The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

198 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 we have seen the rise of virtual actors. These constructs started out doing very simple tasks in cartoon movies, but have evolved into almost being a replacement to humans. Academia has not let this change gone unnoticed. Experts in many fields have written predictions and studies on the benefits and disadvantages to replacing performers in the film industry. Many feel that digital actors will never replace human performers, while others are less certain. Each person has his or her opinion as to whether this is a good thing or not. Movie stars certainly have their concerns as to whether virtual actors will help performers reach new heights or outright remove them from their jobs. Many people have been concerned about unaddressed legal issues surrounding digital actors. One issue is who owns the virtual actor after it is made. Is it the human it is made from or is it the company that created it? This question and many others like it will become more prevalent as computing power increases and the cost of making digital doubles decreases. Bath, Matthew. “Timeline: Virtual Actors.” Digital Arts . 7 Jun. 2004. Digital. 23 Oct. 2014. This site lays out the timeline of virtual actors in an effective manner. It will be used for examples of virtual actors in movies. This is not a scholarly source but most of the information can be confirmed by other sources. Geigel, Joe. Marla Schweppe. “Motion Capture for Real-time Control of Virtual Actors in Live, Distributed, Theatrical Performances.” IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face & Gesture Recognition and Workshops. Santa Barbara: IEEE, 21-25 Mar. 2011. 774-779. Print. The article describes the most common ways human actors are working closely with their virtual counterparts. It will be useful for understanding how humans interact with virtual actors. This is a conference paper that may have the opinions of the presenters, but the authors are both accredited in their field. “George Lucas - Speaks Out About Digital Actors.” Motion Capture Society . 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.