TOS Kirk & Spock Deepfake

[Phaser Two]

Well, there's a principle in law that says you can't rule from the grave. (A lot of movies and TV episodes about "the reading of the will" and how it controls the heirs' lives are exaggerated in this regard.) Once an estate is adjudicated and the heir has ownership of the assets, he can probably do whatever he wants with the actor's image, because no one has "standing" to sue over it. This is even more likely if the heir is also the executor of the estate.

Not quite. "I know something of the law," in the words of Mr. Hengist. In some states (like California), there are "right of publicity" laws that prevent exploitation of a actor's image without permission for 70 years (CA) or some other term, but to add another layer of protection, the testator just has to establish a trust or other instrument in the will, sign over rights to his/her likeness in the will, and then forbid that trust from selling the image for a certain number of years. That's exactly what Robin Williams did, it's perfectly legal, and I expect it to become more common.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Not quite. "I know something of the law," in the words of Mr. Hengist. In some states (like California), there are "right of publicity" laws that prevent exploitation of a actor's image without permission for 70 years (CA) or some other term, but to add another layer of protection, the testator just has to establish a trust or other instrument in the will, sign over rights to his/her likeness in the will, and then forbid that trust from selling the image for a certain number of years. That's exactly what Robin Williams did, it's perfectly legal, and I expect it to become more common.

A trust. You know what I love about that? The actor is creating a legal "artificial person" to stave off being usurped by a CGI artificial person. The pen is mightier than the pixel!

 

[Phaser Two]

A trust. You know what I love about that? The actor is creating a legal "artificial person" to stave off being usurped by a CGI artificial person. The pen is mightier than the pixel!

But if the actor doesn't take this step, having gotten good advice, his image could be selling Axe Body Spray for a decade.

Hadn't thought of it that way! I like it. Yeah, it's probably down to how much the actor trusts his heirs. I could see saying, hey, no offense, but I don't want to sell Axe Body Spray from beyond the grave, and if you don't like it, take it up with my trust. In all seriousness, though, it makes sense. If you can provide for a pet from beyond the grave, or stipulate that your heirs may not demolish a home, or deal with how your money will be spent as part of a trust, there isn't any reason why you can't control your image as well.

 

[Commishsleer]

What about the art of acting?
What about the nuances and little aside looks? What about the depth of expression? To me this is a hyped up version of TOS remastering when they updated the shots getting rid of scratches but also may have lost some of the necessary imperfections that makes the story, acting more real.
I thought the Star Trek Continues series was great but the lead actor isn't Shatner and while he does a great job no amount of Deep Faking is going to reproduce Shatner's unique acting style (like it or not). The actor being faked over would have to exactly mimic the original actors style as much as possible to an extent that there would be none of him/her in the role. How depressing would that be?

This deep fake thing has its uses. Look I want Carrie Fisher to be in the next Star Wars. I'd actually prefer another (real) actress to take her place but in a limited form I think this Deep Fake thing could work.

 

[Pauln6]

Yeah, stock dialogue and CGI images would be no substitute for the real thing and would require a lot more work.

 

[Tenacity]

Look I want Carrie Fisher to be in the next Star Wars.

Rumors, there's cut scenes of Fisher from Last Jedi and they're going to use that with fresh shot scenes with the living actors (cut back and forth) to have Leia in the next movie. But that's just a rumor.

 

[danellis]

Deepfakes, for those not aware is a software that uses large numbers of pictures/frames of people and with considerable processing can super impose those faces over those of other people on video, in this case using Star Trek Continues as a base with TOS era Shatner & Nimoy imposed over the actors.

I'm confused: was this the source video from STC? The "Kirk" and "Spock" characters neither look nor sound remotely like Shatner/Nimoy.

Rumors, there's cut scenes of Fisher from Last Jedi and they're going to use that with fresh shot scenes with the living actors (cut back and forth) to have Leia in the next movie. But that's just a rumor.

They must have some *serious* plans for Leia, though, given the loops they put themselves through to NOT kill her off in TLJ...

Regarding the image rights issues that people have been discussing in this thread, I agree that it something that needs to be considered (and covered in some way for "currently diseased" individuals, as well as the "future diseased"), the more significant issue for me is "real life" political figures: there was a furore a month or so ago about President Trump having a one-on-one meeting with President Putin with Deepfake (or its more accurate successor) a video could potentially be released of Trump spilling state secrets to Putin (or the other way round).

dJE

 

[Pauln6]

I'm confused: was this the source video from STC? The "Kirk" and "Spock" characters neither look nor sound remotely like Shatner/Nimoy.



They must have some *serious* plans for Leia, though, given the loops they put themselves through to NOT kill her off in TLJ...

Regarding the image rights issues that people have been discussing in this thread, I agree that it something that needs to be considered (and covered in some way for "currently diseased" individuals, as well as the "future diseased"), the more significant issue for me is "real life" political figures: there was a furore a month or so ago about President Trump having a one-on-one meeting with President Putin with Deepfake (or its more accurate successor) a video could potentially be released of Trump spilling state secrets to Putin (or the other way round).

dJE

You mean deceased! Damn auto spell strikes again!

Personally I'd love to see Donald Trump replacing Colonel Green or maybe Genghis Khan in the Savage Curtain just for the banter! Could be funnier if Hillary replaced Zhora too.

 

[danellis]

You mean deceased! Damn auto spell strikes again!
.

I did indeed!

dJE

 

[DeepHomage]

I'm confused: was this the source video from STC? The "Kirk" and "Spock" characters neither look nor sound remotely like Shatner/Nimoy.

It's a scene from STC Season 1, Episode 10, "To Boldly Go: Part 1." Deep-faking only mimics the facial features, not the bodies or the original voices.

 

[DeepHomage]

Personally I'd love to see Donald Trump replacing Colonel Green or maybe Genghis Khan in the Savage Curtain just for the banter! Could be funnier if Hillary replaced Zhora too.

It's an idea, but deepfake technology hasn't reached the point where any face can plausibly replace another. Trump's face and Col. Green's face are too dissimilar. Maybe Trump deepfaked as W.C. Fields or Doctor Zaius. There are a couple of Trump parody deepfakes floating around in cyberspace.

 

[Poltargyst]

What about the art of acting?
What about the nuances and little aside looks? What about the depth of expression? To me this is a hyped up version of TOS remastering when they updated the shots getting rid of scratches but also may have lost some of the necessary imperfections that makes the story, acting more real.
I thought the Star Trek Continues series was great but the lead actor isn't Shatner and while he does a great job no amount of Deep Faking is going to reproduce Shatner's unique acting style (like it or not). The actor being faked over would have to exactly mimic the original actors style as much as possible to an extent that there would be none of him/her in the role. How depressing would that be?

This crossed my mind. How much would it suck to be hired to an acting gig but be told "we don't want to hire you for you, we want you to look like someone else entirely."

 

[Pauln6]

This crossed my mind. How much would it suck to be hired to an acting gig but be told "we don't want to hire you for you, we want you to look like someone else entirely."

I believe this is why Daniel Cudmore passed on playing Colossus in Deadpool. They just wanted to use his face with the CGI body and Russian voice over. Nice of them to ask though!

 

[jaime]

The impact of deep fake technology will be sad and creepy, turning dead actors into sock puppets. It's an affront to their dignity, in my view. Greedy heirs will license their images. You'll see a favorite old actor pop up on TV and think it's found footage, and for a moment you'll be delighted. Then the actor will suddenly be hawking some new product or crap like that, and you'll realize you're looking at a zombie bot.

But much worse impacts will be lurking if the software becomes both good and accessible. World leaders and other prominent persons will be the subjects of fake videos intended to destroy their reputations.

At the same time, real video of war crimes or other criminal behavior will be laughed off as fake by the perpetrators.

This shiny new toy is going to do a lot more harm than good.

This was done with permission of the estate long before deepfakes.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

It does some good.
But I agree with you.

 

[Kor]

The impact of deep fake technology will be sad and creepy, turning dead actors into sock puppets. It's an affront to their dignity, in my view. Greedy heirs will license their images. You'll see a favorite old actor pop up on TV and think it's found footage, and for a moment you'll be delighted. Then the actor will suddenly be hawking some new product or crap like that, and you'll realize you're looking at a zombie bot.

But much worse impacts will be lurking if the software becomes both good and accessible. World leaders and other prominent persons will be the subjects of fake videos intended to destroy their reputations.

At the same time, real video of war crimes or other criminal behavior will be laughed off as fake by the perpetrators.

This shiny new toy is going to do a lot more harm than good.

Online news sources indicate that this tech has already been put to use for various unsavory purposes.

Kor

 

[DeepHomage]

No interest here in the science of machine learning? I can't speak to the unsavory uses of deepfakes or whether AI will replace live actors in the distant future. The clip is only a demonstration of the current state of deep learning technology, not a proclamation of doom.

 

[Pauln6]

It could open up a new industry for body doubles who look like artists and voice actors who sound like them. Shades of that with Tarkin already I guess.

 

[1001001]

Online news sources indicate that this tech has already been put to use for various unsavory purposes.

Kor

Absolutely.

Actresses are having their faces superimposed into porn.

Never underestimate our ability to adapt new technology to sex and profit.

 

[BK613]

What is old is new again.

 

[Pauln6]

Do you think it would be disrespectful to Grace's memory to edit her into season 3 episodes? ;-p