Digital Cinema From the Perspective of the “Sinister Valley Effect”

Abstract

Modern computer technologies are constantly changing. The industry does not stand still, until recently stuntmen, life size puppets and mannequins were the main tools of filmmakers for creating action scenes. There was no question of the faces of the elderly actors looking young again on the screen. Now the customary technologies are becoming a thing of the past, although they are still in use on set.
Modern cinema uses digital doubles to achieve similar goals. The aim of computer graphics studios is to create digital doubles as similar to people as possible. At first, these were very sketchy computer models that were quite conspicuous, and there was no question of complete realism.But with the advance of visualization technologies, digital doubles have become more and more realistic. As it turns out, the method of copying reality raises problems of perception.
Solving these problems proved not an easy task, besides technological aspects there are cultural and psychological difficulties related to the perception of computer generated characters. The problem turned out to be so significant that it spawned a number of studies dealing with the causes and ways of overcoming this phenomena. There even appeared a special term — “The effect of the uncanny valley”. The mechanisms of overcoming this problem have not been elaborated yet. But nevertheless, it can be stated that the essence of the problem lies not only in the technological sphere but also in absence of an integrated approach to its solution.
The thorough differentiation of technical professions in screen arts has created a certain vacuum in creative work, and the solution for this problem may lie in a fundamentally new approach to the use of technical means. The essence of scientific research should be the use of psychological and aesthetic analysis, which makes possible not only to overcome the negative consequences of the “uncanny valley” effect but also turn them into positive ones.