TAMPA,FL (April 19,2012) – Tupac
Shakur’s performance at the annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival last
Sunday, April 15, was quite the eye opener, considering the artist has been
dead for over 15 years. Thanks to careful planning, strategic lighting and the
work of the Digital Domain Media Group, Shakur was resurrected to perform
alongside current heavy hitters Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. Shakur stole the show,
leaving current big up and comers as well as veterans in the music world
limited media attention worthy of a no name stage opener.
Shakur’s
resurrection team, the Digital Domain Media Group, is primarily a special
effects company based in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The most noteworthy work of
the Digital Domain Media Group includes complex fight scene effects in X-Men:
First Class, the morphing of vehicles in Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the
aging of Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Digital Domain
Media Group’s stock has sky rocketed 48% within a week of the Tupac hologram
display, leaving the public unsure of the implications of where holographic
technology will take us but surely demonstrating to the world that holograms
will change the face of entertainment.
“We must be
willing to understand the difference between tasteful reverence and playing God
when it comes to performers”, says Joscelyn Cooper, philosophy graduate of the
University of Tampa.
“Performers and
artists are not meant to be manipulations of light; they are supposed to be
real life people who have dreamt big and achieved what dreams are made of. By
continuing the holographic projections of celebrities and noteworthy people we
are robbing ourselves of the responsibilities of being a famous individual and
picking and choosing what responsibilities we must fulfill”, Cooper has since
began to organize a technology and moral awareness event through her sorority.
Cooper hopes to gather the opinions of others and be able to extrapolate the
future of morals in the international community.
The projection of
Tupac Shakur was eerily life like and most definitely shocking to the world. In
the northeast, students like Clark Brereton, a junior at West Virginia University,
see the development as a “great display of respect in the music community
especially after hearing that Dr. Dre asked for permission to do the display of
Tupac.” Brereton, like many rap fans, is concerned about the misuse of the
technology falling into the wrong hands. “When you have a powerful visual image
of someone and the ability to replicate them, you stand a chance of someone
defiling the memories of the person as well as someone using the technology as
a tool of disrespecting and slandering one another”, Brereton remarked.
The
hologram was created using an overhead projector which reflects down onto a
tilted piece of glass that is on the stage floor, the glass then reflects the
projection into a mylar like screen and then projects a 3-D image. The hologram
cost a reported $100,000 and future plans for a Tupac Shakur tour are in the
works, leaving much room for the reemergence of the Shakur death conspiracy.
The technology is
not yet fully developed but many are unconvinced that it was a mere coincidence
that Shakur was chosen as the first “hologram”.
Since Shakur’s
death in September of 1996, multiple theories have surfaced claiming the
rapper’s existence and strategic faking of his death in order to evade his rape
charges as well as prove his following of the teachings of Nicolo Machiavelli.
Shakur’s extremist
fan sites such as www.2014tupac.com , have correlated the original Machiavelli falsifying
death plot and “disappearance” where they have a countdown for Shakur’s return
at age 43 at 4:03 p.m.
Death conspiracies
of the artist have since been built off of the cremation of Shakur’s body, a
day after his death as well as the speculation of Suge Knight’s lack of injury
and relative size to Tupac Shakur himself as well as the specificity of
Shakur’s lyrics both prior to death and recent releases. The list conspiracies
have since stretched as far as the anticipation for the appearance of Shakur in
the flesh in 2014 from his hiatus in Cuba.
Tupac Shakur’s rumors
will surely not stop with the presence of holographic technology and will
continue to expand as holographic technology expands a sure example of what
will happen for future celebrity projections.
Holographic
projections will not help dispel the rumors that celebrities face and will
definitely place the value of live artists as liabilities. If each and every
artist were able to be recreated to simultaneously perform and “appear” in
places, it would be easier for record labels to make money without tour mishaps
such as acid reflux and unexpected injuries.
The integrity of
touring itself can also be questioned. Holograms are designed to look real, can
the audience tell if their favorite artists are actually in the flesh or will
it solely be determined based on the honor of the record labels?
Tupac Shakur will
surely not be to be final artist to be recreated. Rumors of a similar display
of the late Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson have been in the
air.
Michael Jackson
fans, old and young seem to share the same sentiments on holographic artist
projections. University of Tampa marketing major, Alesia Wilson, 21, is one of
many people who have staunch oppositions of the recreation of their favorite
artists. Wilson stated “where do we draw the line of respect for the dead and
reverence? Personally I don’t think that holograms of artists are positive for
the world, we are teaching everyone that it is possible to manipulate artists
to perform any and everywhere, even after death”; a reputable response to
concerns of the morality of holographic projections.
Artists could opt
out of shows if they are not feeling the part that day and simply take the day
off without suffering the consequences of responsibly handling business and
pleasure.
Shakur’s
resurrection leads us into unchartered territory, what is off limits for this
technology? Can we consider it a leap in technological communication?
International students have found special
excitement when it comes to the technology. International student, Candice Diah,
19, believes “holograms can really help in comforting people since humans are
visual creatures by nature, I for one would really have enjoyed having hologram
technology during my first year of college. I was so homesick and it would have
been really nice if I could have been able to utilize a life size projection to
talk to my mother.”
Holograms will
soon fulfill the dreams of Diah and other wishful thinkers. Apple is rumored to
have included hologram technology for their next iPhone prototype which is
speculated to encompass a feature for a holographic keyboard, paving the way
for the possibility of holographic telecommunications.
Technology is by
no means at a standstill. Morality and technology have been consistently at
odds. Holographic technology is coming faster
than we have anticipated, the true question is, are we responsible enough and
ready for what this technology brings? Coachella has brought into fruition,
technology of our wildest dreams that will change the face of live
entertainment and telecomminications.
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