Making of The Zizi Show (short version) | Jake Elwes discusses Deepfake Drag

Making of The Zizi Show (short version) | Jake Elwes discusses Deepfake Drag
The Zizi Show, 2020
zizi.ai/
Created by Jake Elwes - www.jakeelwes....
Drag Queens, Drag Kings, Drag Things and Artificial Intelligence…
The Zizi Show (2020) is a deepfake drag cabaret, a virtual online stage hosting a groundbreaking new show with a twist. It features acts that have been constructed using deepfake technology, learning how to do drag by watching a diverse group of human performers. The Zizi Show dissects one of the dominant myths about AI, the notion that 'an AI' is a thing we might mistake for a person.
The bodies in the show have been generated by neural networks trained on a community of drag artists who were filmed to create training datasets at a London cabaret venue closed during COVID-19. During each act audiences are invited to interact with the website and play with which deepfake bodies perform which songs. At times this breaks down when the A.I. tries to conceive impossible positions or combines multiple different queer identities; it can even reveal the skeleton tracking the deepfake is built on. The Zizi Show constructs and then deconstructs a virtual cabaret that pushes the limits of what can be imagined on a digital stage.
Film:
Director and Editor: Tom Francome
Production Company: planethouse.io
Sound Designer: Henry Sims
Project:
Jake Elwes - Artist, Coder & Producer
Me - Director of Drag
Alexander Hill - Web & Development
Toby Elwes - Camera & Lighting
Charlie Baker - Sound Mixing
The Apple Tree - Filming Location (LGBTQ+ Cabaret Venue)
Part of The New Real by Edinburgh Futures Institute at Edinburgh International Festival.
Drag artists:
Bolly-Illusion | Cara Melle | Chiyo | Dakota Schiffer
Lilly SnatchDragon | Luke Slyka | Mahatma Khandi | Mark Anthony
Me | Oedipussi Rex | Ruby Wednesday | Sister Sister | Tete Bang
Music:
This Is My Life (La Vita) · Shirley Bassey
℗ 1968 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Engineer: Bob Norberg
Produced by: Dave Pell
Engineer: Robert Norberg
Vocals: Shirley Bassey
Composer: A Amurri
Composer: Antonio Amurri
Composer: B Canfora
Composer: Bruno Canfora
Arranger: Johnny Harris
Composer: Norman Newell