The Mandalorian season 2 finale was an occasion which offered countless highlights, though none came close to the closing minutes when Luke Skywalker made a surprise appearance, showcasing what the oft-mythologised Jedi Master was physically capable of at his peak. It was to the point where none of us minded the story had creeped into deux ex machina territory. The only detail which detracted from witnessing a de-aged Mark Hamill cut through a squadron of droids to rescue the titular bounty hunter / Din Djarin, Grogu / Baby Yoda, and co.? A touch of rather sub-par CGI. Thankfully, VFX YouTuber Shamook came in clutch with an assist after the fact.
Leveraging the power of deepfake technology, Shamook improved the existing footage over the course of just four days, gaining the attention of millions for their efforts โ including the crew over at Lucasfilmโs visual effects arms, Industrial Light & Magic. But instead of getting salty about being upstaged at their own game and slapping a red-hot legal notice, ILM decided to reach out and hire Shamook as their new Senior Facial Capture Artist.
RELATED: โThe Mandalorianโ Season 4 Has Already Been Written
RELATED: Anthony Bourdain Documentary Controversially Resurrects Late Chef Using Deepfake Technology
โIndustrial Light & Magic is always on the lookout for talented artists and have in fact hired the artist that goes by the online persona โShamook,โโ reveals a Lucasfilm representative via statement.
โOver the past several years, ILM has been investing in both machine learning and AI as a means to produce compelling visual effects work, and itโs been terrific to see momentum building in this space as the technology advances.โ
โAs some of you may already know, I joined ILM / Lucasfilm a few months ago and havenโt had the time to work on any new YouTube content,โ Shamook himself wrote in a comment earlier this month.
โNow Iโve settled into my job, uploads should start increasing again. Theyโll still be slow, but hopefully not months apart. Enjoy!โ
Now thatโs a resultโฆ someone give Martin Scorsese this guyโs number.
Check out Shamookโs audition tape featuring an improved Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian below โ and be sure to check out some of the VFX artistโs other works here.
