Digital Domain Combines Artistry and Machine Learning to De-Age Joe Montana for Quantum Leap' Trailer
Brie Clayton September 30, 2022
0 Comments
To Depict the Legendary Quarterback as he Appeared in the 80s, Digital Domain Utilized Charlatan, its Face-Swapping Platform Powered by Machine Learning
Nearly 30 years after leaving the air, the classic series Quantum Leap returns with an all-new cast, and all-new adventures. To help promote the return of the series, NBCUniversal commissioned several original trailers highlighting the time travel/body-swapping nature of the story, including one that features Hall of Fame quarterback and 80s icon Joe Montana in his prime. To help de-age the legendary football star, Academy Award-winning VFX studio Digital Domain deployed its proprietary tool Charlatan, one of the most advanced visual effects systems on the planet.
One of Digital Domain's most powerful advantages is that our technology can be deployed across multiple industries, regardless of the size of the screen or method of distribution, said Matt Dougan, Digital Domain VFX supervisor for the project. For Quantum Leap, we were able to utilize the same tools - even the same talented artists - from our features and episodics groups, to create the most impressive results for any platform quickly.
The spot featuring Montana was created exclusively as a standalone teaser, and begins with the revival's lead, Raymond Lee, heading toward a football field in San Francisco 1984. Lee then looks into a mirror and is thrilled to see Montana - as he looked in the 1980s - staring back at him. To depict Montana in his heyday, Digital Domain worked with the production company Moving Parts and the spot's director Steven Wagner to cast an actor with a roughly similar facial structure to the NFL superstar. They then used a classic visual trick, one that fans of the original series will be familiar with, where Lee and Montana's stand-in mimicked each other from opposite sides of an open frame. To further enhance that effect, Digital Domain added a layer of dirt and grime in post-production to break up the illusion and further sell the effect of a real mirror.
With the foundation of the scene set, Digital Domain and the director headed to San Francisco to meet with Montana and film him making the same facial mannerisms and movements as his stand-in. The VFX team went on to capture several reference photographs that enabled a photogrammetric reconstruction of his head, which Digital Domain then used for both head tracking and 2.5D projections.
Once the live-action footage had been collected, artists began sifting through hours of archival footage of Montana recorded between 1984 and 1990. That included video from multiple sources, including old interviews, advertisements, game footage and the recent Peacock original docuseries, Joe Montana: Cool Under Pressure. Rather than attempting to create a CG head of Montana - a costly, lengthy and difficult process that wouldn't have been possible under the given schedule - all of the data, including the live-action footage and the digital frames, was then run through Charlatan.
Developed internally, Charlatan was created to give artists a new way to approach complex, photorealistic VFX face work, and produce the highest-quality results quickly and efficiently while simultaneously using less resources. For the Quantum Leap trailer, artists began by creating a machine learning model in Charlatan to construct a digital version of Montana's face as he looks today, down to the pores in his skin. Charlatan then placed the reconstruction over the live-action footage of the stand-in, and began the de-aging process while ensuring the new face seamlessly integrated with the existing footage. Artists then made additional alterations, including recreating the hair, and traditional compositing techniques were employed to the finished work.
With the de-aging work done, Digital Domain's artists then filled in the rest of the scene with a CG environment, adding in the background that appears behind Montana in the mirror. With its part done, Digital Domain then submitted the work to the production team, who then created the rest of the teaser around that moment.
Having access to Charlatan means that we can do things that simply couldn't have been done before - at least not at this speed or level of quality, said Matt Smith, Charlatan Department Supervisor for Digital Domain. It still requires a roster of incredibly talented artists to pull off something like de-aging Joe Montana, but Charlatan gives creatives options that just didn't exist a few years ago.
Quantum Leap airs on Mondays 10/9c on NBC, and streams the next day on Peacock.
###
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.
Enter your email address, a first and last name, and let us know what you'd like to see more of in the message!
.grecaptcha-badge{visibility:hidden}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header{display:flex;margin-bottom:10px}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header__content{flex:1;display:flex;flex-direction:column;justify-content:center}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header--image--left{margin-right:10px}.meow-contact-form .meow-contact-form__header .meow-contact-form__header--image--right{margin-left:10px}.meow-contact-form--editor input{color:gray}.meow-contact-form--default{font-size:18px}.meow-contact-form--default input:not([type=submit]),.meow-contact
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/07/2026
New appointments to Screen Australia board 7 July 2026
The Albanese Labor Government has made new appointments to the Screen Australia board.
Dr Tania Chamber...
07/07/2026
The right team. The right time.' How The Killings at Parrish Station stuck t...
07/07/2026
Berklee College of Music Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's...
07/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists train the immune system to make antibodies against numerous HIV strains Preclinical findings mark progress toward a long-sought vacc...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Open source AI has shown how quickly developers can innovate when models, data a...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Digital Domain Combines Artistry and Machine Learning to De-Age Joe Montana for Quantum Leap' Trailer 
