Unveiling the Unbelievable: Jaw-Dropping Movie Magic Completely Transforms Robert Redford and Leaves Audiences Stunned!

Summary

Director David Lowery explains the de-aging of Robert Redford in The Old Man & the Gun, using unconventional methods like cutouts and footage from other movies.

The Old Man & the Gun took a unique approach to showcasing Forrest Tucker's history as an escape artist by employing a younger Redford. Instead of using expensive technology, they opted for a simple and low-budget method by using a cutout.

The director of The Old Man & the Gun, David Lowery, explains the unconventional de-aging of Robert Redford in the film. The Old Man & the Gun, directed by Lowery, is an action comedy that tells the true story of Forrest Tucker, a septuagenarian who escapes from San Quentin prison and goes on a series of heists. Being an independent film, The Old Man & the Gun faced a significant VFX challenge: de-aging the then 82-year-old Redford for a crucial scene. Lowery discusses the process of de-aging Redford in a conversation with Corridor Crew.

In creating The Old Man & The Gun, Lowery aimed to portray the extensive history of Forrest Tucker as a skilled escape artist. To achieve this, the production team required a younger version of Robert Redford. While some scenes incorporated footage from other films, there was a clever and straightforward method employed in one particular shot - a cutout of Redford's youthful face. See the full statement from Lowery below:

Lowery: The character is an exceptional escape artist. He managed to escape from San Quentin and numerous other prisons. I wanted to visually capture this history by including a sequence showcasing his legacy. Although the majority of the movie takes place in the later years of his life, I still wanted to pay homage to his earlier exploits. This required a younger version of Robert Redford. As you watch the film, you'll notice various approaches we took to accomplish this. Remarkably, one of these methods will likely be a personal highlight for me, something that I will proudly remember. This involved using a de-aging effect. Can you guess how we accomplished this? [...] Additionally, in a later part of the film, we incorporated footage from The Chase, a movie where Robert Redford, at a younger age, also escaped from prison. However, the specific shot in question was something we filmed ourselves.

Corridor Crew: Is someone wearing a printed cutout?

Lowery: Absolutely. We visited Kinkos, printed a photo of Robert Redford from a different movie, cut it out, then taped it onto someone's face using Scotch tape.

The Old Man & The Gun Took A Different Approach To Controversial De-Aging

The de-aging method employed in The Old Man & the Gun involves a two-dimensional approach, rather than utilizing CGI or older films with cinematic depth. Director Lowery chose to use a simple cutout technique, eschewing the need for a third dimension. Although considered a low-budget method for de-aging an actor in 2018, The Old Man & The Gun successfully employed this straightforward trick.

The Old Man & the Gun is not the only film in recent years to utilize de-aging techniques on its actors. In Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, CGI was used to de-age Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino. Similarly, in the reverse-aging tale The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt was digitally aged down to an infant.

Both The Irishman and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button faced criticism for their unrealistic and eerie digital de-aging effects. Comparing these films to The Old Man & the Gun presents an intriguing contrast, as it challenges the prevalent use of CGI in addressing such visual effects challenges. While The Old Man & the Gun's paper cutout technique may not be suitable for a prolonged sequence, the film's implementation of various non-CGI aging methods demonstrates that unconventional approaches can often yield satisfactory, or even superior, results in addressing unique visual effects requirements.