Have AI Movies Gotten Too Good?

We featured an AI video earlier here (see “China and War”) in a political context, and I noted that the animation was surprisingly good, that it almost passes for real. The problem of late has always been the humans — faces, expressions and gestures.

To show how far AI has come, here are four short AI films for consideration.

Note: I’m not saying there’s a soul in any of this. I’m saying that for those of us seeking just entertainment, soulless may be enough, as it often already is.

A Scene from The Odyssey

The first is a scene from Homer’s Odyssey made by the filmmaker Heavy Pulp using Grok Imagine. This Twitter thread offers detail on how it was constructed.

Music Video: ‘Coming Back Around’

Next is a music video, again by Heavy Pulp. It’s quite a catchy song and the editing is quite good. Note especially the expressions.

Trailer for ‘Back to the Future 4’

Now a trailer for an imagined film Back to the Future 4 created by NewOldMovies. The voices aren’t right and I’m not fond of some of the visual concepts, but I’m impressed by the “actors.” 

There are quite a few channels like this, some quite popular. No wonder real actors are worried — and pissed. This stuff is coming along, and rather fast.

Feature-Length AI Film: ‘Ojai’

And last, here’s a full-length film called Ojai, by Heavy Pulp again. Says the director on the film’s main page:

The script was written over the course of 2 years from 2018 through early 2020. Production filmed over the course of 27 days in September of 2020 on location in Ojai, CA with a very indie and now fully exhausted budget, and then edited for nearly 6 years. Now, it’s releasing out into the world. … As the script was inspired by real events and circumstances in my own life, there is a very real emotional arc running through it no matter how surreal or “indie” the movie may get at times. Because of that, I will always look back on this project and the process creating it with absolute reverence.

Clearly a labor of love, and clearly the AI had help. Still, the results are impressive. Here is the full-length trailer. I’m including it for its rendering of dramatic content, especially near the end.

If you want to watch the whole film, you can find it here. Much to think about.