Deep Fakes: Real Problems

By Michael Ferreira

Volume 20 Research

Discussion Questions

What is the argument of this video essay, and where is it located in the essay? Why not state it at the outset, or very early on, as you might do in a more conventional essay?
What is the relationship between evidence and argument in this essay, and how is it similar and/different from that relationship in a standard written essay? How much does the evidence "perform" the work of the argument?
Again, focusing on evidence, what are the larger implications this essay makes about the utility and effectiveness of evidence as it is used more generally in our culture? This essay, of course, uses visual evidence to support its claims, but what is the inherent irony of doing so, given what the essay has to say about the way "evidence" is manipulated using deepfake technology?

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Works Cited

“Cool Upbeat Background Music.” YouTube, uploaded by MorningLightMusic, 22 Feb. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAyFXPDUoPQ.

Ctrl Shift Face. “Jim Carrey DeepFake [VFX Comparison].” YouTube, uploaded by Ctrl Shift Face, 3 Sep. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbzVhzNaTdI.

“Deepfake.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepfake. Accessed 19 Dec. 2019.

derpfakes. “Nic Cage | Mega Mix One.” YouTube, uploaded by derpfakes, 24 Sep. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OqMkZNHWPo.

--. “Princess Leia CGI | Deepfakes Replacement.” YouTube, uploaded by derpfakes, 27 Jan. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=614we6ZaQ04.

--. “Hillary Clinton | Fake Replacement.” YouTube, uploaded by derpfakes, 20 Feb. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZmLKw7PG8.

Fong, Joss and Dion Lee. “How Snapchat’s Filters Work.” YouTube, uploaded by Vox, 28 Jun 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc2aJxnmzh0.

“Nic Cage is the New Indiana JONES (Confirmed) (Deepfakes).” YouTube, uploaded by Nick Cage DeepFakes,19 Jan. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zFR0ElRd4.

“Ominous Suspense Music—Silent Shadow.” YouTube, uploaded by Instrumental Halloween Music, 12 Jan. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTFLYCMkyiM&t=135s.

“Sad Emotional Dramatic Ambient Music—Circle of Life (Download and Copyright Free).” YouTube, uploaded by Whitesand, 28 Sep. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLD7nFdwYlk.

Shontell, Alyson. “Snapchat Buys Looksery, a 2-Year-Old Startup That Lets You Photoshop Your Face While You Video Chat.” Business Insider, 15 Sept. 2015, www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-buys-looksery-2015-9.

Suwajanakorn, Supasorn, Steven M. Seitz, and Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman. “Synthesizing Obama: Learning Lip Sync from Audio.” YouTube, uploaded by Supasorn Suwajanakorn, 11 Jul. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yq67CjDqvw.

“You Won’t Believe What Obama Says in This Video!” YouTube, uploaded by BuzzFeedVideo, 17 Apr. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ54GDm1eL0.

“#VoCo. Adobe Audio Manipulator Sneak Peak with Jordan Peele | Adobe Creative Cloud.” YouTube, uploaded by Adobe Creative Cloud, 4 Nov. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3l4XLZ59iw&t=251s.