The CG beauty pass

[levcore]

I really find this distracting, it's been going on for years and even though the tech has gotten better, it just makes actors look like they have some kind of phone filter on them, all smoothed over with no detail. It's especially distracting when the male actor(s) in a scene have lots of detail in their face then it cuts to the female actor(s) and their faces are all smoothed over.

When watching movies from the 2000's i see the infancy of the digital smoothing tech and it really sticks out and looks pretty awful. You'll have shots where somebody has detail in their face but the area under their eyes has essentially been DNR'd (and badly).

Watching Bullet Train recently, when

[Show spoiler]Sandra Bullock

shows up at the end, it's hilarious how much her face has been digitally smoothed over.

Does anybody know if actors have this as part of their contract/ request this or whether studios/ creatives actively push for this digital smoothing on female faces.

I know and appreciate Hollywood has been trying to does this for a long time, with soft, diffuse shots on certain actors but the digital smoothing tech that is used now is hardly any better. As we are all used to photos from smartphones, it just comes across as a distracting filter. This is especially egregious now we have 4K etc. and the detail is being smoothed away on certain faces in modern movies. Anybody else always taken out of a movie by this tech?

[slumcat]

This is extremely common. They routinely use photoshop or the video equivalent of it to correct skin imperfections wrinkles etc. some of it might even be contractual.

It’s for both actors and actresses. I think Tom cruise is fixed up a lot. Just very common.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by slumcat

This is extremely common. They routinely use photoshop or the video equivalent of it to correct skin imperfections wrinkles etc. some of it might even be contractual.

It’s for both actors and actresses. I think Tom cruise is fixed up a lot. Just very common.

I think with Cruise, he tends to prefer his movies to be shot on film and then they are fairly soft looking (not saying they look bad) and not nearly as defined as a lot of other contemporary big budget movies.

It does seem far less common on actors than actresses though. I think Cruise has CG work done on his physique when he takes his top off also. There's a brief bit in The Mummy where he's in the autopsy room that looks very CG'd.

[slumcat]

Originally Posted by levcore

I think with Cruise, he tends to prefer his movies to be shot on film and then they are fairly soft looking (not saying they look bad) and not nearly as defined as a lot of other contemporary big budget movies.

It does seem far less common on actors than actresses though. I think Cruise has CG work done on his physique when he takes his top off also. There's a brief bit in The Mummy where he's in the autopsy room that looks very CG'd.

It’s common on actors too. And fixing the body is also not uncommon.

This was cause absolute devastation for Snyder / DC / Batman fans but during the workout montage in BvS, Affleck’s physique is CGI for the close shots.

[OABJYU]

I prefer my actors 'warts n'all'

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by OABJYU

I prefer my actors 'warts n'all'

Right - just grow old gracefully. You arent fooling anyone. We know how old you are & we also know that you've had more work done than a 1971 Chevy Pickup truck has by now. .

It looks so bad too. I also love the 60 year olds that magically show up with hairlines of a12 year old that start right above their eyebrows. Its like.... uh huh....SURE.....

[-JKR-]

It's much more common on TV, and distractingly so.

[unberechenbar]

I also noticed this in Bullet Train but with Brad Pitt's character. Only in a couple of shots though. It was distracting in Ocean's 8, also with Sandra Bullock.

[Damon1281]

Better this than the freak shows we've been seeing with bad surgery over the years.

[BloodshotUSA]

Originally Posted by levcore

Does anybody know if actors have this as part of their contract/ request this or whether studios/ creatives actively push for this digital smoothing on female faces.

This is pretty standard in contracts for big movie stars at this point. They'll have it put in the movie that "You have to put aside $1m in the CGI budget to remove wrinkles and blemishes off my face" of stars. I remember a filmmaker saying it on a podcast before, I think it was Eli Roth.

The studio's also CGI actors muscles and abs to make them look better. Vin Diesel shows up for F&F filming overweight now and they CGI him into shape. Everything in Hollywood is fake as hell now.

[THF90]

Catherine Zeta-Jones has this filter look on her in Wednesday.

Beyond distracting.

[Markgway]

Can anyone supply some examples of this so I know what I'm looking for?

[unberechenbar]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Can anyone supply some examples of this so I know what I'm looking for?

Look at Sandra Bullock's face in this scene (it has big spoilers for Bullet Train)

[Show spoiler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I_PtchyL9U

[AeroK]

There’s a Progressive Insurance commercial with Jon Hamm that always looks off to me. His face looks way too smooth. I know he’s dapper but come on.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by levcore

I really find this distracting, it's been going on for years and even though the tech has gotten better, it just makes actors look like they have some kind of phone filter on them, all smoothed over with no detail. It's especially distracting when the male actor(s) in a scene have lots of detail in their face then it cuts to the female actor(s) and their faces are all smoothed over.

When watching movies from the 2000's i see the infancy of the digital smoothing tech and it really sticks out and looks pretty awful. You'll have shots where somebody has detail in their face but the area under their eyes has essentially been DNR'd (and badly).

Watching Bullet Train recently, when

[Show spoiler]Sandra Bullock

shows up at the end, it's hilarious how much her face has been digitally smoothed over.

Does anybody know if actors have this as part of their contract/ request this or whether studios/ creatives actively push for this digital smoothing on female faces.

I know and appreciate Hollywood has been trying to does this for a long time, with soft, diffuse shots on certain actors but the digital smoothing tech that is used now is hardly any better. As we are all used to photos from smartphones, it just comes across as a distracting filter. This is especially egregious now we have 4K etc. and the detail is being smoothed away on certain faces in modern movies. Anybody else always taken out of a movie by this tech?

It has gotten a hell of a lot better in terms of the best of the best tech, still obvious (to me) in terms of how it neutralises the natural texture of skin but nowhere near as egregious as it looked back in the day e.g. The Island, but as not everyone can use the best of the best it can still look very shitty on new shows. There are some very spotty faces on the kids in Star Trek Discovery and when they smooth them over, yikes.

I much prefer the old-fashioned way of putting some stockings over the lens though, gives the image an ethereal quality with that dreamy halation on highlights that's just gorgeous. At least that way there's a visual signature to the whole shot, whereas smoothing someone's face in an otherwise normally-shot image makes it seem much more incongruous.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I much prefer the old-fashioned way of putting some stockings over the lens though, gives the image an ethereal quality with that dreamy halation on highlights that's just gorgeous.

In the early days they used to poke eyes holes out with cigarettes! I'm sure this some amusing anecdote about actresses and different brands of stocking, but I can't recall it.

4K TV hasn't done everyone favours, the old saying "a face for radio", could have added, "a standard definition complexion"!

Must be awfully stressful for those in the industry. You start filming and some intern starts sticking CG trackers on your face, "We'll clear this up in post, luv ..." as you're going for your Oscar moment.

[Markgway]

I've heard of CG'ing an actor's face to make them look younger for character (ie. DeNiro in The Irishman) but not for vanity. Where will it all end?

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I've heard of CG'ing an actor's face to make them look younger for character (ie. DeNiro in The Irishman) but not for vanity. Where will it all end?

I'm surprised you haven't noticed it just watching movies in general. It's really distracting and apparent in the HD era.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by levcore

I'm surprised you haven't noticed it just watching movies in general. It's really distracting and apparent in the HD era.

It just never occured to me.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Markgway

It just never occured to me.

It's been a thing for about as long as the DI has existed, so almost 20 years. And you've never noticed it? huh.