Read my lips: AI-dubbed films are debuting in cinemas
Dubbing critics have long grumbled about the pitfalls of mismatched audio and awkward lip-syncing, but new technology is quietly changing the face (and mouths) of international cinema.
Last week, Swedish sci-fi film Watch The Skies opened in US theatres – marketed as the world's first full-length theatrical feature to use AI for an immersive dubbing – a process that makes the characters look as though they are speaking English.
XYZ Films partnered with AI start-up Flawless, which uses TrueSync, a visual tool which alters the character's mouth movements and speech to appear perfectly synced for an English-speaking audience.
'For the movie industry, this is a game changer,' producer Albin Pettersson declared in a behind-the-scenes trailer for the film.
'The Swedish language is a barrier when you want to reach out around the world.'
It's important to note the AI tool has not replaced the actors – the original cast of Watch The Skies, having shot the film in Swedish, then recorded their English lines in a studio. This kept them compliant with SAG-AFTRA guidelines.
'I think a lot of filmmakers and a lot of actors will be afraid of this new technology at first,' added writer and director Victor Danell. 'But we have creative control and to act out the film in English was a real exciting experience.'
Watch The Skies is the start of a long list of AI-dubbed international film collaborations between XYZ Films and Flawless set to be released in the US. They include French film The Book of Solutions, Korean flick Smugglers, Persian-language film Tatami, and German film The Light.
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