're recasting Harrison freaking Ford for the Han Solo movie. If they can recast him of all people, then they can recast Cushing.
-Oh and they've already recast him once, with the guy from Episode III

Basically what I'm saying is, just get a different actor. Then you can use make-up/prosthetics/CGI/camera tricks to make him resemble ANH-era Tarkin to a passable degree.

 

I reckon the stuff with Tarkin, if he even is in the movie, will be either Hologram or shoulders (not even waist!) up. Frankly, recreating a person without the person is very difficult. Sure motion capture of a similar person and CGI and old video can work, but I think that if LFL does make Tarkin, it will be as photo-realistic as possible, and less about moving and walking, and more about talking and controlling people. This is the guy who sat down and still made Vader stop choking a man!

 

This would work.

 

Isn't that a photograded pic of Peter Cushing? The Episode 3 person had prosthetics that up close look nothing like Tarkin.

 

I have no idea what it is. But if it could move and talk, it would work.

 

I feel that Tarkin was never worried about the Death Star plans being captured. He had full confidence in the technological terror he constructed. So I don't see the need for him to play a role in a movie about how Rebels obtained the plans.

Now Vader on the other hand is another story

 

Personally, I would love it if instead of CGI-ing Tarking, 'they' dug up some unused ANH photage of Peter Cushing and tweaked that to fit into the movie (probably in a very limited role). This would warm my geeky heart.

 

Only Tarkin? Then what about other Imperial high-ranking officers from that period like Taggi and Motti?

Can't wait to see Taggi as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Starfleet...

 

Tagge survived the Death Star destruction. He was not on it when Luke blew it up. Take a look at the Darth Vader comic book series.

I am both skeptical and optimistic about a CGI Tarkin. If it works, we would all love it. If it isn't executed perfectly, it will be one a source of discontent and ridicule with the fans.

 

Could a CGI Cushing be done? Sure? Would it be right to do so? Absolutely not. It's completely unethical, and more importantly it is illegal unless Lucasfilm has bought Cushing's likeness rights from his estate. This was a battle fought a LONG time ago by Crispin Glover regarding "Back to the Future Part 2," and he won, establishing a precedent. Use of an actor without the permission of him or his estate is simply not legal. And frankly, even if his estate signed off on it, I strongly feel it would be unethical. Ask yourself whether you would want your image endorsing a product after you're able to have a say in it.

 

I agree with you, it isn't ethical. I'm not certain it is illegal. We have hologram Tupac and hologram Michael Jackson, a CGI Paul walker, music collaborations with pop stars and deceased songwriters, commercials cobbled together with dead actors' likenesses, unauthorized merchandise showcasing deceased, etc. I'm sure I am missing several stellar examples. Sometimes permission is granted by a family or trust of the deceased, but not always.

For CGI Tarkin, it is rumored that all available footage of Peter Cushing is being used to create his CGI likeness. That footage belongs to and is property of the film studios he worked with, not his explicit property. Thoughts?

 

The examples you mention all involved the estates. I am in the middle of collaborating on a book about IP law for creative people and publicity rights have come up a lot. I guarantee you publicity rights are protected in most states and countries where there is an active film industry. It is a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction thing, but there is no point in taking the risk at this point.

. As for using footage that belongs to the the studios, that is irrelevant unless all they're doing is using the footage without transforming it. Using footage and altering it so that it says or does different things would not be permissible. It's not only actionable, but SAG has specific rules forbidding the alteration of footage using its members.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/trialan...cs-hologram-mean-for-other-celebrity-estates/

 

I'd be down for it...however, the budget would have to be astronomical to make it photorealistic...I mean, "Avatar" and its VFX team developed Photorealistic VFX just for the film and the budget for everything for "Avatar" was roughly $600million over years of development. Even then, the costs would defenitely go down, but unless LFL goes to Weta Digital for SW, the budget would go up unless ILM's xLabs and its main guys like John Knoll and Rob Coleman and all have developed something truly special to make it happen. I'd honestly find it pleasantly surprising if it was done right, but just with a voiceactor...maybe even Dee Bradley Baker voicing him...although I've heard of tech being developed for voices of long-dead people to be recreated from our knowledge...

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 30, 2015, Original Post Date: Oct 30, 2015 ---

It's only illegal if they create Peter Cushing...it's a find line they are walking, but they are legally creating their "property" since "Tarkin" is the legal property of Lucasfilm Ltd.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 30, 2015 ---

Yeah, exactly. I doubt they would rip footage from other studios...I'm pretty sure using them as reference points to do a "full body scan" is fully legal, and his estate would also most likely need to sign off on it...Robin Williams's estate blocked the world from doing this, but then again, Peter Cushing is no Robin Williams.

 

I think it could work if there is source material from outtakes of 'A New Hope'.

 

Just slap a little CGI and this could work.

 

Well, It's not that I 'Don't' care, obviously I do or else I wouldn't be here

However, I read that it's going to be the most expensive CGI they have ever done. I like it, because they are keeping true to the look of the characters. However I don't like the idea of a young solo movie. I wish Pratt, didn't do Jurassic World because he would be a perfect young solo honestly.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 7, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 7, 2015 ---

Yes, he's a awesome actor! and he's a Aussie!