How I Used Deepfake Tech To Make The Case For An Asian American Movie Star
Following up #StarringJohnCho with #SeeAsAmStar
During this year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I launched #SeeAsAmStar, my follow up to my project #StarringJohnCho. #SeeAsAmStar is a video project that uses Deepfake technology to reimagine Hollywood films, from The Avengers to The Hunger Games, with Asian American leads. The project received significant media attention and continued the conversation for greater diversity and representation in the media landscape.
In this post, I take a look at how this project came about, the technology that went into it, and the approach I used to ensure it received as much attention as possible. If you’re interested in diversity in film, Asian American representation, or just looking to get your own side project off the ground, I hope that this post will be useful to you!
Life After #StarringJohnCho
About two years ago, I sought out to express my frustrations with how Asian Americans fit and were being represented in the modern Hollywood landscape. Reeling from the Chris Rock controversy during his 2016 Oscars opening monologue and a string of whitewashed/white savior films being released, I launched #StarringJohnCho, a social movement that utilizes Photoshopped movie posters to literally show you what it would look like if today’s Hollywood blockbusters cast an Asian-American actor — specifically, John Cho — as their leading man.
Since then, the wave of Asian American voices demanding greater representation has grown stronger, but the change we’ve been hoping for has been incremental at best. I am so excited to watch Crazy Rich Asians this August, and I am beyond psyched to watch the rise of Awkwafina as she stars in two of the summer’s most anticipated films (the aforementiond Crazy Rich Asians and Ocean’s 8.) However, whitewashing and white savior tropes continue to make their way to our screens. A recent example is of Netflix’s Jared Leto vehicle The Outsider. Predictably, people weren’t too happy with the idea of a white boy flopping his way around Japan to becoming a member of the Yakuza.
It became clear to me that audiences needed further convincing that Asian Americans could carry lead roles and that, while #StarringJohnCho was effective, a movie poster was limited in its ability to demonstrate a living, breathing Asian American movie star.
Exploring Deepfakes
I first heard about Deepfake technology when an article started making the rounds about redditors who were putting Nicholas Cage into every movie. Upon further investigation, I learned that there were more nefarious applications of this software that I won’t get into here.
To me, an advertising strategist armed with an English major, a Media Studies minor, and limited coding experienced that doesn’t extend past HTML/CSS/basic Javascript, what stood out from learning about Deepfakes was:
- The low barrier to entry in learning how to create these types of videos (A PC with a high-end processor and NVIDIA graphics card, FakeApp software, time, organizational skills and a lot of patience is all you need.)
- The realism that the resulting pieces of content possessed. Much like #StarringJohnCho, I believed that if the final work wasn’t convincing, the point would be lost. People needed to first be fooled, and then needed to realize what they were seeing when they eventually caught themselves.
There are far smarter people than I who can explain the ins and outs of Deepfakes to you more succinctly than I can. I did refer to this Medium post (H/T Gaurav Oberoi )often to help me understand the basic theory and approach to the process. Take a look if you’re interested to learn more about the capabilities and implications of Deepfakes.
Creating #SeeAsAmStar
The objective of the project was straightforward: Use Deepfake technology to demonstrate that Asian Americans can play lead roles. By showing a living, breathing, and talking Asian American lead, I believed that these clips would be a more persuasive argument than #StarringJohnCho was for those who cannot envision this reality.
The first step was to select the subjects I would be basing the project around. I set out to ground #SeeAsAmStar around four individuals (Two men, two women.) In order to vet options, I used the same four qualifiers I used for #StarringJohnCho: 1. Cult Following, 2. Leading Role Experience, 3. Critical Acclaim, and 4.Box Office Success. I knew John Cho would be included given that he checks all four boxes. But I wasn’t sure who the other three individuals would be. So the search began.
After combing through face after the face, I felt a growing disappointment. While there was a large range of talent to choose from, few could convincingly pass all four of the requirements I had set. As a result, I adjusted the filter to consider those who possessed at least two of the considerations. Ultimately, I chose John Cho, Constance Wu, Steven Yeun, and Arden Cho.
While #StarringJohnCho successfully made the case for an Asian American leading man, I wanted to demonstrate that Asian American women possess an array of challenges that contrast and differ from the stereotypes that Asian American men face. While Asian American men are often cast as the nerd or the martial arts sidekick, Asian American women are typically seen as exotic trophies to be won be male protagonists or as quiet, submissive characters with little agency. What were the roles that would bring the starkest contrasts out of these tropes? Additionally, who were actors that I could overlay my Asian American talents over in a way that wouldn’t look jarring or unnatural?
Armed with this idea of replacing movie characters with Asian faces, I knew I had to choose films and actors that would make a viewer think twice if they saw an Asian face supplanted into it. The source material I chose had to be relevant and immediately recognizable by the eventual viewer. Therefore, I reviewed the top box office hits, Academy Award nominated and winning movies, crticially acclaimed films, highest earning actors and actresses, and the most culturally significant motion pictures of the last ten years.
Below, I’ve included a few #SeeAsAmStar videos below that feature some notable swaps. The rest of the clips can be found here.
#SeeAsAmStar: John Cho as Captain America
Captain America was a no-brainer choice for me. As the embodiment of the American ideal, Steve Rogers represents leadership, heroism, and courage. All three of those qualities are not race specific. And as the lead of a box-office smashing franchise, Captain America was someone that any viewer would be able to see and recognize that the video he or she was watching didn’t feature Chris Evans, but was #StarringJohnCho instead.
The latter half of the scene above is particularly thrilling for me. Being a comic fan all my life, I’ve rarely if ever seen someone with my features leading a team or rallying a squad together. As I watch John Cho/Captain America stands on the balcony, with a diverse group of heroes looking to him for guidance, I feel a thrill as he readies to declare, “Avengers Assemble!”
#SeeAsAmStar: Constance Wu as Major
In Fresh Off The Boat, Constance Wu brings a level of nuance to the traditional tiger mother trope that is comedic and heartfelt. With her starring role in Crazy Rich Asians, I hope that her stock continues to rise. In inserting her in a role that, due to the source material, is quite sexualized, I felt conflicted if this was the right film to use for #SeeAsAmStar. Asian women continue to be cast as exoticized trophies with little character development or agency (but accessorized with the obligatory hair streak) in their stories. However, given the controversy surrounding the film and the complex arc of the Major character, I felt that the film’s inclusion was warranted.
It felt pretty gratifying to make this video. With the whitewashing controversy surrounding Ghost In The Shell, and then the ensuing bomb it was in the box office, I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if the film had featured an Asian American lead. Clearly, the film had issues beyond the casting, but the blatant insertion of a white face into an Asian world (see also: Blade Runner 2049) was certainly enough to turn some viewers away. If you have to consider using CGI to digitally alter your white lead’s face to seem more Asian, you might just want to cast an Asian person.
#SeeAsAmStar: Steven Yeun as Tom Hansen
Coming off of The Walking Dead, Steven Yeun has been a cult fan favorite and continues to produce acclaimed work since his departure from the show in 2016. In his most recent turn as Ben in director Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, the actor has received rave reviews at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Yeun’s next film in the States, Sorry To Bother You, releases on July 6th and is already sporting a healthy 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. While he doesn’t quite have the box office numbers solidify his status as a movie star yet, I believe that he has a spot firmly entrenched in the future of Asian American film.
Tom Hansen is a flawed, flawed individual. He’s an idealistic romantic who suffers from an overactive vision of what love should be. For better or worse, I feel that many Asian American men, due largely to insecurities that have been ingrained to them since adolescence, often view themselves at the bottom of the romantic totem pole. In seeing ourselves represented in this way, Steven Yeun/Tom Hansen could perhaps offer a moment of clarity in realizing that the way we approach love is less about how we view our partners, and more about how we view ourselves.
#SeeAsAmStar: Arden Cho as Katniss Everdeen
Arden Cho is a digital superstar. 500K+ subscribes on YouTube. 845K+ followers on Twitter. A recognizable face to millions that will grow up never paying for cable set box and will only think of shows and movies in terms of Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video. Additionally, Cho’s acting career continues to grow, with turns on shows like MTV’s Teen Wolf and NBC’s Chicago Med.
Like Captain America, Katniss Everdeen possesses qualities that are not race specific. She is a leader of a revolution. A sister. A survivor. Why couldn’t an Asian American woman play this role? Why couldn’t an Asian American woman overthrow a corrupt President Snow? Everdeen makes mistakes, struggles and learns to embrace her role as the Mockingjay. The character’s sarcasm and wit are not attributes that are exclusive to those with the last name Lawrence.
Launch Approach
In order to ensure that #SeeAsAmStar would receive the necessary media attention to spark a conversation, I developed a three prong strategy to aid in spreading the word. Using both an email campaign (press release included) and a Twitter direct messaging strategy, I hoped to connect with three different audiences:
- My personal network (Friends, family, and professional connections)
- Asian American journalists and influencers (e.g. actors, producers, activists, etc.) who had expressed an interest or supported #StarringJohnCho
- Journalists and influencers who write about or involve themselves with Asian American or Technology beats
Additionally, I assumed my ~8K+ Twitter followers would aid in amplifying the #SeeAsAmStar message. Since launching #StarringJohnCho, I had garnered several verified connections, ranging from individuals like John Cho to best-selling author Celeste Ng. I hypothesized that if I could gain the support of these influencers, that might put my project in a position to snowball with recognition. Also, throughout the duration of the campaign, I would continue to use my Twitter account as a resource for Asian American news and engage with other Asian American thought leaders in hopes that they would organically learn about #SeeAsAmStar.
Post-Launch Results
Since launching in the beginning of May 2018, the #SeeAsAmStar project has garnered the following results:
- #SeeAsAmStar videos have surpassed 70K+ views
- Received write ups by The Huffington Post, Slate, Digital Spy, and Inverse, among other blogs and publications
- Recognized by three of the four actors featured in the project (Arden Cho, Constance Wu, and John Cho)
While I was encouraged by the engagement and conversation that #SeeAsAmStar sparked, the project admittedly did not achieve the level of widespread recognition that #StarringJohnCho produced. Although I believed I approached #SeeAsAmStar with a more tactical strategy and, in my opinion, a stronger product, audiences seemed keener to engage with the movie poster campaign.
Project Learnings
In contrasting the two projects, I’ve developed a few, unscientific theories as to why #SeeAsAmStar produced a less effective response than #StarringJohnCho:
- Prioritizing influencers over media — In contrast to #StarringJohnCho, my secondary audience I set out to reach were individual users that could provide a stamp of approval by sharing #SeeAsAmStar videos. Although support from these influencers proved valuable, I believe that having a stronger focus on members of the media could have led to greater spreading of the #SeeAsAmStar content.
- Launch tweet vs. shareable content — The launch tweet shared above proved to be most shared piece of content from #SeeAsAmStar. Because the project is rooted in video, it is harder for other users to download the video and then share it themselves. Instead, users would simply retweet me. While RT is a valuable engagement, this function led users to not include their own commentary and often did not use the project hashtag in their own tweets. This lack of unique tweets may have hindered #SeeAsAmStar from trending and becoming a movement.
- Using video on Twitter — The project’s videos ranged from 15 seconds to two minutes. This length of time, much longer than the instantaneous reaction to a single movie posters, requires more from the viewer to comprehend what the user is seeing. Also, videos would take a second or two to render in HD on Twitter. In cutting the clips so that the first frame would feature the Deepfake character, this delay in definition could have made the difference in engagement.
- Extending the movement — One thing I never expected from #StarringJohnCho is that people would create their own movie posters. The accessibility of Photoshop empowered people to contribute to movement with their creative takes. Although the barrier to create Deepfake is relatively low, the technology still requires a knowledge of the underlying concepts and hardware that is not readily available to everyone. As a result, viewers could comment and react, but were unable to make the project their own.
- Deepfake limitations — Although the face-swapping technology is able to produce clips that are quite convincing, there are still limits to the software. Audio tracks are still from the original sources. Inability to swap features that extend beyond face (e.g. Hair, hair color, ears, chins, etc.) also prevents the swap from being complete. While I wanted to include as many Asian Americans as possible, I was also aware that the targets and subjects required matching skin tones so as to be as convincing as possible. Unfortunately, this fact meant that I could not include Asian Americans with darker skin tones. In the end, I ended up choosing individuals with East Asian backgrounds. My hope was that, as for #StarringJohnCho, viewers would understand that as much as #SeeAsAmStar was about the individuals included, it also wasn’t about them. A rising tied lifts all boats.
- Creative fatigue — Although the creative execution was different, the practice of swapping actors out for Asian American faces had been accomplished with #StarringJohnCho. Even if #SeeAsAmStar was utilizing new technology to make the case of an Asian American movie star, audiences were already used to seeing these kinds of swap. Less shock, less likelihood of sharing.
- Naming convention — I struggled with this. #StarringJohnCho benefited from a recognizable name using film industry vernacular. The most obvious spin-off, #StarringAsianAmerica, felt forced and above all was LONG. I brainstormed many names before landing on #SeeAsAmStar. However, in retrospect, I believe that a better name could have been created that rolled off the tongue and didn’t require additional explanation (I thought AsAm was pretty much accepted as the shorthand for Asian Americans, this assumption was disproven very quickly.) While succinct, I feel that inclusion of the “AsAm” tag resonated directly with fellow Asian Americans, but may have alienated others outside the Asian American bubble.
Conclusion
Finding a positive use case for an emerging yet controversial technology, I believe that #SeeAsAmStar makes a strong case for an Asian American movie star. Seeing an Asian American face deliver moving speeches or confess their flaws, I was both moved and frustrated that the Hollywood landscape is so devoid of these moments. Much like #StarringJohnCho, what confirmed my belief that a future with an Asian American movie star is coming is how natural these clips look with John Cho, Constance Wu, Arden Cho, or Steven Yeun anchoring the scenes.
It seems ridiculous to have to say out loud, but Asian Americans are human. We possess the same hopes and ambitions, the same flaws and scars as the stars who grace your screen. The wave of Asian American voices — actors, directors, writers, politicians, business leaders — is only growing. These voices all grew up without seeing themselves represented in their fields. They’ve had enough. In film, these storytellers are making the future where an Asian American movie star will exist. With #StarringJohnCho and #SeeAsAmStar, I’m proud to create projects that force our way into the conversation. And I’m even more excited to see our own stories being told and watch how they resonate with multicultural audiences everywhere.
About the writer
William Yu is currently a freelance writer and former advertising senior strategist. During his experiences at TBWA\Chiat\Day and SapientRazorfish, Yu worked on brand and digital strategy projects for brands like BNY Mellon, Accenture, Verizon, and Mastercard.
In addition to #StarringJohnCho and #SeeAsAmStar, Yu’s work has been featured domestically and internationally from major media outlets such as The New York Times, BBC, CNN, NBC, CBS, The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, and The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
He is based in New York City.
