Neat Tools Are Needed to Help Creatives Deliver Fantastic Films, Shows Andy Marken June 26, 2024
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Turns out, in my Matrix, the worse we treat you, the more we manipulate you, the more energy you produce. It's nuts. I've been setting productivity records every year since I took over. And, the best part, zero resistance. - The Analyst, The Matrix Resurrections, Warner Bros, 2021
For a technology that has been around since the 40s, it's really hard to understand all of the noise - cheering and hand wringing that has grown around AI over the past couple of years especially in the content creation, production, distribution industry.
Every morning, you wake up and someone has developed the perfect AI tool that's going to change the way we live and work.
Then you hear experts explain how it's going to be the second coming or the devil incarnate.
It's not a new prophecy the automatic loom created a panic in the 19th century, but it ended up creating more and better jobs.
The typewriter was going to wipe out jobs for secretaries but it expanded and enhanced work opportunities for millions. Yes, it did totally sc*** up our ability to write cursive but
Back in 1952, Arthur Samuel built a rudimentary AI checkers program that went on to beat the best players around.
Then an AI package was developed that could beat leading chess masters.
But the technology met its match when a human beat AI at the ancient abstract Chinese board game Go, a game that is almost impossible to master.
Governments the world over have rushed to develop laws and guidelines to protect us from AI world and mankind domination.
That's tough because we don't know what we don't know.
In the film industry, AI will probably replace some people (executives?), but will help others advance to more responsible jobs. Ironically, it will probably least affect those in the trades - key grips, electricians, craft services.
Many in the industry are already using AI tools, others will have to adapt or
Brothers Strong - Christopher Nolan, who swept the Acadamy Awards with his film Oppenheimer, had some spare time during the Hollywood creatives strike so he joined his brother, screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, on the picket line. Now that's brotherly love/support.
WGA, SAG/AFTRA spent weeks/months hammering out guardrails with AMPTP to limit AI uses to protect writers, actors and others in the film/show industry.
Depending on which side of the table you're sitting on, it's either the saving grace for the visual entertainment industry or the worst d*** thing that has ever been introduced for the industry.
It's neither and it's both!
Good people are already using it to do some spectacular work. Bad people are using it to sc**w up things.
Both sides will get better at what they do.
AI tools progressively made The Planet of the Apes franchise films better and better.
When Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was released, it all felt natural even more real. You could see every hair on Ceasar (and the others).
Healthy 70 - Godzilla may be 70 years old, but he never looked better, thanks to the creative work of the Toho Studios VFX team.
Godzilla Minus One earned an Oscar for its VFX work.
Godzilla is one of the few lead cast members that has gotten better with age.
And Toho Studios did the whole thing on a total budget of $15M, thanks to the very creative work of 65 artists, their AI-enabled VFX tools in addition to their attention to detail and the budget (time/money).
Go ahead, compare it to Dune: Part 2 that cost around $200M and other recent two hour blockbusters producers/directors who reshoot again and again and then have talented folks fix it in post.
There are dozens of AI-enabled tools already being used throughout a project's development, production, post and delivery.
But maybe the most important application is at the front end of the front end of a project before writers, cinematographers, actors and crew members get involved.
So, perhaps before a studio or backer commits to the video story's time, people and financial budget, AI should be used to test and see if the idea is worth a d***.
It can be used to antiseptically determine if the premise/storyline will appeal to an audience and how big that target audience could be compared to the cost.
Prequels, sequels, spinoffs and franchise extensions can seem safe bets, but folks can get tired - fast - with the same old same old.
Every series, every film, every genre has its day and then Take an atypical family as an example.
Film Appeal - Even award-winning films/shows don't appeal to everyone because we tend to like certain genres. In addition, tastes change over time.
Our daughter loved Barbie.
Our son liked Dune: Part 2.
The wife enjoys nearly all of the easy-to-digest cops/robbers and good people/bad folks shows that alternate between traditional TV and streaming.
The few times we get the controller to stream something, we're partial to sci fi, thriller, action and documentary films.
As film data researcher Stephen Follows points out, there may be genre spillover; but folks have a built-in bias toward certain genres, and they change over time.
Audience Targeting - People in countries around the world also have varying genre interests. One type of project doesn't appeal to people in the same way.
In addition, Bruce Nash, international box office tracker and Follows note that what puts seats in theater seats and people in front of their big screen sets varies by interest level around the globe.
In other words, AI can be a valuable tool by using it to wade through all of the data of the projects - past and present - to give producers, directors and studio heads a good idea if the project is going to resonate with most of their target audie
