The Line Between Technology and Art

The film crew "Closing the deal!" interacted at the press premiere.

However, less than a month after its release, the film had to leave theaters due to heavy losses.

According to Box Office Vietnam, the film only earned a revenue of about 5 billion VND, a modest figure compared to the scale of the project with a high investment level and had to be processed by AI. The processed version of the film caused controversy in the image of the female lead character played by AI. The virtual character only ensured simple dialogue scenes and failed in segments that required deep acting and interaction.

A representative of the Cinema Department said that the management agency consulted with legal experts to ensure that the film did not violate personal rights, image rights, and complied with the Cinema Law. Licensing the film also created conditions for the project to access the development trends of world cinema, especially in the field of AI. However, "replacing roles" with AI technology is still an unprecedented choice in Vietnamese cinema. The incident raises many profound questions about the boundaries of art and technology and many other issues.

In world cinema, many films have to replace actors due to incidents after filming, but in the context of domestic cinema's limited production budget, reshooting all scenes with the main actors is almost impossible. Using technology is a less expensive option but still has many risks and challenges.

If technology can “replace” a person and convince the public, what value does the actor have? The beauty and goodness of cinema lies in the life that the actor breathes into each line and expression... Although technology can create a perfect simulated face, it is still a soulless product without the actor's emotions. World cinema has used AI to recreate characters and scenes, but only in short segments with clear intentions. Using technology to deal with the consequences of a scandal, although the reason is legitimate, the value of art is still affected.

Having to come up with the idea of using AI to “replace” the role is a reluctant decision, showing the fragility and risk of a common project dominated by personal incidents. One person falls, many people suffer the consequences, and no matter how advanced technology is, it cannot replace personal responsibility and professional ethics. Basically, cinema in particular and art in general cannot abuse technology to “patch” major incidents. The lesson for the profession is to be cautious in the selection and management of artists’ images. Otherwise, similar cases to “Closing the deal” can completely happen. The public sympathizes with the risks, but accepting to buy tickets to the cinema to watch a movie that has been “replaced” is completely different. This is also a warning bell about the future of art in the digital age: the line between creativity and “industrial replication” is fading.

Is using technology the only way for the crew of the film “Closing the deal”? According to film experts, there are still other solutions. If re-shooting the female lead role with a new actress is considered costly, difficult to recreate the original setting, weather, and costumes, then we can consider re-editing the film and reducing the female lead’s role. In addition, there is also the solution of turning the female lead into a… hidden/peripheral character, creating an element of surprise for the audience. However, these options all have the same difficulty if the original script is too dependent on the female lead and the handling is not groundbreaking enough, it will not convince the audience.

Technological solutions need to be applied with caution, avoiding overuse that makes art become soulless products, real emotions are replaced by visual effects. Technology is necessary, but the public also needs trust, purity and responsibility from artists.

MAI LU

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ranh-gioi-giua-cong-nghe-va-nghe-thuat-post905192.html