Who is he?

[Sardox]

Who is he? Is Navi?

New:

More info: For the model of the head a mold of the year 1997 was digitized in 3 dimensions (Ghosts)

 

[SoCav]

It's Earnest Valentino.

Interesting photos, where did these come from?

 

[Galactus123]

These look like behind the scenes photos of that horrible Slave to the Rhythm hologram performance.

 

[SoCav]

^Yep, looks like before and after shots of the CGI they used to make the impersonator's face look like Michael's.

Based on the 'hologram's' movements it was obvious that it was Earnest Valentino, but you can also see it on these images, particularly the second one (check the eyes):

 

[Mogul]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KOPV]

But but butmm it's a hologram. Lol 😜

 

[dam2040]

We are NOT meant to be seeing this! Lol. MJs estate used an impersonator to puppet MJ as if he was alive to a song he never heard.

That is up there with the Michael controversy. What a daft idea.

 

[Dunk96]

Now THIS is some good tea.

 

[Mikky Dee]

We are NOT meant to be seeing this! Lol. MJs estate used an impersonator to puppet MJ as if he was alive to a song he never heard.

That is up there with the Michael controversy. What a daft idea.

Of course a tribute artist needed to be used for the dance movements and as a template, for MJ's face to be superimposed onto! Michael never danced to "Slave to the Rhythm", so there was no dance footage that could be used for that. Michael-esque movements were choreographed for the song and for the entire performance piece.

I'm not sure why fans don't understand that the hologram wouldn't BE Michael and couldn't BE Michael, dancing to a previously unreleased and unperformed song.

Personally, I never expected it to actually be Michael.....not for that song. I always expected that it would be a facsimile of him. I actually think the face was done quite well, under the circumstances....after all, it had to lip-synch with the lyrics, etc. I prefer to look at the performance piece as a whole and watch how the holographic image interacted with the LIVE dancers on stage. That was really interesting....the image had a shadow on stage and it synched well with the other performers. I have a feeling that perhaps the entire piece translated much better when viewing it in person, than it did through a TV screen.

If nothing else, I appreciate that executives, entrepreneurs and forward-thinkers were willing to experiment with new technology, to promote an MJ song. Michael always did like to try new things and to be the first one to do it. This technology is in its infancy and no doubt will improve greatly over time. The fact that some people didn't like it, or thought the idea was stupid, is not a good enough reason to discontinue working on something like this. People thought flying was a stupid idea, too and look where we are now.

 

[dam2040]

I'm not sure why fans don't understand that the hologram wouldn't BE Michael and couldn't BE Michael, dancing to a previously unreleased and unperformed song.

They shouldn't have done it then. Flying has nothing to do with parading and puppeting a dead man around as if he were alive. 'Michael Jackson like you've never seen him before' was the exact wording used in the promotional material. It was a CGI impersonator. The idea was absolutely ridiculous and should never be done again.

 

[SoCav]

They shouldn't have done it then. Flying has nothing to do with parading and puppeting a dead man around as if he were alive. 'Michael Jackson like you've never seen him before' was the exact wording used in the promotional material. It was a CGI impersonator. The idea was absolutely ridiculous and should never be done again.

Exactly. Michael was a uniquely talented artist, who worked tirelessly on his music and performance. To me it is just incredibly tacky and tasteless to have an impersonator dance to a remix of one of his old demos and market it as a Michael Jackson performance. It shows no respect for his artistry.

And you're right, it was hyped up to be much more than what it was. Robin Leach from the Las Vegas Sun newspaper spoke to insiders prior to the performance. Some quotes from the article he wrote a few days ahead of the performance:

“This is way, way beyond a hologram. It is way, way beyond what you know as 3D. This isn’t even digital. It is far more advanced and a totally new process.”

“They will be in a state of disbelief. It’s as if he’s still alive at the height of his career.”

“I cannot tell you what he does, but his fans from this point on will never believe that he died. It will be four minutes they will remember forever.”

I'm not sure why fans don't understand that the hologram wouldn't BE Michael and couldn't BE Michael, dancing to a previously unreleased and unperformed song.

Well, this was what was being mentioned in that same Las Vegas Sun article ahead of the performance:

I learned that Michael’s estate trustees came across undiscovered L.A. Reid recorded footage of Michael that they didn’t know existed. The lawsuit says the music will be a new song, “Slave to the Rhythm.”

“They didn’t know what they originally wanted to do with it or make with it except just wanting to capture him alive forever. That became the background format for this new technology. It might have gone to Cirque du Soleil. They might have found a way to complete the This Is It tour.

“This has never been done before. It is 100 steps beyond anything anybody has ever thought you’d experienced as a hologram. It is so real, it is so lifelike, there is no way an audience would know the artist is not there in front of them. So real an artist would actually never have to go out on tour again or need makeup for an appearance. The artist is there without being there. You cannot tell the difference.

Although most of us were sceptical given the Estate's track record up to that point, you really cannot blame some fans for expecting more than what was provided - a projection of Earnest Valentino and a bunch of dancers onto a quivering screen.

 

[Sardox]

More information and new images

 

[dam2040]

More information and new images

HOW are you getting this?!!?

 

[dam2040]

Exactly. Michael was a uniquely talented artist, who worked tirelessly on his music and performance. To me it is just incredibly tacky and tasteless to have an impersonator dance to a remix of one of his old demos and market it as a Michael Jackson performance. It shows no respect for his artistry.

And you're right, it was hyped up to be much more than what it was. Robin Leach from the Las Vegas Sun newspaper spoke to insiders prior to the performance. Some quotes from the article he wrote a few days ahead of the performance:





Well, this was what was being mentioned in that same Las Vegas Sun article ahead of the performance:

Although most of us were sceptical given the Estate's track record up to that point, you really cannot blame some fans for expecting more than what was provided - a projection of Earnest Valentino and a bunch of dancers onto a quivering screen.

I think personally a lot of fans who didn't get the chance to see Michael live are fooling themselves into believing this will get to a point where it will be the same thing.

Let's not forget, the official upload contains some of the original file as the screen used at the Billboards was as you said, quivering. I mean just look at the official Billboard Teaser. This is a joke:

Puppeting a dead man is downright disgusting and everything MJ stood against when he spoke about having respect for entertainers. The companies don't make a penny without them and should be shown more respect. I audibly laughed when that curtain was unveiled.

Letting this sort of thing slide is why the MJ Estate are continuously wrong-doing and will continue to do so. I genuinely don't see the difference between this and the 'Michael' album. They're both the exact same thing. It's simply not Michael Jackson and how dare they market it as such.

 

[lounisp]

I thought people were offended because it didn’t look like MJ rather than they used a doublure
Everyone know that it’s not really MJ and that is the point of an hologram.
Did you guys really think that 2pac performed at coachella in 2012??
Of course they also used a doublure and nobody is crying about it.
An hologram is to pay tribute to a deceased artist not to insult them. You obviously have the wrong interpretation.

 

[Galactus123]

I thought people were offended because it didn’t look like MJ rather than they used a doublure
Everyone know that it’s not really MJ and that is the point of an hologram.
Did you guys really think that 2pac performed at coachella in 2012??
Of course they also used a doublure and nobody is crying about it.
An hologram is to pay tribute to a deceased artist not to insult them. You obviously have the wrong interpretation.

Because that Tupac hologram looked great. I'm not a huge Tupac fan but I was really impressed by the hologram. Michael hologram wasn't great because it was obvious that it wasn't Michael. No one can dance exactly like him.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

I don't get how they could have digitised the model and still got his face so wrong. It looked cheap.

 

[dam2040]

I thought people were offended because it didn’t look like MJ rather than they used a doublure
Everyone know that it’s not really MJ and that is the point of an hologram.
Did you guys really think that 2pac performed at coachella in 2012??
Of course they also used a doublure and nobody is crying about it.
An hologram is to pay tribute to a deceased artist not to insult them. You obviously have the wrong interpretation.

There’s nothing to interpret. The Estate and Sony had a new money spinner in Xscape, and decided to puppet MJ as if he were alive. That is disgusting. I don’t care who gets puppeted on that stage. It’s downright wrong.

 

[KOPV]

I never was mad about using an impersonator.. I think I simply had my expectation too high as far as quality. I really do appreciate the effort, work, and thought into it all!! For me, I would have waited until the face could be more identical to Michaels and I would have used multiple impersonators for the dance.. Impersonators have different strengths, and what one can do, the other can't etc. Some specific moves are just sold better by others!

More fans would have bought into it if they used dancers strengths instead of using a single impersonator that does a decent job on some things and totally off on others. that's just me though, I grew up emulating Michaels movements and it burns my eyes when it's off and its attempted to be sold as Michael Jackson! I may be pickier than the guy next door.. well I know I am

 

[ChrisC]

Yeah for me it wasn't the face that insulted me. It was that they just used an impersonator for the moves. I mean, we need to remember here that Michael Jackson was one of a kind. A treasure so rare. He was so uniquely special that he reached a level of fame and success probably only a handful of other people in his field have ever reached. Using just any old person copying that and representing it as Michael is just not good enough - at best. The link to be inferred is that actually he wasn't particularly special. And I reject that.

It was nearly as offensive as whatever amateur singer pretended to be Michael on 'Michael'.

 

[Been Told]

Of course a tribute artist needed to be used for the dance movements and as a template, for MJ's face to be superimposed onto! Michael never danced to "Slave to the Rhythm", so there was no dance footage that could be used for that. Michael-esque movements were choreographed for the song and for the entire performance piece.

I'm not sure why fans don't understand that the hologram wouldn't BE Michael and couldn't BE Michael, dancing to a previously unreleased and unperformed song.

Personally, I never expected it to actually be Michael.....not for that song. I always expected that it would be a facsimile of him. I actually think the face was done quite well, under the circumstances....after all, it had to lip-synch with the lyrics, etc. I prefer to look at the performance piece as a whole and watch how the holographic image interacted with the LIVE dancers on stage. That was really interesting....the image had a shadow on stage and it synched well with the other performers. I have a feeling that perhaps the entire piece translated much better when viewing it in person, than it did through a TV screen.

If nothing else, I appreciate that executives, entrepreneurs and forward-thinkers were willing to experiment with new technology, to promote an MJ song. Michael always did like to try new things and to be the first one to do it. This technology is in its infancy and no doubt will improve greatly over time. The fact that some people didn't like it, or thought the idea was stupid, is not a good enough reason to discontinue working on something like this. People thought flying was a stupid idea, too and look where we are now.

What fans, me included, were expecting was Michael's face. That is the biggest problem that people have. Take Michael's face, generate lip and face movements. There is enough data for that to be done.
It is, of course, far simpler, to just motion capture someone completely different. But that is not a Michael Jackson hologram. A hologram is a visual representation of a person. Not of a person who kinda looks like the person if you don't look to closely.
This comes around to something that people forget: Michael had a mindset of either do it very well or don't do it at all. If they didn't have the capability to make the "hologram" with Michael's face, they should not have done it at all.

 

[Lovepeace1]

Te face Was so different, this is the point, and movement dont seem Michael, i dont understand why dont make the hologram with his image

 

[dam2040]

What fans, me included, were expecting was Michael's face. That is the biggest problem that people have. Take Michael's face, generate lip and face movements. There is enough data for that to be done.
It is, of course, far simpler, to just motion capture someone completely different. But that is not a Michael Jackson hologram. A hologram is a visual representation of a person. Not of a person who kinda looks like the person if you don't look to closely.
This comes around to something that people forget: Michael had a mindset of either do it very well or don't do it at all. If they didn't have the capability to make the "hologram" with Michael's face, they should not have done it at all.

MJ waited years for technologies to advance before he could complete his vision. Very clear during his lifetime MJ was the leader. Those involved now don't understand and don't care for it like MJ did.

 

[MJTruth]

To me the photos posted here show that the digitised MJ looks much better when it's static than when a video is created. Quite impressive actually. The face on the actual performance was rubbish but in these photos it looks quite good IMO. As for the other issue, well they were always going to struggle replicating Mj's moves. Other dancers can't replicate MJ's movements 100%. A dancer's movement is like a fingerprint. The MJ Estate set themselves up for fail when they promoted the performance as a Michael Jackson hologram. It clearly was not. It wasn't a hologram for start, and it wasn't Michael Jackson in any way. If they had scanned in the real MJ from existing performance footage and manipulated it with computers to generate something new then they'd have had a case. But by sticking a digitized MJ face on recorded footage of somebody else impersonating MJ they let themselves down. Sure, I didn't really see the media or general public criticisong the lack of authenticity but to us fans it was glaringly obvious that we weren't watching an MJ performance at all. did the MJ Estate really think they coudl fool the fanbase? After the whole 'Michael' album controversy. It seems like a strange move to me. There's a Roy Orbison 'hologram' going on tour, but at least that is footage of the guy, not some imposter. If The MJ Estate ever tried a similar thing with an MJ hologram I certainly would not pre-book tickets. I'd wait to see what the reviews said about the authenticity of it all. Of course by then the tickets may have sold out, but I won't go to see a Valentino performance.