Computer technology brings Paul Walker to life
Surprising to no one, the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Furious 7, shattered box office records by bringing in over $392 million worldwide in its opening weekend. The franchise is known for raking in the cash, but it is not usually regarded for its quality. Until Furious 7, that is, which has people talking for its handling of the death of star Paul Walker, who was killed in a car crash while on a break from filming Furious 7 in November 2013.
Almost a year and a half later, fans were curious to see how the blockbuster would approach Walker’s role, and they were not disappointed. Walker’s likeness was re-created using CGI and his brother, Scott Walker, served as a stand-in as well.
While the technology used in Furious 7 is certainly significant in the context of bringing a beloved star to a beloved series, it is not without precedent. The same CGI techniques were used to create a Brad Pitt that aged backwards in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and when legendary actor Oliver Reed passed away during the filming of Gladiator, his face was superimposed onto a body double and animated using CGI. Even Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, and Louis Armstrong were digitally recreated for a Diet Coke commercial back in 1992.
Critics and fans of the Furious films are generally in agreement that Walker’s recreation was done tastefully and respectfully, but the film industry is facing more significant issues regarding posthumous use of actors’ likenesses. Studios have begun to take digital scans, like those used to produce Walker’s and Reed’s images, before filming even begins for safety and archival purposes. This of course raises issues regarding the privacy of actors and the potential exploitation of their likeness, posthumously or in life. Some actors, such as Robin Williams, took precautions to avoid such issues by restricting the use of his likeness until 25 years after his death. So while it is possible for actors to leave behind a body of work that will continue to be used after their death, it is a complex legal and ethical issue that Hollywood is still struggling to address.
Similar questions were raised after the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman last February during the shooting of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Director Francis Lawrence adamantly chose not to digitally insert Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee for the remaining scenes of Part 1 and Part 2, instead rewriting scenes to give his dialogue to other characters. With a budget like that of The Hunger Games, it certainly would have been feasible to make use of the expensive digital process to create Hoffman’s performance, but Lawrence made the artistic and moralistic choice to go another route.
Even so, for franchises like Fast and Furious it would not be surprising for this kind of technology to become common not just for actors who have passed away, but for any situation in which actors cannot be physically present. Big-budget films that can afford this digital manipulation often work on fast-paced schedules and with actors who are busy themselves, so there is little time for reshoots if something changes or goes wrong. Imagine how easy it would be to simply create a digital version of the actor for one or two scenes when they cannot be called back to set— and how much money the studio would save.
That is not to say that actors will become obsolete; quite the contrary, the process could allow for actors to take on projects without fear of scheduling conflicts or, as in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, to accept roles for which they may not be physically an exact match—if that is even possible—but are otherwise well-suited. Take The Social Network for example: the Winklevoss twins were portrayed by Armie Hammer and a body double with Hammer’s face added in digitally in post-production. There are only so many twins in Hollywood, but there are plenty of talented actors and actresses who would happily see two of themselves on the big screen.
Walker’s treatment in Furious 7 is only the beginning of this new kind of filmmaking and it was just what the public needed to be introduced to such cutting-edge technology. CGI characters that look like real people can be frightening, but by using it to revive a well-loved actor in an iconic role for one last ride, audiences were able to warm to the idea more genuinely and personally. After all, movies are about portraying the human experience, even if their methods sometimes seem to transcend humanity.
