Here: How were Tom Hanks and Robin Wright made younger and older?

Director Robert Zemeckis details this new filming method: “We couldn't have made this film five years ago.”

30 years ago, Forrest Gump already marked a conceptual tour de force on the part of Robert Zemeckis. This time again, with Here – and with the same actors Tom Hanks And Robin Wright – he explores new cinematographic horizons. In Herewe follow the beautiful story of Richard and Margaret through time, from their adolescence to their old age. Different ages and stages of life rendered on screen through the skillful use of cutting-edge techniques, including an AI-assisted aging and rejuvenation process.

“We couldn’t have made this film five years ago”assures Robert Zemeckis at Variety. “All this happens without the public realizing anything. It is a very natural process” rejoices his director of photography Don Burgess. The visual effects supervisor, Kevin Baillieexplains that the team tested the latest approaches to aging and rejuvenation before choosing to work with artificial intelligence startup Metaphysic. “It is part of the production process. This technology does not require dots on faces. It does not require multiple cameras or any other sort of intrusive technology.“An approach using artificial intelligence, which has”allowed the actors to simply concentrate on their performances“.

During the actual filming, Robert Zemeckis thus had two monitors to look at behind the camera: one to see what was actually being filmed and a second to see the changes in the faces, in real time, and on both actors at the same time. “It was really rudimentary at that point in production, but we saw enough of it. It was a great tool for me and the actors. (…) Seeing all this in real time helped the performance enormously. What makes the illusion work is their performance.“

Tom Hanks And Robin Wright were able to stay focused on their body movements, obviously very different from when they play young or old Richard and Margaret. “You had to prepare yourself to be 17 in the morning and 22 in the afternoon” smiles the actor in Variety. At 17, you don't realize you're living in your past. And at 22, you don't realize that you are making decisions that will be indicators of what your future will be like. Between having to be agile and not having the slightest idea of ​​what your future will be, that's the magic recipe for approaching these scenes.”.

And Robert Zemeckis to specify that practical effects were also used by the production. “It wasn't just digital makeup,” he says, noting that hair and makeup (including prosthetics) were led by Oscar-winning makeup and hairstylist Jenny Shircore as well as costume design led by Joanna Johnston. “It’s not like a department has been eliminated by the use of AI. Hair stylists, makeup artists, digital specialists – they all work together!“

Here is currently in cinemas in France.