Here’s a true “damn, I wish I’d thought of that” moment: MEL Magazine took one 3.5-hour long look at The Irishman and thought, “I wonder if FaceTune would have done a better job than Industrial Light & Magic?” The answer, while not definitive, is damned entertaining, and what more do you want, really?
MEL asked five beauty influencers—FaceTune experts, VSCO girls, YouTube vloggers, you get the idea—to take a single still from The Irishman and let their powers fly. The moment in question (a funeral) arrives late in the film, and as such, Robert De Niro is not playing a much-younger version of himself, but instead, looks like what he is—an old dude.
They did not have millions and millions of dollars. They had FaceTune and other everyday selfie-editing apps. And the results? Not bad at all, comparatively.
You’ll need to click through for all the images, but trust us, it’s worth the effort. None of them are all that convincing, but neither is The Irishman’s effort. Granted, MEL’s experts were working with the still, not with video:
Seriously, though, [Arielle España, one of the influencers] acknowledges editing a photo is a different skill from editing video. It’s easy to superimpose a more vibrant skin onto De Niro that will remain consistent while the character walks through various shadows. “The movie did something that would’ve taken me hours,” she adds.
In case you’re wondering if this is a publication worth your notice, be advised that they’re doing the lord’s work this week:
Send Great Job, Internet tips to gji@theonion.com