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How 3D scanning helped recreate the look of the Star Wars villain

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The plot of the film Outcast-1 simply could not do without the ominous Grand Moff Tarkin, the imperial governor who ordered the destruction of the planet Alderaan in the very first episode of Star Wars.

Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin in the movie Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope ”was performed by an elderly Peter Cushing. At the time of the premiere of Outcast-1, the eminent British actor would have been 103 years old! Unfortunately, Peter passed away from cancer back in 1994, and finding a replacement for the classic image was not easy due to the actor’s outstanding appearance. As you might guess, the image of Tarkin in “Rogue-1” was recreated using computer graphics, but an unusual similarity was achieved thanks to 3D-technologies.

Peter’s double in the new film was British actor Guy Henry, who only remotely looked like Cushing. The face of the new actor had to “redo” under the more colorful appearance of the predecessor. Specialists at the Industrial Light & Magic Special Effects Studio were incredibly lucky to find Cushing’s cast of the face for the 1984 Top Secret movie.

Miraculously, the preserved mask was digitized using a NextEngine 3D laser scanner, and the resulting meshes were used to recreate the appearance of Tarkin in all its original beauty due to computer graphics.

Despite the excellent results, there were critics who pointed to the moral side of the undertaking. Did the filmmakers have the right to “reanimate” the long-dead actor? “I do not think that we have done something that would have caused criticism from Peter Cushing. The work was done with great love and diligence. We know that Peter was very proud of his participation in Star Wars, which he himself spoke about several times and even regretted that he was unable to play in other episodes of the saga, as George Lucas “killed” his hero, ”explains John Knoll, head of the special effects department for the movie Rogue 1.

By the way, the image of the young princess Leia Organa was recreated in a similar way, but the performer, Carrie Fisher, who died after the filming of the film, supported the idea with two hands. But the creators are not going to generate Carrie's digital double for the seventh and eighth episodes of the saga.