Will CGI one day replace actors?

1983

2016

HOW DID WE GO FROM

AND

will graphics like these 

someday

REPLACE

our need for on-screen actors?

These are two video game examples, but this applies to movies as well.

Here's a timeline of how CGI has progressed in movies

Some of the

 earliest instances

of

CGI in movies

were in Aladdin,

Titanic,

Terminator,

and

Jurassic Park.

But these were movies that used CGI AND real-life sets and effects.

1992

1997

1984

1993

In 1995,

PIXAR

Disney and

released their first computer generated animated movie,

Toy Story.

has progressed dramatically over the years.

Their original Lamp animation doesn't hold a candle (or, in this case, a light bulb) to the quality of animation they display today.

Other animation studios similar to PIXAR like DreamWorks and Illumination have taken their place in the spotlight as well with movies like Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets.

HOWEVER,

in 2004, The Polar Express was released, and incorporated a new motion capture technology. The result of which was something that many people found disturbing.

This was most likely because of

THE UNCANNY VALLEY

THE UNCANNY VALLEY

refers to an uneasy feeling people tend to have towards almost-but-not-quite people, like lifelike robots and CGI that's just a bit off.

But the technology didn't improve much, and there wasn't much hope for it...until 

Motion capture technology appeared more in movies after The Polar Express,  like in Monster House, A Christmas Carol, and Happy Feet.

Avatar

was released in 2009.

Lifelike but off CGI

With its groundbreaking realistic animation using the very same method as The Polar Express, Avatar paved the way for more advanced motion capture and CGI in the future. Years were spent working on the effects and details of this film to make the polished product it is today.

Focus back on 

video games

for a moment.

They did, after all, play a

key role

in getting CGI where it is today.

Just take a look at the visual progression here

(follow the arrows)

1972

1987

1985

1981

1979

1979

Beyond Two Souls (shown above) used motion capture technology like The Polar Express did, and was praised by critics for the lifelike movements of the characters. The game was so well received, and many other big game companies followed in its footsteps and used the same technology, like Until Dawn shown below.

2015

1996

2003

2004

2013

(wait for it...)

Today's graphics are getting closer and closer to

photorealism.

The only thing to conquer after top-of-the-line video game and movie graphics is

virtual reality.

2016

2014

2014

2016

Green screens and motion capture technology are common on box-office movie Hollywood sets nowadays. CGI may one day enhance or even replace actors in movies altogether. This could lead to bigger stunts, grander sets, and more adventurous places and plots due to this seemingly limitless technology. But actors will have to perform on sets colored bright green and/or wearing strange leotards covered in dots and cameras, which could lead to more stress for them and loss of the soul in their performance on-screen.

"In order to shoot the dwarves and a large Gandalf, we couldn't be in the same set. All I had for company was 13 photographs of the dwarves...Pretending you're with 13 other people when you're on your own, it stretches your technical ability to the absolute limits." --Ian Mckellen "Gandalf", according to ContactMusic

Computer generated images has come a long way. And as for CGI replacing actors, it's already been done here and there--and without knowing it's CGI, it's pretty hard to notice. In one scene in Captain America: Civil War, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) was actually a CGI copy, and so was Philip Seymour Hoffman who played  Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay pt. 2, if only for a few short CGI inserts.

It’s possible that on-screen actors' becoming obsolete may be in our future, for better or worse.

There is, however, one thing we can expect:

                                                                                                   the graphics will keep getting better and better.

Presentation by Loraine O'Brien

whsadvocateonline.com