The art of being spotted on the Internet.
Shamook, a YouTuber famous for his videos using digital special effects called "deepfake", was hired by production company Lucasfilm after wowing bosses with his work on
Star Wars
.
It owes its digital fame to the use of cutting-edge technology to virtually reproduce the faces of celebrities on the bodies of other actors.
This deepfake ace has notably stuck the face of Robert Pattinson on the body of Christian Bale in
Batman
, or that of a young Mel Gibson on Tom Hardy in
Mad Max: Fury Road
.
But it was his work on a scene in the second season of
The Mandalorian
that seems to have convinced Disney-owned Lucasfilm.
A scene better than the original?
The spin-off television series from the
Star Wars
universe
, which takes place five years after the
1983
film
Return of the Jedi
, concludes with the surprise appearance of Mark Hamill, rejuvenated to once again play a young Luke Skywalker.
Shamook had produced an amateur version of this scene, judged by many Internet users to be even better than the original broadcast on Disney +.
Lucasfilm's special effects company "Industrial Light and Magic" (ILM) is "always on the lookout for talented artists and has indeed hired the artist who calls himself Shamook on the Internet," a spokesperson said. in a press release sent to AFP.
“Over the past few years, ILM has invested in machine learning and artificial intelligence as a means of producing compelling special effects, and it's amazing to see the momentum build as the technology advances.
Shamook himself announced the news to his 90,000 subscribers on social networks.
Dozens of series and several films in preparation
Disney is working on a dozen new series inspired by
Star Wars
, encouraged by the success of
The Mandalorian
which, in addition to collecting 24 Emmy nominations, introduced the world to the adorable baby Yoda, new darling of the fans.
Several
Star Wars
films
are also in the works, including
Rogue Squadron
which will be directed by Patty Jenkins (
Wonder Woman
), and another written by Taika Waititi, director of
Jojo Rabbit
.
Although similar technology is increasingly popular in Hollywood, deepfake is also associated with the dissemination of false information on the Internet.
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