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The Internet has given us a number of gifts over the years, such as iconic memes and A+ gifs. It’s also provided us with deepfakes, online videos that put an image or video of a person onto another’s likeness. It may sound wild to some, but the results are typically impeccable. Those who create these honestly deserve a lot of credit for their efforts, and some within the entertainment industry are even taking notice of their work. For instance, one creator, known for creating a deepfake involving Mark Hamill’s The Mandalorian cameo, was actually tapped by Lucasfilm.
Shamook is a popular YouTuber who’s been posting deepfakes on YouTube for nearly two years now. The VFX whiz has done deepfakes based on a number of notable movies, ranging from Avengers: Endgame and The Dark Knight to Indiana Jones and Lord of the Rings. But it was his Mark Hamill-centric video that really caught the Internet by surprise. The YouTuber manages to improve upon the VFX used for Luke Skywalker’s cameo in The Mandalorian’s Season 2 finale. Check it out for down below:
The video currently has well over two million views, but not many might’ve expected that Lucasfilm was actually keeping its eye on it as well. Shamook posted the video back in December but only recently confirmed (via the comments of a recent video) that he’d landed a job with Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic:
As some of you may already know, I joined ILM/Lucasfilms a few months ago and haven't had the time to work on any new YouTube content. Now I've settled into my job, uploads should start increasing again. They'll still be slow, but hopefully not months apart. Enjoy!
Viewers sent their congratulations and expressed their excitement in the comments upon learning of the news. And honestly, how can you not be excited for the YouTuber earning such a massive opportunity? IndieWire later confirmed Shamook’s hiring and, in a statement shared with the outlet, Lucasfilm discussed its latest addition:
[Industrial Light and Magic is] always on the lookout for talented artists and have in fact hired the artist that goes by the online persona ‘Shamook.’ Over the past several years ILM has been investing in both machine learning and A.I. as a means to produce compelling visual effects work and it’s been terrific to see momentum building in this space as the technology advances.
The Luke Skywalker scene was a massive moment for Star Wars fans and even Mark Hamill himself. Though it’s hard to deny that the de-aging effects did seem a bit unnatural at times. So it’s cool that Lucasfilm could appreciate the tweaks Shamook made to the scene. You can check out the original moment by streaming The Mandalorian on Disney+, which you can sign up for using this link.
From here, Shamook should have a number of cool adventures ahead of him in the galaxy far, far away. And who knows, he could also find himself working on some other productions. I mean, there's always the chance the upcoming Indiana Jones 5 has plans to de-age Harrison Ford.
