Abstract: Great deceased actors and actresses occupy a special place in the hearts of fans the world over. What if, through the combined use of advanced CGI, vocal modeling, and video motion capture, we could build virtual models of our favorite actors, allowing their simulacra to act again in photorealistic and vocally identical quality? We propose a comprehensive motion capture, actor-rendering, and emulation software solution. As proof of concept of this system we will seek to model Charlie Chaplin using video motion capture to build a model of his mannerisms and facial expressions. We will also be utilizing a separate piece of software to build a phonic model of Charlie. Finally rendering him in the final speech scene from The Great Dictator. In the future we posit a time when great actors can be distilled into discrete quantified data units to be licensed and employed not just for major studio projects, but also for viewer-designated film “remixes” wherein the viewer gets to select which actors they want to see in which role.

Download paper: https://goo.gl/hWk8CU