Lucasfilm Hires Star Wars Fan Behind Luke Face Fix
The creators of Star Wars at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and Lucasfilm aren't shy about the fact that they employ fans of their most popular creations. After so many decades of creating Star Wars, it was inevitable that Lucasfilm would eventually be working with professionals that grew up watching Star Wars as a kid. This week, we have a friendly reminder that the dream is real: A creative film and special effects individual that went by the name "Shamook" was hired by Lucasfilm after he created his own take on a scene from The Mandalorian.
In the final (pre-credits) scene in The Mandalorian Season 2, we see a digitally-retargeted Mark Hammill performance, de-aged and fixed to look like Luke Skywalker just a short period after the events of Return of the Jedi. The result was fantastic, amazing, mind-blowing, and all that good stuff. But it wasn't perfect.
Shamook saw what they did with this scene and took it upon himself to digitally edit the scene to make it just a BIT better. Below you'll see that edited scene.
This update to the scene makes Luke Skywalker look just a bit more like his Return of the Jedi self. It pushes the performance over the edge – to a place where it feels natural enough that it's apparent that it caught the eye of someone at Industrial Light and Magic. It's become clear here and now that Shamook was hired by Lucasfilm after the release of that video.
In comments on a different video on his YouTube Channel for Deepfakes, Shamook revealed that he'd joined ILM/Lucasfilm "a few months ago" (a few months before he revealed the hiring in a commend made in early July, 2021). He added, "now I've settled into my job, uploads should start increasing again." He also revealed that his role with ILM is "Senior Facial Capture Artist."
It's quite likely that future Star Wars projects won't shy away from using tech like this again, in the very near future. Imagine what we'll see in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show on Disney+, or The Book of Boba Fett, or the Lando show – the possibilities are endless!