Motion Capture and Embodied Virtual Performance
The breakout star of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Peter Jackson, 2002) was a slimy, pale figure with sparse, limp hair and a ragged loincloth. This creature, a devolved former hobbit named Gollum, nevertheless charmed audiences with his vibrant and mercurial performance that oscillated between devious scheming and pathetic pleading. What made […]
The Threat of the AI Actor
In advance of the SAG-AFTRA strike in 2023, actors and journalists worried publicly about the potential for AI to replace human performers with computer-generated copies. Virtual versions of actors might be employed by studios in perpetuity, avoiding the very human problems of age, weight gain, and offscreen scandal. Such digital facsimiles could then be brought […]
Book Project on Digital Visual Effects, Race, and Cinematic Performance
In this new book project, I examine how digital visual effects in Hollywood films construct ideas about race. I look at both onscreen depictions and the production process, focusing on films that use performance capture, morphing, and de-aging technologies. I argue that despite digital technologies potentially allowing for colorblind casting and digital character design, instead […]