How They Made Little Simba Look So Lifelike in ‘The Lion King’
Steve K
Posts: 3,234
All you need is " ... a Pride Rock-size army of visual effects artists ... "
Comments
I hate it... it's the Uncanny Valley thing. The results are stunning, but seeing Simba and daddy talking, it's just off-putting. This is not Mr Ed terrirory.
Maybe they want to attract an older audience now, but I would have preferred a 'Frozen' type production. The original is still amazing and can scare a 3 year old with its Scar. This Scar will terrify them.
My granddaughter has just turned 4 and for the last couple of years she absolutely loves animation. In fact she loves the older Disney ones like Robin Hood from the early 70s with Roger Miller, Andy Devine and Peter Ustinov among others.
Look what they have done with Cats. It's just not in sync with the original intent of the production. Theatre is about stimulating the imagination, not substituting it.
We are going to the stage production of Lion King here in the late autumn... and really looking forward to it for both us and our granddaughter.
Just my 2p Silene
some good points made in this video
She's good... and explains it perfectly. I had forgotten about Narnia... their Lion (who like in Jungle Book interacts with humans) was given some evocative facial expressions.
Cheers, Wendy! Silene
Didn't sit through all that. My thoughts in general though: It is NOT live action - there is nothing "live" in that movie. Not even the landscapes (which I greatly admire, btw). It's as cg as (say) Minions, but stylistically photoreal rather than toon. Nothing wrong with that (probably 99% of all CG animation in movies is photoreal) , but talking animals start to look a bit silly, as do "human" emotional cues. Most of what's wrong with that film though is that it brings nothing new. It's almost a shot-by-shot remake of the original, different (but not better) actors, same songs, same dialogue, same scenes. Zzzzz.
Compare that to Jon Favreau's previous remake: The Jungle Book. Here you COULD argue for live action, since Mowgli was a real actor, and they did have foreground scenery, props, stunts etc. Plus, while the animals were photoreal, they didn't keep them behaviourally accurate, which I think worked a lot better. Plus, they went back to the original Kipling, bringing in characters and scenes that weren't in the '67 cel animation, as well as undoing some of the changes that Disney had originally made to the story. Even got the original song writers to come in and write new lyrics!
So, Jungle Book: Brought something new, worth watching. Lion King: stick to the original, or go watch the stage show.
"These people do not exist. Why websites are churning out fake images of people (and cats)"
" ... there are still plenty of details that give away that they are not actual people. For instance, teeth often look a bit strange and like they are in dire need of braces, and accessories such as earrings might appear on just one ear. Frequently, a person will appear to have an otherworldly skin condition or serious facial scars. Clothing can look blurry, have swirls of colors, or just kind of, well, weird."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/28/tech/ai-fake-faces/index.html
I remember Ananova AI back in the late 90s or early 2000s presenting news online. She was obviously fake, but now it IS just weird.
The sad bit is... these tools are being used to create child pornography. The law that I am familiar with says that if it is indistinguishable from a real child, then it is illegal.
Silene
I am currently wearing an earring in only one ear. I think I am real.
But you can never be sure:
QUOTE
“He slotted some ice, connected the construct, and jacked in. It was exactly the sensation of someone reading over his shoulder. He coughed.
"Dix? McCoy? That you man?"
His throat was tight.
"Hey, bro," said a directionless voice.
"It's Case, man. Remember?"
"Miami, joeboy, quick study."
"What's the last thing you remember before I spoke to you, Dix?"
"Nothin'."
"Hang on."
He disconnected the construct. The presence was gone. He reconnected it.
"Dix? Who am I?"
"You got me hung, Jack. Who the **** are you?"
"Ca--your buddy. Partner. What's happening, man?"
"Good question."
"Remember me being here, a second ago?"
"No."
"Know how a ROM personality construct works?"
"Sure, bro, it's a firmware construct."
"So I jack it into the bank I'm using, I can give it sequential real-time memory?"
"Guess so," said the construct.
"Okay, Dix,. You are a ROM construct. Got me?"
"If you say so," said the construct. "Who are you?"
"Case."
"Miami," said the voice, "joeboy, quick study.”
END QUOTE
― William Gibson, Neuromancer