The vast fields of Hollywood are an ever-changing landscape. As the rules of what makes good content constantly change, so do the ways of making it. From the times of emphasizing practical effects to the unabated use of CGI, movies have come a long way. Remember the time when Furious 7 employed the late Paul Walker’s brother and stitched his face digitally over him to tribute to the actor’s unfortunate demise? Well, that was not a one-off case for Hollywood. Largely unnoticeable, there was a similar instance in 2019’s Gemini Man starring Will Smith.

The Ang Lee movie de-aged Smith to play his younger self in the plot, but it also digitally rendered him in several other scenes where he appeared on-screen. Ironically, even years after the movie’s release, fans were unaware of it until now!

CGI Will Smith starred in several Gemini Man scenes that caught no one’s attention

Gemini Man cast Will Smith in a role in which he was to fight a 23 years younger clone of himself. To play the clone, Junior, Ang Lee, digitally de-aged Smith for obvious reasons. However, in a YouTube interview with Corridor Crew, the VFX in charge of the movie, Guy Williams opened up on other scenes where Will Smith was just CGI. Notably, one of the scenes where Smith’s actual character, Henry Brogan, pulled out a gun after a motorcycle chase, simply had Smith’s face stitched onto a stuntman.

Additionally, Williams admitted that the VFX team had to be perfect masters at their craft. They meticulously pieced together the actor’s many facial details and expressions over to his digital counterpart. Moreover, any slight missteps from the digital effects could “wreck the entire shot,” Williams added.

Similarly, in the catacomb fight scene, both Smith and his clone are digital renditions. Impressively, the team, which took two years to perfect the shots, did such a fabulous job that the scenes were still never doubted to be CGI. Thus, the movie continued to climb up the charts.

However, of late Hollywood has been increasingly rampant and unregulated with its use of CGI. Thus, concerns over overuse and misuse of the technology are real. So much so that it is one of the friction points in the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.

SAG-AFTRA calls for regulation on the use of CGI and AI

The SAG-AFTRA strikes, which have now stretched on for months, have brought a grinding halt to studios and Hollywood productions. The union is demanding better compensation and, among others, regulation of digital technologies such as CGI and AI. Although the union is not against the use of CGI, it seeks regulation and assurance from studios that it will not grow to replace actors for their digital counterparts. Interestingly, borrowing a similar premise from the Netflix show, Black Mirror, the union seeks safeguards against the use of actors’ voices and likenesses without their authorization.

Ironically, over time, with the improvement of technology, CGI has become inconsistent, going from remarkable such as in Gemini Man to uncanny and eerily bad, such as in 2017’s Justice League. Moreover, studios such as Marvel and Disney have been accused of overusing CGI to the point of exhausting VFX workers. Thus, a call to regulate the usage of digital technology could be a call in the right direction.

Were you able to notice the usage of CGI in Gemini Man? What are your thoughts on CGI usage? Let us know in the comments below.