MovieReshape is a post-production system being developed in Germany that seems to use adjustable 3D models as a basis for deforming a 2D moving image allowing for the readjustment of body shape in post.
Diminished reality, as opposed to augmented reality, refers to effects that remove objects from the view in real-time video. This video demonstrates such an effect, which also happens to have been developed in Germany, by Jan Herling and Wolfgang Broll of the Ilmenau University of Technology's Department of Virtual Worlds / Digital Games (link in German).
While there's nothing new about computer generated visual effects, looking at these two techniques makes me wonder what amount of unreality we will be willing to expect and accept in future media. I imagine that most people already assume, and rightly so, that every commercial image they see is retouched in some way beyond mere adjustments to color, contrast, and brightness.
Am I just going to assume in ten years that all the bodies I see in big budget movies have been reshaped? Will I expect most videos I watch to have been doctored so that elements have been removed?
I was pretty surprised seeing the anti-aging effects in X-Men: The Last Stand. Check out these images from fxguide.com showing a before and after shot of how they made Patrick Stewart look 25 years younger in post-production:
If you've seen the movie, the effect is very convincing. But this is an extreme example. I wonder where this effect has been used more discreetly to hide age?
Lastly, as someone who shoots video, I wonder when this sort of manipulation becomes a standard part of my workflow. I already retouch headshots and commercial images. If anti-aging, body reshaping, and diminished reality techniques ever become easily accessible in your standard off the shelf editing software, how will that effect how I work? What will be expected from me as a professional image maker?
How unreal will my images need to be?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment