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Tupac Hologram at Coachella
April 16, 2012, 08:31:05 PM
Updated April 16, 2012, 7:50 p.m. ET
Rapper's De-Light: Tupac 'Hologram' May Go on Tour

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7v2vS0MVqM&feature=related[/youtube]



The biggest buzz at Sunday's Coachella music festival in California wasn't for a hot new DJ or indie-rock band. It was for Tupac Shakur, the rapper who died more than 15 years ago and "performed" Sunday night alongside Snoop Dogg and producer Dr. Dre.

Internet video of the Sunday evening show became an instant sensation on Monday morning. That response is helping push the possibility of a virtual Tupac tour in coming months.

The rapper's ghostly image was created by Digital Domain Media Group Inc., DDMG +0.78% the visual-effects house responsible for making the virtual versions of Brad Pitt that populated 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The movie won the Oscar for visual effects.

Representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg plan to discuss logistics for a tour involving the two performers and the virtual Tupac, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Tupac Hologram Performs at Coachella

A holographic image of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur performed at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15 in Indio, Calif.

One option would be a tour in stadiums, involving other hip-hop stars, including Eminem, 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa. Alternately, they could stage a more limited tour, featuring only Dre, Snoop Dogg and the virtual Tupac, in smaller arenas.

Digital Domain is a publicly traded company that reported revenue last year of $98.6 million. The thinly-traded company has a market capitalization of $211 million. Its stock is down 15% year-to-date.

"To create a completely synthetic human being is the most complicated thing that can be done," Digital Domain's chief creative officer, Ed Ulbrich, said in a phone interview Monday.

He said that the performances of the rapper's hits "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" weren't simply old ones captured on film and repurposed: "This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion."

"This is just the beginning," Mr. Ulbrich said. "Dre has a massive vision for this."

Spokeswomen for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg declined to comment.

Mr. Shakur was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996, at age 25. Because the shooting has never been solved by authorities, it has become grist for conspiracy theories akin to the "Elvis lives" rumors a generation earlier.

Dr. Dre and his production team first approached Digital Domain a year ago to discuss the possibility of creating a virtual Tupac. They began work in earnest on the Coachella performance around four months ago.

 
Tupac joined Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on stage at the Coachella Valley music festival Sunday. Yes, you read that right. The rapper, who died in 1996, was brought to life, as Christopher Farley explains on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images.

First, the image was created on a computer, using physical characteristics and movements captured from recorded performances.

Advances in computer graphics and video projection allowed Sunday night's illusion to be far more lifelike than other recent efforts.

For the projection aspect, a San Diego company called AV Concepts used a variation of a visual effect that was discovered in the 19th century, known as Pepper's Ghost.

Though the projected image has been widely described as a "hologram," it is a 2-D image and not a hologram, which is 3-D.

The effect was first used in an 1862 dramatization of Charles Dickens' novella "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain," staged at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in London, according to Jim Steinmeyer, an illusion designer who has written extensively about the history of his craft, including Pepper's Ghost.

The effect relies on an angled piece of glass in which a "ghostly" image is reflected. "A piece of glass can be both transparent and reflective at the same time, depending on how it's situated relative to the audience," said Mr. Steinmeyer, pointing out the secret.

In the Victorian version of the trick, the glass reflected an actual actor, situated out of sight in near the orchestra. On Sunday night, the image was projected on a piece of Mylar—a highly reflective, lightweight plastic—stretched on a clear frame.

"What's happening in Coachella is virtually the same thing that was happening in 1862," Mr. Steinmeyer said. One difference: In the Victorian era, Pepper's Ghost was normally used to reflect actual, physical objects or actors, making them appear "dimensional" in ways that the projected or computer-generated imagery typically used today do not.

Mr. Steinmeyer used similar technology to create an illusion in which Frank Sinatra appeared at a 2003 concert.

A London-based company called Musion Systems Ltd. owns the patent for using a Mylar screen in the illusion. Musion said it licenses its technology to around 30 companies around the world, including AV Concepts. Its technology was also used for the 2006 Grammy Awards, when an animated rock band called the Gorillaz appeared to perform live on stage with Madonna.

Enlarge Image

AV Concepts President Nick Smith says that his company typically uses the technology for corporate events.

Tupac Shakur is the first dead entertainer the company has presented "live."

But Mr. Smith said the company has used the same technology to resurrect several late executives.

"We've brought past CEOs and things that like that back to life," Mr. Smith said, without getting more specific, citing non-disclosure agreements.

A tour with the virtual Tupac is likely but not guaranteed, said the person familiar with the situation. The nascent plans could fall apart for any number of reasons.

If the tour were to proceed, it would take many months of creative and technical planning, this person added.
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You rocked my world, you know you did
And everything I own I give
The rarest love who\'d think I\'d find
Someone like you to call mine




"Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation."
------Michael Jackson


Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. --Oscar Wilde

Re: Tupac Hologram at Coachella
April 16, 2012, 11:02:01 PM
Someone who had went (and had not heard the rumors of a Tupac hologram) said that from where they were sitting, it didn't even look like a hologram. It looked like someone was actually standing on stage (the guy thought it was an impersonator they hired to lip-synch Tupac's parts).

This hologram really makes me think. I've always thought that Tupac, Elvis, AND Michael were all alive (the three "Kings").
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Tink

Re: Tupac Hologram at Coachella
April 18, 2012, 07:08:33 PM
I already posted about the Musion Eyeliner system - on the related thread, plus I go through how they actually pulled off the vocals...watch Madonna's hologram interact with Gorillaz, before they switch over to her, live. You can tell, because her corset changes, along with suddenly having those flesh colored stockings.

This should be merged with the other thread, too much repetition!
Last Edit: April 18, 2012, 07:10:32 PM by Tink
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Black & Proud! I'm like the Oracle/Batgirl, who helps Batman in the comic books. I believe in "Comic Book justice."


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use_your_illusion

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Re: Tupac Hologram at Coachella
April 18, 2012, 08:44:45 PM
I heard the other day for the first time that 'Hot n Cold' backwards or something talks about Tupac's resurrection, is that true?...I can't find it anywhere.
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Do you give up yet?

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GINAFELICIA

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Re: Tupac Hologram at Coachella
April 19, 2012, 12:21:05 AM
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Someone who had went (and had not heard the rumors of a Tupac hologram) said that from where they were sitting, it didn't even look like a hologram. It looked like someone was actually standing on stage (the guy thought it was an impersonator they hired to lip-synch Tupac's parts).

This hologram really makes me think. I've always thought that Tupac, Elvis, AND Michael were all alive (the three "Kings").
I don't understand how they make a hologram.
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