The company BRAHMA AI, founded by Flemish entrepreneur Jo Plaete, has won a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for AI-based visual effects. The technology allows actors in films to be made to look decades younger or to speak a different language, whilst their voice and facial expressions remain the same. “This means a Flemish film can also conquer the American market.”
“When AI began to gain ground, I started applying the technology in the film industry. For instance, I helped set up Disney’s AI division in 2018, when it became clear that AI could be used for digital characters,” he explains.
“Since then, these systems have become much more advanced and I now run my own company: BRAHMA AI. We specialise in AI-based visual effects for films, concerts and other businesses.”
Actors who suddenly look older or speak perfect French
That company has now won a prestigious Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for its technology relating to ‘AI-Based Face Replacement and Performance-Preserving Post-Production Transformation’. In simple terms: AI-based facial alterations that preserve the actor’s performance.
“This means we can alter an actor’s face or age whilst keeping their performance completely intact: think of their gaze, emotions and timing,” explains Plaete.
“With this technology, we can, for example, turn a 70-year-old Tom Hanks back into a man in his twenties, or bring a deceased actor back to life in a sequel,” says Plaete. He was, in fact, involved in the film ‘Here’, in which we see virtually every stage of life of the lead actors, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright.
‘We can even use the latest generation of this technology to dub films. This allows us to make an actor speak in a different language, whilst retaining their own voice, facial expressions and articulation. A film shot in English can thus appear as though it was originally made in French.’
‘We moved from silent films to sound, from black and white to colour. I believe this will be the next major step for the film industry. At present, the reach of a strong Flemish film is often limited because the market is relatively small. With this technology, a film like that can be released credibly in English and thus also conquer the American market.’
“Next month, we’re releasing a major Indian film, ‘Ramayana’, in the United States. The film has been fully translated into English, but you can still hear the voices of the original actors and see their facial expressions. I think that will be a significant milestone for this technology,” said Plaete.
“Meanwhile, we are also in talks with major film studios and distributors to apply this on a much larger scale.”
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