Behind the AI Closing

Chot Don has become the first Vietnamese film to use AI to completely change the image of the female lead - a rare precedent in domestic cinema. The audience effect will have to wait until the film is officially released, but the appearance of AI has at least opened a new door, despite many reservations and doubts.

Turn "danger" into "opportunity"

At the press conference to launch the film Chot Don in Ho Chi Minh City recently, director Namcito said that the idea of using AI came from Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh Huong - General Director of Galaxy Studio and Production Director of the film. "At first, Bao Nhan and I (co-director) were quite hesitant because we thought AI would be fake and lack emotion. But when we received test versions from companies, we were really surprised because AI technology has gone further than imagined when it can retain some of the emotions, authenticity and naturalness...", director Namcito shared.

The face of the female lead character in Chot Do was created by AI to replace Thuy Tien

According to Mr. Hang Minh Loi, founder of Lumination, the technology support unit for the film: "This is a pioneering step, opening up new directions in applying AI technology to Vietnamese cinema". To process the replacement of the main character's image in the film, Mr. Hang Minh Loi said that in addition to core technologies such as digital voice, digital human and data processing for large languages, Lumination also developed consistent character technology to ensure the consistency of the character's image across different contexts.

According to Mr. Loi, the biggest difficulty is how to recreate the character's emotions according to the script and the director's sketch. When asked about the additional costs for this post-production stage, Mr. Nguyen The Phong - representative of HKFilm, one of the co-producers of the film, said that this is a confidentiality clause in the contract. However, he revealed that Lumination not only took a special price, but also contributed capital to the film.

According to experts, the film crew of Chot Don using AI to replace the entire image of the role played by Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien is somewhat bold and risky. But it can also be considered the most feasible solution after the film's female lead got into trouble with the law and was boycotted by the audience. Before that, the film had to continuously postpone its release date, even facing the risk of not being able to be shown in theaters. Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh Huong also admitted that the crew had thought about abandoning this project because re-filming scenes with Thuy Tien's appearance was financially impossible.

How to create sustainable resonance?

Cases like Chot Do are not uncommon in world cinema. In 2015, when Paul Walker suddenly passed away while Fast & Furious 7 was being filmed, the crew was forced to rely on CGI (computer-generated imagery technology), combined with 4 stuntmen to recreate Paul's presence. In Casino (2022), Choi Min-sik was "de-aged" to appear at the age of 30, despite being over 60 years old. "If it is necessary to film a past scene of an older actor, using deepfake to make them look younger or remove wrinkles is a common practice," said Korean pop culture critic Jung Duk-hyun.

However, the controversy surrounding the use of AI has not yet come to an end, especially in terms of legal, ethical and artistic issues. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Executive Director of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA, USA), once warned that the biggest concern of artists today is not the AI technology itself, but how it is used. He emphasized that artists must have the right to decide how AI uses their image, voice and portrait and must be compensated appropriately. From another perspective, critic Kim Hern-sik (Korea) believes that although deepfake is a cost-saving solution for independent directors or low-budget productions, it will also lose opportunities for new faces and narrow the creative space in the long run.

With Chot Don, according to critic Tuan Larlame, using AI to edit actors' faces to bring the film to theaters will certainly cause controversy - from questions about legal and ethical issues to doubts about whether AI can convey the character's soul or not... In terms of law, the producer of Chot Don said that instead of just creating a new face, the crew created a completely new character so as not to violate regulations on the protection of personal rights. The film has also been licensed for distribution and labeled T16 (the film is only for audiences aged 16 and over).

The application of AI or new technology is an inevitable and necessary trend. However, the important thing is how to implement it to optimize costs, maintain the quality and original emotions for the audience, and always put the filmmaker's creativity at the center. In any case, technology is only a supporting tool, it cannot replace the role of humans.

VAN TUAN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/dang-sau-cu-chot-don-cua-tri-tue-nhan-tao-post807178.html