When I am the increasingly demented ruler of Earth

[james_davis_nicoll]

There will be terrible consequences for filmmakers who cannot justify their poorly lit films. Terrible consequences.

Once they are dealt with, all the gratuitous jerky-cam users can also expect a midnight visit from the James Got a Headache Trying to Watch Your Damn Film Police.

Something I realized watching Snow White and the Huntman: today, CGI means movies don't have to hire Little People any more, as regular actors can just be morphed through special effects. I wonder how long it will take for CGI to be used to eliminate other groups from casting calls?

Comments

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it's likely to be used the other way. We've seen how women's magazines use photomanips to massage real women towards their ideals of beauty, and we've seen books and adaptations where non-Caucasian characters got whitewashed; is there a reason that wouldn't happen to actors once the technology makes it easy?

[thesaucernews.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it already does happen to some degree. But the only limiting factor would be the cost/benefit analysis of doing that versus just hiring a more bankable actor.

I can imagine some time in the future when an actor's digital model keeps pulling in money while the genuine article's own career starts to go downhill.

Also an interesting (for certain values of interesting) development would be hiring caucasian actors and digitally switching their race around rather than hiring POC. Esentially the million-dollar version of blackface. Some studio's bound to try that in some subtle way and it's bound to fail horribly.

[(Anonymous)]

"An interesting (for certain values of interesting) development would be hiring caucasian actors and digitally switching their race around rather than hiring POC."

The film of "Cloud Atlas" will interest you greatly then. In a sort of Peter Sellers/Alec Guinness-type gimmick many of the actors play 3 or 4 roles in the film's various story strands so that Tom Hanks has a part that looks like it could be blackface, Susan Sarandon plays an Indian man, numerous actors is in yellowface, and Halle Berry is in whiteface.

- matthew davis