Still, Muren and ILM’s computer-graphics staff set out to create a “lifelike” Casper, who wouldn’t look like mere animation, to interact with the movie’s human actors. Two years and 28 trillion bytes (equal to about 19 million floppy discs) later, Muren has been converted. “We’ve created the first digital performer ever,” he says. “Casper talks, he shows emotion, he has the full range of motion you’d expect of a “real’ ghost. Five shots in, you’ll forget you’re seeing a special effect.”
When the movie comes out this May, audiences will see that Casper and his three obnoxious uncles–Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso–bear little resemblance to their big-screen ancestors. Unlike the ghosts of “Poltergeist” or “Ghostbusters,” Casper casts a shadow and refracts light (images behind him appear properly distorted), and his facial expressions and body language are remarkably subtle. He looks authentic, rather than just a spectral cousin of, say, Roger Rabbit.
In “Jurassic Park,” ILM’s computer creatures–memorable as they were–got only 6.5 minutes on screen. In “Casper,” the ghosts are on for 40 minutes, almost half the movie. While “computer graphics” might imply speed and efficiency, each ghostly shot has to be " painted” by an animator at a high-resolution Silicon Graphics work-station; the artist has to choose among limitless possibilities of shape, color and density, while maintaining correct lighting and camera perspective. The process takes far more time than the old way of making movie ghosts–building robotic models and using optical techniques to manipulate their appearance on film. But the skill of the artists using the new technology has so improved since “Jurassic” that it makes more screen time possible. “For “Jurassic,’ we invented the Stradivarius,” Muren says. “For “Casper,’ we started learning how to play it.”
Digital technology has changed everything. The matte paintings and handmade creatures of the “Star Wars” trilogy, launched by ILM founder George Lucas 18 years ago, are now museum items. When he’s not writing the next “Star Wars” movie, Lucas is busy adding computer-graphics footage to the first one for re-release. Lucas envisions a “virtual backlot” someday; that would mean sets and props existing only in cyberspace. And maybe virtual actors and actresses? Then Casper could demand top billing.
