AI Face Swap Helps Jackie Chan Return to 20, Audiences Unconvinced
In "The Legend," to tell the past and present story of "Professor Chen" played by Jackie Chan, Bona Film Group used AI technology to recreate a 27-year-old Jackie Chan (commonly known as AI face swap technology). The digital Jackie Chan appears in over 70% of the film.
Previously, Jackie Chan stated, "I like how I look now. I often recite a poem to them: Black hair turns white in an instant, who can I tell about the passing of youth; If spring wind has pity for flowers, could it grant me youth again? I can't return to my youth, but films can take me back, which is also good."
During the promotion of "The Legend," director Stanley Tong also mentioned that AI technology is not perfect and is still being researched, hoping for audience understanding.
The overuse of AI face swap technology has led to "The Legend's" box office failure. It's worth noting that "CZ12," filmed by Jackie Chan ten years ago, had higher box office numbers than the current "The Legend."
Actually, de-aging actors' faces for plot reasons is not new. Whether it's Martin Scorsese's labor of love "The Irishman" with its trio of stars, or Ang Lee's "Gemini Man" with Will Smith, both used special effects to process "rejuvenation" frame by frame. This method is time-consuming and costly but results in a relatively natural final product.
But is such "AI face swap" harmful to film quality or audience experience? The answer is likely yes. Even with the best de-aging effects, it's hard to hide Robert De Niro and Al Pacino's aging and fatigue. Ang Lee was criticized for focusing too much energy on unnecessary aspects, leading to a subpar overall film quality, which was completely counterproductive.
AI Jackie Chan appears much more in "The Legend" than Jackie Chan himself, which feels somewhat "deceptive" to fans. Some viewers even question whether this can be considered a Jackie Chan film. Now, we have a question: Has AI face swap really become a necessary "tool" for the film industry? Is it harming the film industry?
Can AI Face Swap Appear in the Film Industry?
Using face swap technology in a film production is almost always a last resort.
For example, in "The Wandering Earth 2," the likeness of the late Ng Man-tat was used to show respect and remembrance. Additionally, when an actor's career is derailed due to personal "incidents," film companies have no choice but to use face swap techniques to replace them.
But these are just remedial methods for desperate times, and have even led to audience backlash due to the sense of incongruity and blurriness caused by face swap technology.
In fact, AI face swap technology emerged earlier than last year's AI large model boom, and is theoretically a relatively mature and cutting-edge technology in the AI field.
Its principle is to combine deep learning models with computer vision models and apply them to facial image generation. It first became widely known in November 2017, when a Reddit user named Deepfakes uploaded a series of AI face swap videos. Since then, the public has started using "Deepfakes" to refer to this type of AI-produced video.
Recently, with the popularity of AI large models, many "bring old photos to life" videos have appeared on short video platforms. Through AI tools, the next actions of people in input images can be simulated, creating a fictional short video. In some videos, the characters' movements look natural and smooth, but in others, character images become distorted and unstable.
However, its appearance can only be for entertainment purposes. Upon careful observation, while some videos show characters moving naturally and smoothly, others display character image distortions and instability.
Moreover, face swapping in film productions involves specific character models and requires high clarity and bit rate. When videos are played in HD, ultra HD, or even on big screens, the enlarged effects seen by the naked eye make unnatural traces particularly noticeable.
From the current technological development perspective, AI face swap is not a new solution pursued by the film industry or a means they want to replace anyone with. Its current value is merely as a barely acceptable last resort.
In Conclusion
In fact, all celebrities have their highs and lows, including Jackie Chan. Previously, "Jackie Chan's hair and beard have turned white" trended on social media, with many netizens lamenting that 70-year-old Jackie Chan suddenly made them realize the passage of time, which also demonstrates Jackie Chan's influence among ordinary people. This time, the use of AI technology in "The Legend" is the focus of audience dissatisfaction because people still prefer to watch real people performing with genuine emotions rather than cold technology.