In The Scenario, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson gets the full scoop on how they made Harrison Jones look 40 years younger in the latest Indiana Jones film.
In Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Harrison Ford closes out his chapter in what’s been often referred to as “the role of a lifetime.” Ford began the franchise in 1981 when he was 39 and now, at 81, has literally had this gig for half of his life. In the fifth film, audiences have been delighted to see new scenes of the actor with his likeness from 40 years prior. So how exactly did they de-age Ford?
De-aging is a technique we’re beginning to see more of in the visual effects category, although the technology used to pull it off is not new. Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the visual effects company created by Indiana Jones creator George Lucas, has been replacing stunt performers' faces with the principal actors' faces since 1991. Take, for instance, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene in Terminator 2 where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face is swapped onto the body of a stuntman. In Jurassic Park, ILM had to replace a stunt double's face with actor Ariana Richards’s for the scene where character Lex Murphy is hanging out of the ceiling in the kitchen with the raptors chomping at her feet. Netflix’s Stranger Things implemented this type of technology in 2022’s season 4, when flashbacks revealed Eleven’s backstory as a young child: 11-year-old actor Martie Blair performed the scenes, then footage of Millie Bobby Brown from past seasons digitally replaced Blair’s face. One of the most significant de-aging moments in the last five years happened in The Mandalorian, when Mark Hamill made a reappearance as a young Luke Skywalker at the end of season two. It was utilized in The Irishman, too, courtesy of ILM. It’s striking to the audience, and when done well, it propels the story forward with sentimental value.
How the De-Aging Process Goes Beyond Deep Fakes
For Dial of Destiny, it’s not as simple as placing Harrison’s 39-year-old face over his current 81-year-old one. Many online would put this type of work into the “deep fake” category. While the technology used is related to how someone could create a totally fabricated video of President Biden rapping, there’s more precision, technology, and artistic finesse utilized to make these images seem realistic for the silver screen, with multiple people with a variety of specific expertise helping to create the final outcome.
Industrial Light and Magic has coined this overall process ILM FaceSwap. The images we end up seeing in a scene are crafted by various sectors of the visual effects house; the company refers to these offerings as being a part of the FaceSwap tool set. For example, Sherry Hitch, visual effects compositing supervisor on Dial of Destiny, tells Allure that before they started tinkering with images in post production, a proprietary system called Flux was used to film Ford during production. Flux is a two camera setup that straddles the main camera and is shot in infrared (IR), which allows cinematographers to film light that is not visible to the naked eye. That data along with the facial tracking dots utilized on Ford during the performance help bring FaceSwap to life.
In post production, FaceSwap utilizes machine learning to analyze and match Ford’s facial performance along with a 3D asset of his younger self created by artists, which replaces the ears, neck, profile edges, beard stubble, and adds details to the face. Additionally, archival footage of Ford from previous Indiana Jones films was utilized from both machine learning techniques and direct footage from Dial of Destiny to create an accurate facial performance.
“We have a lot of footage of Harrison to look at and dive into,” says Hitch. “Because [Dial of Destiny] is the Raiders [of the Lost Ark] franchise … we have a lot that offers different takes on [Ford]: he would be looking to the left or the right, [his] profile, his hair; different lighting environments — what does he look like in the dark?”
Hitch notes that this footage is tweaked digitally by artists as well. These tweaks, which included hand-painting of areas like eye bags and wrinkles, make Indiana Jones look, act, and “feel” like Indiana Jones, which ultimately makes the visual we’re seeing look more realistic than any de-aging filter you’ve seen on Instagram or TikTok. “I'm constantly pushing pixels around with a pen — it really is very artist driven,” says Hitch.
This is because, although they have tons of footage from previous Indiana Jones films, they won’t always have a perfect match for the shot they’re trying to achieve in current day. For example, they needed Ford to be wet in a few shots near the end of the train sequence in Dial of Destiny, when Indy and Basil jump into the aqueduct, but there are no pre-existing shots of a younger, wet Ford from previous films. By utilizing the Flux camera, a full 3D representation of Ford’s head and face were created and artists were able to increase the shiny quality of the skin through digital manipulation and compositing. More generally, if a shot in Dial of Destiny is lit differently than the shot from the old footage they utilized to create the de-aged image, the visual effects artists would work to relight those images so Indy matched the scene in the new film.
When Stunt Doubles Stepped In
It’s also important to note that most of Indy’s performance was, in fact, Ford himself (like Hamil in The Mandalorian), and not a stand-in. “[Harrison] really dug in and was Indiana Jones,” says Hitch. “Of course, there were some areas where we needed a stunt double, [when Indy was] running [he needed] to have that same agility that he did [40 years ago],” says Hitch. In those instances, Ford’s stunt double, Mike Massa, stepped in.
For some action sequences, the use of prosthetics or de-aged masks were utilized for stunt performers, like Massa, as well as the stunt drivers and riders in the film. So that the post-production visual effects team wouldn’t be starting totally from scratch, Massa was outfitted with Ford-esque prosthetics for the nose, ears, and neck, Ford’s longtime makeup artist Bill Corso shared on Instagram, noting that no matter how good the likeness makeup may be, tracking dots “are a must.” Stunt drivers and riders were outfitted in sculpted masks that depicted Ford’s likeness for two different ages by Waldo Mason FX.
While this type of visual effect is enticing because of the intrigue it creates, Hitch shared this was always a plot point for the movie. “This flashback sequence has been a part of the idea for the movie for a long time — it's a story driven thing,” says Hitch. “It's not meant to be flashy. It’s supposed to tell a story and be a part of something that makes you feel a little bit nostalgic, of course, like I did, because I grew up on Raiders. That's how I feel it should be used. Just because you can, [doesn’t mean] you should do it.”
De-aging isn’t going anywhere, which excites Hitch. “When we turned [FaceSwap] around for dailies, we'd watch it play back and it's like, ‘Holy cow, that's really cool.’ My biggest thing is I really wanted to be a fly on the wall when Harrison saw it for the first time. I would love to have heard what he said to see himself so much younger.”
Read more from The Scenario:
Why Melissa McCarthy's Eyebrows Are Uneven in The Little Mermaid
How Hayley Williams Gets Ready to Perform With Paramore
Meet the Man Behind Hollywood's Most Realistic Prosthetic Penises
Now watch Allure cover star Lindsay Lohan revisit some of her most iconic on-screen looks:
Follow Allure on Instagram and TikTok, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all things beauty.
