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A Polish filmmaker is soon set to premiere his English-language movie, which includes the Russian president’s face imposed onto an actor using AI.
The movie, called Putin, will debut on January 10 and is Patryk Vega’s first English-language film and was said to have cost $15 million to produce.
Artificial intelligence is used throughout the film to create an image of the president.
To achieve this, a Polish actor named Sławomir Sobala spent two years trying to learn Putin’s mannerisms and body language. The technology was then used to superimpose the politician’s face onto Sobala’s.
‘Putin’ film is a hybrid human and AI mashup
In a conversation with The Telegraph, the director Vega explained how the Polish actor studied “Putin’s body language, his gait, and his way of entering a room.”
He shared why he took this approach of asking the actor to do this: “They see him every day in the media. Even the best actor with great make-up wouldn’t convincingly portray a figure everyone in the world knows so well.
“Inviting Putin to the studio for 20,000 shots wasn’t an option, and achieving the highest resolution detail is impossible without having a physical human model to photograph in a studio.
“Without this real-world reference, AI simply cannot replicate the level of precision we’ve accomplished.”
This human and AI approach represents how the media world is changing, with other companies worldwide introducing artificial intelligence into adverts and marketing materials.
Major brands are adopting it, including Coca Cola whose latest holiday commercials were created in collaboration with a number of AI agencies.
The use of AI became a key issue within the actors’ and writers’ strikes of 2023 which caused mass filming delays for many series and movies. It resulted in a 118-day shutdown which was the longest in the union’s history.
As a result of the strike which was organized by SAG-AFTRA, the TV and film actors won $1bn in new pay and benefits, with safeguards put in place on the use of AI.
Other Hollywood performers went on strike too, including those in the video game industry.
Featured Image: Via The Telegraph article
