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Posts Tagged ‘french’

AI De-Ages Tom Hanks

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2025| 3 Comments »

Photo: Everett Collection.
A de-aged version of actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, created by artificial intelligence for the 2024 film Here.

We are well into the age of AI, and I certainly hope that doesn’t mean we’re going to realize the dire warnings of one of its pioneers but just use it in relatively harmless ways.

Today’s story is about using AI to “de-age” actors in a movie covering 60 years.

Benj Edwards writes at Wired, “Here, a $50 million Robert Zemeckis–directed film [used] real-time generative AI face transformation techniques to portray actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright across a 60-year span, marking one of Hollywood’s first full-length features built around AI-powered visual effects.

“The film adapts a 2014 graphic novel set primarily in a New Jersey living room across multiple time periods. Rather than cast different actors for various ages, the production used AI to modify Hanks’s and Wright’s appearances throughout.

“The de-aging technology comes from Metaphysic, a visual effects company that creates real time face swapping and aging effects. During filming, the crew watched two monitors simultaneously: one showing the actors’ actual appearances and another displaying them at whatever age the scene required.

“Metaphysic developed the facial modification system by training custom machine-learning models on frames of Hanks’ and Wright’s previous films. This included a large dataset of facial movements, skin textures, and appearances under varied lighting conditions and camera angles. …

“Unlike previous aging effects that relied on frame-by-frame manipulation, Metaphysic’s approach generates transformations instantly by analyzing facial landmarks and mapping them to trained age variations. … Traditional visual effects for this level of face modification would reportedly require hundreds of artists and a substantially larger budget closer to standard Marvel movie costs.

“This isn’t the first film that has used AI techniques to de-age actors. ILM’s approach to de-aging Harrison Ford in 2023’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny used a proprietary system called Flux with infrared cameras to capture facial data during filming, then old images of Ford to de-age him in postproduction. By contrast, Metaphysic’s AI models process transformations without additional hardware and show results during filming. …

“Meanwhile, as we saw with the SAG-AFTRA union strike [in 2023], Hollywood studios and unions continue to hotly debate AI’s role in filmmaking. While the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild secured some AI limitations in recent contracts, many industry veterans see the technology as inevitable. …

“Even so, the New York Times says that Metaphysic’s technology has already found use in two other 2024 releases. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga employed it to re-create deceased actor Richard Carter’s character, while Alien: Romulus brought back Ian Holm’s android character from the 1979 original. Both implementations required estate approval under new California legislation governing AI recreations of performers, often called deepfakes. …

“Robert Downey Jr. recently said in an interview that he would instruct his estate to sue anyone attempting to digitally bring him back from the dead for another film appearance. But even with controversies, Hollywood still seems to find a way to make death-defying (and age-defying) visual feats take place onscreen — especially if there is enough money involved.”

What could go wrong?

The first thing I think of is fewer job opportunities for actors who play younger versions of stars. Still, I’d love to see an AI child version of the actress who plays Astrid in the French crime show of the same name, because I think it would look more natural than the mimicking girl they’ve got. (Awesome tv, by the way. Check it out on PBS Passport.)

More at Wired, here. This story originally appeared on Ars Technica.

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Cutting-Edge Kabuki

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on July 25, 2023| 3 Comments »

Photo: AP/Yuri Kageyama via Economic Times.
Ten-year-old Maholo is an emerging star in Japan’s 420 year-old Kabuki theater. And he happens to be French.

Having once been turned down for a New Shoreham committee because I was not a year-round resident, I love hearing about famously hidebound organizations that decide to open up. Today’s story is features Kabuki theater opening up.

Yuri Kageyama writes at the Associated Press (AP), “Ten-year-old Maholo Terajima Ghnassia loves watching anime and playing baseball. … And he’s breaking conventions in Japan’s 420-year-old Kabuki theater tradition.

“In Kabuki, all the roles are played by men, including beautiful princesses — a role Maholo accomplishes stunningly in his official stage debut as Maholo Onoe at the Kabuki Theater in downtown Tokyo. … He starts out disguised as a woman, dancing gracefully, before transforming into sword-wielding warrior Iwami Jutaro. He then makes a quick costume change right there on the stage, all while delivering singsong lines in a clear resonating voice unaided by a microphone.

“Out to avenge his father’s death, striking spectacular poses, Maholo performs swashbuckling fight scenes and slays a furry baboon.

” ‘I like “tachimawari” (fight scenes). It feels good, and people who are watching it think it’s cool,’ said Maholo. …

“Maholo’s grandfather, Kikugoro Onoe, appears as the God of War. He praises Maholo’s character, Iwami, and tells him to keep at his art, promising to always be at his side and help him attain his goals.

“Kabuki is typically passed from father to son, the art form largely limited to Japanese men. But Kikugoro Onoe is Maholo’s maternal grandfather; the young Kabuki performer’s father, Laurent Ghnassia, is French. …

“The huge curtain for the stage, which also works as advertising space, is speckled with fluttering dots of purple and orange, designed by French artist Xavier Veilhan of fashion house Chanel. This was Ghnassia’s idea — as an art director, he designs venues, installations, shops and events to market fashion brands, contemporary art and film ventures. …

“Maholo himself isn’t sure yet if he will stick with the strict, demanding art form and someday adopt his grandfather’s stage name, Kikugoro — a prized name in Kabuki passed down through generations of Onoe men.

“Child Kabuki actors go through a difficult transitional period when their voices change with puberty but they aren’t yet mature enough to take adult roles. Only the truly determined ones pull through that stretch to succeed.

“ ‘Unless he is recognized and in demand, he won’t get any roles. He must have the passion. It’s not easy. It’s up to him,’ said Maholo’s mother, renowned actor Shinobu Terajima. She won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for her poignant performance in the 2010 film Caterpillar.

‘It’s not easy, but choosing the harder path makes life more worthwhile. The more hurdles there are, the climb becomes worth it,’ Terajima said.

“Although Japan has been known for discriminatory attitudes toward foreigners and outsiders, Terajima hopes her son’s French cultural background will give Maholo a unique edge in the world of Kabuki. But he may become a film actor like herself, Terajima said.

“ ‘It must be felt. It’s not just the lines you speak,’ she said. ‘I want him to act by digesting within what’s received from the other, and then return that, changing one’s heart with that received energy. That’s fundamental to acting.’ “

More at AP, here. No firewall.

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Practicing 4 Hours Daily at 107

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on July 12, 2021| 6 Comments »

Photo: UDiscoverMusic.
Colette Maze was born in Paris on 16 June 1914 and has been playing the piano since she was five years old.

I always like stories about people who accomplish something at an advanced age, but for today’s post, I hasten to point out that the accomplished pianist has actually been working on her skills since 1919.

Maddy Shaw Roberts writes at Classic FM, “On 16 June 2021, Colette Maze celebrated her 107th birthday. She is undoubtedly one of the oldest recording pianists in the world. Her playing, which features plenty of her favourite composer Debussy’s melodies, remains extraordinarily agile and sensitive.

“ ‘It’s no more complicated than eating a salad,’ she told Le Parisien.

“At two or three years old, young Colette heard the children of her family’s upstairs neighbours playing the piano. Inspired, she began to pick out the melodies with one finger. Her parents eventually got the hint and found her a piano teacher.

“Colette spent her childhood bathed in music, and at 16 was accepted to study at the prestigious École Normale de Musique in Paris, just before the onset of World War II.

“Her parents were strict, Colette recalls in an interview, and her mother didn’t like children. To young Colette, the piano became a musical comfort blanket of sorts.

“As an adult, Colette continued her love affair with music and worked as a piano teacher for many years. …

‘My fingers are always working,’ says Maze, who practises for four hours a day. ‘They never get tired.’

“The 107-year-old adds that playing piano helps her to stay loose, engage with her mind and emotions and keep moving. ‘Sometimes I play foxtrots and dance at the piano. I used to go dancing a lot,’ she tells Le Parisien. …

“Aged 84, she released her first album. Nearly 20 years later, at 103 years old, she recorded an album of her favourite composer, Debussy. …

“ ‘[Music] is my food, my food for the spirit and for the heart,’ Maze told Reuters after having recorded her sixth album, a three-volume recording of works by Debussy, which she released in April 2021. Last year, she recorded works by another beloved French maestro, Erik Satie.

“Her only son, Fabrice Mace, says his mother has been an inspiration for others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To this day, Maze insists that staying young isn’t a question of age – it’s a question of attitude, and staying passionate and curious. If you can do that, Maze tells DW, ‘Staying young is eternal.’ ”

More here.

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Know Anyone Who Needs a Poem?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 1, 2021| 11 Comments »

Photo: Charles-Foix Hospital.
At “l’Orbe,” a hospital for the elderly in a suburb of Paris, some patients are getting visits from delightful strangers. Remote visits are offered worldwide.

What a great initiative this is! Free and in many languages. Maybe a poetry-loving Farsi-speaker who misses her family would like me to send her one of these poetic “consultations” sometime when she’s not too busy with work. I need to check.

Laura Cappelle reports at the New York Times, ” ‘I am calling you for a poetic consultation,” said a warm voice on the telephone. ‘It all starts with a very simple question: How are you?’

“Since March [2020], almost 15,000 people around the world have received a call like this. These conversations with actors, who offer a one-on-one chat before reading a poem selected for the recipient, started as a lockdown initiative by a prominent Paris playhouse, the Théâtre de la Ville, in order to keep its artists working while stages remained dark.

“It’s free: Anyone can sign up for a time slot, or make a gift of a call to someone. The exchange generally starts with simple questions about the recipient’s life, then ranges in any direction; after 20 to 25 minutes, the actor introduces the poem.

“As coronavirus restrictions in France stretch on, the program has become such a hit that the Théâtre de la Ville now offers consultations in 23 languages, including Farsi, its latest addition. It has also been expanded to encompass different subjects and formats: Since December, the actors have held consultations at a hospital and at emergency shelters run by the city of Paris.

“When Johanna White, the comedian who called me, asked how I was doing, I answered honestly. We may tell white lies to reassure loved ones, but there is no reason to skirt the truth with a kind stranger. White and I shared our pandemic coping strategies and talked about the ways in which theater has adapted in the past year.

“And then White picked my poem: ‘Incantation,’ by the Polish-American poet Czeslaw Milosz. ‘Human reason is beautiful and invincible,’ she began after a pause. …

“When I hung up the phone, I felt a little lighter. White, who has a rich, deep voice, was adept at putting an audience of one at ease, and Milosz’s words held hope.

“ ‘Through the phone it can be intimate, because generally you’re isolated,’ White, a trilingual voice actor, said in an interview the next day.

“She estimates that in the past year, she has talked to between 400 and 500 people, from places including Wisconsin, Los Angeles, Chile and Niger. A man based in Beirut told her about local riots in which he had lost half of a hand; from Mexico, an 85-year-old woman shared her grief about being separated from her 92-year-old lover by pandemic-mandated rules.

“Consultations involve a great deal of improvisation, White said, including choosing a poem for a person you’ve only just met. ‘Each of us has our own method,’ she added. ‘I file them by emotions, by feelings.’

“For the director of the Théâtre de la Ville, Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, the idea of individual consultations with actors didn’t come out of the blue. In 2002, when he was at the helm of the northern French theater La Comédie, in Reims, he initiated in-person sessions at a local bar. …

“Other institutions have taken an interest in the program’s popularity. The Théâtre de la Ville has partnered with a handful of European playhouses [to] expand its roster of actors. Additionally, Demarcy-Mota and his team are in the process of holding phone training sessions with around 100 actors from nine African countries, including Benin and Mali, so theaters there can replicate the program.

“Demarcy-Mota acknowledged that the consultation format didn’t suit all stage actors. ‘Some were scared. You’re no longer performing while someone else watches: Instead, you’re in the position of listening to someone.’ It involves a degree of psychology, White said, but ‘we’re not psychologists.’ …

“The Théâtre de la Ville also brought back in-person consultations this winter in partnership with public institutions. The Charles-Foix hospital in Ivry-sur-Seine, a Paris suburb, was the first to allow performers to come for conversations with staff members and patients. …

“For some residents, especially those with dementia, the performances were adapted: Instead of asking questions, Kontou sang to them directly, in a transparent mask so they could see her mouth. Still, the music inspired interaction. At one point, a 97-year-old woman, Simone Gouffe, almost rose from her wheelchair and started singing, her voice powerful despite her slight frame.” More at the New York Times, here.

Photo: Artisanal Paper
A classic poem that could be read to you by a French actor doing a poetry “consultation.”

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Haul in Sand, a Few Palm Trees, and Voilà!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 24, 2014| 2 Comments »

Even though she lived in Paris for several years, Melita is frequently startled by how kooky and fun the French can be.

Today she told me she just learned that they’ve been making a Riviera-type beach along the Seine for the past 12 summers.

I checked out Wikipedia: “Paris-Plages … is a plan run by the office of the mayor of Paris that creates temporary artificial beaches each summer along the river Seine in the centre of Paris, and, since 2007, along the Bassin de la Villette in the northeast of Paris. Every July and August, roadways on the banks of the Seine are blocked off and host various activities, including sandy beaches and palm trees.” More here.

The mayor’s website notes, “The summer transforms Paris. The cityscape dons greenery and the riverside thoroughfares become car-free resorts. The Paris Plages (Paris Beaches) operation kicks off on or around 20 July and lasts four weeks.  …

“A Seine-side holiday. That, in a nutshell, is what Paris Plages is all about – complete with sandy beaches, deckchairs, ubiquitous ice cream sellers, and concerts for French and foreign guests. …

“The first beach [opened] in 2002. It spans three kilometres through historical Paris, and features open-air attractions (rollerblading, tai-chi, wall climbing, boules etc.). Refreshment areas, play areas and deckchairs are available for your time out unwinding by the river.” More.

Photo: Wikipedia.org. Many amusing pictures here, too.

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French Artist Underground Preserves Heritage

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on February 28, 2012| 5 Comments »

Loved this Wired article about an unusual artist underground in France that preserves antiquities under cover of darkness.

Jon Lackman writes that the Urban eXperiment (UX) “is sort of like an artist’s collective, but far from being avant-garde — confronting audiences by pushing the boundaries of the new — its only audience is itself. More surprising still, its work is often radically conservative, intemperate in its devotion to the old. Through meticulous infiltration, UX members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair, with an ethos of ‘restoring those invisible parts of our patrimony that the government has abandoned or doesn’t have the means to maintain.’ …

“What has made much of this work possible is UX’s mastery, established 30 years ago and refined since, of the city’s network of underground passageways — hundreds of miles of interconnected telecom, electricity, and water tunnels, sewers, catacombs, subways, and centuries-old quarries.” Read more.

I’ve been collecting stories of people doing good by stealth. In fact, if you type the word “stealth” in the search box in the upper right-hand corner, you will find five other stealth stories I have blogged about.

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