User:Pamzeis/De-aging in film and television

In film and television, de-aging is a visual effects technique used to make an actor look younger. Publicized by X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and innovated by Tron: Legacy (2010), the technique has gained widespread usage in the digital age.

History
As a visual effect, de-aging initially came to public attention when it was applied to actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). The technique was heavily refined in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Kathleen Loock said Tron: Legacy (2010) greatly innovated it. De-aging has since developed into a more plausible and widespread visual effect in the digital age. In 2019, many films featured various de-aging techniques, causing people to dub it "a monumental year for de-aging in film".

Process
De-aging is accomplished by employing methods such as "spline warping"—in which designers create anchors around actors' faces, which can subsequently be moved and adjusted—and "body matchmove", in which models are placed on top of actors' faces. With the help of tracking markers, scans, computer-generated imagery (CGI) models, motion capture equipment, and reference material from previous performances, "digital cosmetics" may hide wrinkles and blemishes using patches, blurs, glows, and digital paint.

AI-assisted
De-aging can also be AI-assisted.

Fully digital actors
Archival footage can be used to create fully digital actors by mapping it onto a face and body with motion capture.

Criticism
The film industry's continued enjoyment of being able to recast established actors as their younger selves has given rise to concerns that lesser-known actors who are younger and less experienced are being replaced. Experts also worry that the growth of the artificial actors will eventually endanger all actors' careers.

The dean of York University's School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design—Sarah Bay-Cheng—stated: "the full body shots [are unconvincing], where you saw the way in which the characters moved[.] There were in times a kind of a disconnect between what the faces looked like and that kind of convincing nuance of the face and the shadows."