“Curse of Frankenstein” star Peter Cushing is the latest famous face to be posthumously brought back to life with the help of artificial intelligence. The movie icon will appear in a “special tribute” as part of the Sky Arts documentary “Hammer: Heroes, Legends and Monsters,” airing this Halloween.
The documentary, produced by Deep Fusion Films, explores the history and legacy of Hammer Films, which created an icon of Cushing and co-star Christopher Lee in horror films such as ‘Curse of Frankenstein’, ‘The Mummy’ and ‘Horror of Dracula. ”
The documentary concludes with a “powerful and moving revelation of Hammer royalty,” according to a press release shared with Declutterwith an AI rendition of Cushing.
“I don’t think it’s deepfaking in that traditional sense,” says producer/director Ben Field of the documentary. Declutter.
He explained that the AI rendition used audio clips from Cushing’s performance in “Curse of Frankenstein,” along with photos of the actor, to produce a sequence “powered by a human performance.”
He added that the documentary makers had sought permission from Cushing’s estate for the AI appearance. “We don’t have a disclaimer saying this isn’t real,” he added, “but if you watch the documentary in context, you know very clearly that what’s being presented is not Peter Cushing.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time Cushing’s likeness has been revived on screen. In the 2016 Star Wars film Rogue One, the actor character Grand Moff Tarkin was brought back to life, although no artificial intelligence was used on that occasion. Instead, a ‘lifecast’ was made of Cushing for the film ‘Top Secret!’ was scanned and superimposed on actor Guy Henry’s performance.
“I give you life again”
Cushing isn’t the only famous face that Deep Fusion has brought back with the help of AI. Last year, the company produced “A Life Uncharted,” which featured a deepfake recreation of “Thunderbirds” creator Gerry Anderson, set to original archival audio recordings of his voice.
Earlier this week, the company announced the launch of a new podcast series, ‘Virtually Parkinson’, featuring an AI replica of British broadcasting icon Sir Michael Parkinson. The “Parkinson” AI uses more than 2,000 hours of archival interviews from the broadcaster, allowing guests to talk in an “authentic way,” according to the show’s creators.
Field, who has contributed to “the majority of UK policy on how AI can be legally and responsibly integrated into TV and film”, said the podcast does not attempt to hide the use of AI.
“At no point are we saying this is Michael Parkinson,” he said. “Its primary purpose was to explore the relationship between AI and humans: what is it like to be interviewed by an AI? Do you give away more? Are you giving away less? How do you respond? How does the AI change the role of the interviewer?”
Parkinson, he said, is “the perfect foil to what we think about AI, which is cold and quite heartless,” with a voice that “automatically puts people at ease.”
But, he added, the AI “Parkinson” has limitations. Where a human interviewer would “ask questions,” the AI “simply examines what the individual says; he listens carefully and then asks questions based on your answers.” The interactions, he said, “almost become a kind of therapy,” similar to the very first chatbot, Eliza.
Deep Fusion’s AI recreations of Parkinson, Anderson and Cushing were done with the involvement of their respective estates, Field said Declutter. “I don’t think this is new territory,” he said, pointing to the “commercial exploitation” of late stars like Elvis Presley through their estates.
“This idea that you can’t do it, or that it shouldn’t be done, I think is creatively limiting,” he added. “I don’t really see anyone outside the immediate family of those you work with being in a position to say whether you can do something or not.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
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