How do you turn a dark actor fairer? Simple. Just give him a skin graft - digitally.
CGI (Computer Graphics Imagery) website CGArena has revealed an intriguing bit of movie magic that could well be the foundation for lightening the skin of celebrities and movie stars. And we're not talking about make-up.
According to IndianArtists, an agency that specializes in CGI technology, Bollywood came knocking in the form of Indian superstar Rajini, for the film 'Sivaji ??? The Boss', supposedly the 'costliest film made in India to date'.
Rajini is also said to be the 2nd highest paind actor in Asia after Jackie Chan.
For the film, director S Shanker wanted to lighten Rajini's complexion to emulate the European skin. Rather than just use make-up, CGI was deployed to achieve the effect.
The artists involved explained: "We did an in-depth study of the European complexion. We found that white skin reflects more light and has less shadow when compared to dark skin and is translucent in some areas."
"Therefore a simple color correction of the hero's skin would not achieve the desired effect."
They enlisted the help of a 'reference girl', a London-based white young lady. The arduous task involved shooting the Caucasian woman in various poses that Rajini would also adopt, from different angles and under varying lighting.
And then the whole process had to be repeated with Rajini.
Thereupon, the sequences were "mapped" onto each other, morphing the white lady's complexion, skin texture and colour onto Rajini's much darker version.
It took 25 CG technicians almost a year just to achieve the 6.5 minutes sequence.
Why go to such painstaking lengths? You might ask.
Well if you have seen the horrendous effect that make-up achieved when used to turn dark skin into light in the comedy 'White Chicks' by the Wayans brothers, you might understand why other alternatives are being considered.
Also, this might only be the tip of the iceberg.
Who knows what this form of technology might morph into in the future? The possibilities are endless.
Spared the long hours of pre-production make-up and having their faces caked in layers of powder, the happiest parties would of course be actors and actresses.
