During Tony Stark's first scene in
Captain America: Civil War, a holographic flashback was shown to a group of M.I.T students, that showcased a teenage version of himself, seeing his family for the final time. The visual effects in this scene made Robert Downey Jr., 51, look over 30 years younger!
Lola VFX, the company that made this scene possible, spoke on the process they went through to de-age Marvel's genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.
"It is a similar process to Photoshop that uses some similar tools, but unlike Photoshop which is done on a single image, we have 24 frames per second of footage." Lola visual effects supervisor Trent Claus said to
THR. "Every feature of the face and body needed to be addressed in some fashion. One thing that happens to all of us is that the skin of the face gradually lowers in certain areas, and needs to be 'lifted' back to where it was at the age in question. But other changes are incredibly subtle, such as increase in the way light reflects off the sheen of the skin, a reduction in the appearance of tiny blood vessels under the surface of some parts of the face, or more blood flow in the cheeks giving them that familiar youthful 'glow.' "
Claus then elaborated, and further explained the work they did to de-age Robert Downey Jr.
"Additionally, when working with the appearance of a well-known actor such as Robert Downey Jr., there is the added pressure of living up to the youthful appearance that audiences remember." He then continued
, "In this case, we analyzed footage of Mr. Downey at the approximate age that we wanted to target, which was around the time of the film Less Than Zero [when Downey was in his early 20s]."
This isn't the first time Lola VFX de-aged an actor for a Marvel film! In the opening scene of Marvel's
Ant-Man, Michael Douglas was de-aged by 30 years! Unlike the de-aging scene in
Ant-Man, this scene was particularly challenging because it involved a close-up shot of the young Robert Downey Jr.
"The shot was nearly 4,000 frames long, with Tony Stark turning from one side to the other multiple times, physically interacting with other actors, and the set itself, and moving closer to the camera for a very long, uninterrupted close-up."
Even though it was tough to cope with, the final result was as visually stunning as the rest of the film. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!