It all begins (of course) with LISSA’S TRIP. My own film that I toiled on/played with for close to five years, a joyous experiment in art and improvisational filmmaking about an actress who takes a lot of LSD and tries to get to her audition anyway (epiphanies ensue).
Back as early as 2019 I began using early AI image processing algorithms to create the hallucinatory footage that would be so crucial to her adventures. It was an amazing experience to work with a technology that had the ability to surprise and actually creatively contribute to the movie. After a fun festival run where we hit 11 festivals around the world and won 7 awards the movie will be available for everyone to watch beginning June 20th.
Here’s a clip.
Maybe LISSA’S TRIP is the first movie to use AI creatively (or maybe not), but it certainly won’t be the last. They’re starting to pop up in my feed more and more. Not sure it’s a good thing. Not yet anyway. These people are going for 100% AI-generated.
I mean… take a look at this:
Yes. Believe it or not. There are people who think this is a good idea. The tech isn’t mature enough yet but that didn’t stop the Lumiere Brothers and it sure isn’t stopping TCLtv (they are a TV manufacturer I think? so obviously know what they’re doing when it comes to movie making).
If you want more (I did say ‘they’ are coming) here are some links to a few other entries in the early annals of AI-movie history.
"Satoshi. The creation of Bitcoin"
"DreadClub" - Full feature AI Anime
While we’re at it, here’s a platform that promises to spit out shows by the millions soon. I can only assume they will (if they aren’t bankrupt before their vaporware can be realized).
Snark aside, I do think that we are probably edging into the realm of being able to create passable anime (the stuff I linked to doesn’t quite cut it as I see it but we are so-so very close). The great advantage of anime is you’re really just moving mouths on still images a lot of the time and performances are all about the audio.
Any attempt at photorealism makes me want to reach for a vomit bag… for now. Cinema is all about seeing a person react emotionally to a situation. Projecting ourselves onto a character on the screen and resonating with them. Not happening.
Not happening - YET.
We’ve all glimpsed Sora. It may be Sora 2 or 3, but we all know the God machine is coming.
Won’t be long now.
Present at the creation