James Earl Jones Signs Off on Using Recordings to Recreate Darth Vader's Voice with AI 49
James Earl Jones is stepping away from the role of Darth Vader after nearly 40 years. According to Vanity Fair, he has signed off on using archival voice recordings to recreate the iconic voice with artificial intelligence. From a report: "He had mentioned he was looking into winding down this particular character," Matthew Wood, a Lucasfilm veteran of 32 years, told the outlet. "So how do we move forward?" The company has enlisted the assistance of Respeecher, a Ukrainian startup that uses AI technology to craft new conversations from revitalized old voice recordings. Respeecher's relationship with Lucasfilm began with the Disney+ series "The Book of Boba Fett," for which they recreated the voice of young Luke Skywalker. The two also teamed for the voice performance of Darth Vader on the series "Obi-Wan Kenobi," which debuted on Disney's streamer this summer.
Bogdan Belyaev, the 29-year-old speech artist, was tasked with delivering the new recordings to Lucasfilm, but tragedy struck on Feb. 24 when Russia invaded the country. As air raid sirens powered through the city of Lviv, Belyaev hurried to finish the project and send his work back to Skywalker Sound in Northern California. "If everything went bad, we would never make these conversions delivered to Skywalker Sound," he says. Following the debut of "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Jones' family informed Wood that they were pleased with the result of the synthesis between the actor's voice and Respeecher's technical work. Jones is credited for "guiding the performance" of Darth Vader in the Disney+ series, with Wood describing the actor as a "benevolent godfather."
Bogdan Belyaev, the 29-year-old speech artist, was tasked with delivering the new recordings to Lucasfilm, but tragedy struck on Feb. 24 when Russia invaded the country. As air raid sirens powered through the city of Lviv, Belyaev hurried to finish the project and send his work back to Skywalker Sound in Northern California. "If everything went bad, we would never make these conversions delivered to Skywalker Sound," he says. Following the debut of "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Jones' family informed Wood that they were pleased with the result of the synthesis between the actor's voice and Respeecher's technical work. Jones is credited for "guiding the performance" of Darth Vader in the Disney+ series, with Wood describing the actor as a "benevolent godfather."
Jone's Family? (Score:3)
Jones' family informed Wood that they were pleased with the result of the synthesis between the actor's voice and Respeecher's technical work.
Why was the family involved in the decision? He's still alive as far as I can tell...
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Jones' family informed Wood that they were pleased with the result of the synthesis between the actor's voice and Respeecher's technical work.
Why was the family involved in the decision? He's still alive as far as I can tell...
He's 91. He may not be able to hear as well as a few decades ago, maybe he's not quite as cognisant as he once was. Something like this, his voice which is known around the world, needs to be put past as many others so they are sure the quality is as it should be.
Or do you make big decisions without consulting with your wife/husband/whatever?
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Jones' family informed Wood that they were pleased with the result of the synthesis between the actor's voice and Respeecher's technical work.
Why was the family involved in the decision? He's still alive as far as I can tell...
He's 91. He may not be able to hear as well as a few decades ago, maybe he's not quite as cognisant as he once was. Something like this, his voice which is known around the world, needs to be put past as many others so they are sure the quality is as it should be.
Or do you make big decisions without consulting with your wife/husband/whatever?
Does this apply to presidents of the United States?
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Does this apply to presidents of the United States?
Yes. They consult with their "family" of advisors and outside experts. You think Bush just up and said, "Go invade Iraq."? No. He consulted with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the NSA, and a whole host of others. When Obama said, "Go kill Bin Laden," do you think he thought that up over breakfast? As above, he consulted with a whole host of people before making the final go decision.
This isn't a difficult concept to understand.
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As above, he consulted with a whole host of people before making the final go decision.
And Nancy Reagan didn't make any decisions on her husband's behalf without consulting a whole raft of astrologers.
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This isn't a difficult concept to understand.
Thanks for the history lesson. Now perhaps you can explain the actions of the current President who has had to have his words walked back a number of times when warning/threatening nuclear-armed countries.
The 25th Amendment isn't a difficult concept to understand either. Sadly everyone is afraid to use it because the runner-up, is not a viable option.
Re:Jone's Family? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why was the family involved in the decision? He's still alive as far as I can tell...
Well if I was going to sell my voice to be used for long after my death I would personally want my family to give their blessing just to prevent future trauma because now they have time to accept this before his actual death rathern than being shocked by it afterwards.
And FWIW it also insulates against future lawsuits brought by some descendant who might try to claim an elderly James Earl Jones was bamboozled into it.
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Very good points.
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Shame one of them didn't object. Star Wars would do well to retire Darth Vader and give us something new. Andor is off to a decent start without a Storm Trooper or laser sword in sight.
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That statement doesn't have to imply that James Earl Jones is dead just that the family thought the results accurately mimicked Jame Earl Jones voice. It also doesn't imply that the family was involved with the decision to ok the use of James Earl's voice although I wouldn't all the surprised if they were.
Sure you usually hear statements like that after someone has died but it doesn't have to only be used in those situations.
And that is just voice... (Score:2)
The technology to do good digital actor replacements is already solidly here - just just in voice, but also video.
With the recent Boba Fest series we got another look at a digital Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, and unlike the end of the Mandalorian which looked a bit stiff or off, the updated newer version of Luke had a fair amount of screen time and looked and sounded really, really good.
If they can do a Luke that well, I'm not sure there's any actor that they could not replicate today.
It's great that Jone
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It's going to be really interesting over the coming years to see how many actor identifies are essentially stolen and misused without consent.
You'll never see Paul Newman in any commercial or movie or anything else. He specifically put in his will his likeness can never be used ever by any technology known now (at the time of his death) or in the future anywhere in the universe [abajournal.com].
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That doesn't really mean anything. A few years from now when anyone can generate deepfakes on a desktop. Crocodile Dundee will appear in whatever people want him to appear in, with or without the consent of Newman's estate.
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That doesn't really mean anything. A few years from now when anyone can generate deepfakes on a desktop. Crocodile Dundee will appear in whatever people want him to appear in, with or without the consent of Newman's estate.
Paul Hogan was Crocodile Dundee. Paul Newman was Cool Hand Luke.
But who will care... (Score:1)
You'll never see Paul Newman in any commercial or movie or anything else.
I can pretty much guarantee you will, because his face and voice are so iconic.
What about a movie in another country, out of reach of U.S. law?
What about a small indie film that makes a "90% Newman" in hopes of avoiding legal issues, how close is close enough the estate can go after them? I am pretty sure we'll find out at some point.
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You see his face all the time in food commercials, on the product packaging.
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You see his face all the time in food commercials, on the product packaging.
His will specifically excluded use for his own food prodcuts. What he meant by the original comment is you'll never see him appear in any movies after his death, no commercials, no ads, by any technological means to "resurrect" him.
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It's great that Jones gave permission for this, but with the technology working so well It's going to be really interesting over the coming years to see how many actor identifies are essentially stolen and misused without consent.
You'll know when the flurry of Amanda Seyfried fake porn starts.
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You'll know when the flurry of Amanda Seyfried fake porn starts.
I have to say this is where I do see the most likelihood of non-permitted use of digital actors.
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"...but with the technology working so well It's going to be really interesting over the coming years to see how many actor identifies are essentially stolen and misused without consent.
Although this won't stop regular people from stealing actors identities for their own projects, the studios themselves aren't allowed, unless they want to be sued again. Crispin Glover sued Universal for using his likeness in Back To The Future 2, and now studios have to pay the actor, if the actor even allows it. Per the IMDB Trivia for the movie:
"...The Screen Actors Guild subsequently introduced new rules about illicit use of actors. "
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0... [imdb.com]
Re: And that is just voice... (Score:2)
Other usages (Score:1)
I have been looking for this type of stuff ...
So, I can share the things I know in a best way.
And ... if I can ask Mr. Jones to help me, and I can earn something of that, why not to share earnings with his family?
Or...they could tell new stories? (Score:1)
They've been telling the Skywalker story for over 40 years now. Maybe it's time to let it go and tell other stories in the Starwars universe?
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Cancer patients (Score:3)
Some people who had throat cancer and had to have their voice box removed could probably use this technology. I hope there is something open source for this.
Re:Cancer patients (Score:4, Funny)
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Youtube needs this technology so help those Youtube posters that insist on using horrible computer-generated voices for their videos.
All the people who keep using Windows "David" (think classic "Anonymous" voice) for everything.
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Is there any software, ideally free, that does a job as good as Google's voice synthesis?
By that I mean it sounds fairly natural, and has inflection and changes in tone at the appropriate points.
I guess I could just email myself a script and have my phone read it, and record the output. Helpfully modern Pixel phones don't have headphone jacks, but I'm sure there is a way. I'd like to have some software that lets me edit the inflection and timing a little though.
I've noticed that some Japanese channels that
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I'm not sure if there is a open source project in this vein - but there are other companies doing this same kind of work.
It has in fact been used quite publicly to give voice to someone who lost their voice due to throat cancer. Val Kilmer's voice in Top Gun: Maverick was AI generated because Val has had to have a tracheotomy in treatment for his throat cancer (It was done by a different company than the one Disney is using)
Nearly 40? (Score:2)
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Respect and fair (Score:2)
I think if there is a way for him or his estate to receive a portion of the profit from the work, maybe like 5% to donate to the arts or STEM I think that would be fantastic and a win for everyone involved. It allows his legacy to live on, but still be recognized and also pass on those benefits to the people that is actively doing creative things with his voice but also to properly credit and financially benefit something that they choose I think is fair. 5% I don't think is too bad to start out from and ce
Nothing to see here. (Score:1)
Ah, so Disney Wars is going to get even worse (Score:2)
I thought the voices of Luke and Vader sounded fake and quite bad in the aforementioned shows. Especially Vader. But if Disney is happy with it, then expect shite like this to propagate. Hastening the downward spiral of Disney Wars.
Not that I really care anymore. That franchise died a long time ago. Dec 18, 2015 to be precise.
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Nearly 40 years? Over 45 years, I think (Score:1)
I think the original Star Wars came out in 1977.
Verizon? (Score:1)
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WHATSAPP +12269657180 TO GET NCLEX, TOEFL, IELTS, (Score:1)