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synthespian noun. A synthetic thespian. A simulated character who "acts" in 3-D animations and games (such as Woody and Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story).

Example Citation:
"The synthespian, an artificially-created 'human' actor, is the Hollywood Screen Actors' Guild's nightmare. ... The word — and, yes, it's an awful one — was coined by LA-based digital effects expert Jeff Kleiser when he created the industry's first virtual actor (or 'vactor') for his 1988 short film Nestor Sextone for President."
—Allan Laing, "Not what you think," The Herald, December 26, 2001

Earliest Citation:
"In 1988 Kleiser and Walczak produced a short satirical piece called 'Sextone for President,' which centered on a bid by a 'synthespian' named Nestor Sextone to become president of the Synthetic Actors Guild. The muscle-bound Sextone complains that live actors have been masquerading as synthetics and thus robbing them of jobs (a thinly veiled reference to 'Max Headroom')."
—"Energy signs computer graphics directing team of Kleiser & Walczak," Back Stage, February 16, 1990

Related Words:
actorvist
ludology
machinima
tradigital

Subject Categories:
Computers - Games
Culture - Film

Posted on March 28, 1996 at 9:39 AM
Updated on December 27, 2001 at 9:39 AM


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