All The Fun Of The Despair [AI Art Generation]

Working with an art generation AI, at least one that is freely available on Google Play Store but in crippleware form, is strangely like rubbing a lamp and coming face to face with a genie who informs you in booming, mystical voice "You may have five wishes per day. To unlock unlimited wishes, subscribe to Genie Pro. Also some categories of wish may require in-app payments."

The striking and not-at-all-contrived similarites do not end there. As with making wishes for genies, at least in my experience, when making up prompts for art AIs the wording matters - and it's hard to know what words or phrases will make a difference, let alone what will lead to a result close to your actual wish. As with genies, always assume that the art AI wil interpret your wish in the most unhelpful way possible, so try not to give wiggle room. You could of course experiment with hundreds of alternative phrases but then you would need to pay the subscription fees or risk running out of wishes too quickly.

"Artists staring sadly into the abyss"

Sci-Fi Gene (with minor assistance from Wonder AI), 2022

Digital

On the other hand, if you are willing to perservere, then at least sometimes your wishes really can come true. At least if your wishes are to see medieval cities made out of cheese.

"Busy medieval city made of cheese"

Sci-Fi Gene (with minor assistance from Wonder AI), 2022

Digital

I asked Wonder AI to come up with posters for some of my films, using the titles as prompts and the Cinematic AI. The results are... interesting.

"Last Zombie Standing" - does indeed feature one standing zombie and has created a decently creepy atmosphere, or at least has bunged some gaslamps around the place. Other zombies are present but one is sitting on a ledge and one is leaning on a wall so neither are technically standing. Wonder AI has delivered on the brief and I would have been happy to use this poster.

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" is not at first glance a film about camera equipment at all - it's a lighthearted (but adult) LEGO-animated comedy about a top-secret experimental drug that allows a failing writer to access 1% of his brain.

But AI is more powerful and more insightful than you might think. Wonder AI has correctly deduced that my film is in fact a sharp and unapologetic satirical deconstruction of the entire film industry, taking particular aim at the two most over-used cinematic techniques of all - foreshadowing and the focus pull. As an auteur it's nice to be understood once in a while.

Meanwhile my over-long title has nothing at all to do with drugs: it's a reference to the regular and highly delusional claim made by Kino London club organizers that they could, through their extensive industry contacts, score cheap equipment for filmmakers. And indeed, were you to take them up on their offer you could well end up with something like the device featured in the poster.

"Steampunk Girl" while I cannot fault Len Peralta's original artwork for John Anealio's song, which appears in the final reveal at the end of my lyric video, this image comes a close second. I was particularly impressed to see that Wonder AI has perfectly captured the steampunk vibe without hypersexualizing the image, and without resorting to the most obvious genre tropes: no brass goggles, and not a single cogwheel. What happened to Steampunk Girl's left arm is a question to be answered in the prequel.

You can watch all three films on my Short Films page here.

"Broken Bird" Screening: Kino London

My music video for "Broken Bird" will be spreading its wings for a screening on Wednesday 20th January, at Kino London - London's open-mic short film night at Electrowerks club in Angel. Doors are at 7.30. Advance tickets on the website or buy on the door. Facebook event details here.

"Broken Bird" is a song by Ariel Undine - listen to more of Ariel's music here.

"Steampunk Girl" Screening: Kino London

The premiere screening of "Steampunk Girl" will be at Kino London, at Electrowerkz in Angel, on 7th July 2014. Doors are at 7.30. You can find out more about this "open mic film night" on the Kino London website.

Steampunk Girl is a song by John Anealio: discover more of John's music here.

When Words Collide [Work in progress: Steampunk Girl]

Putting the final touches to the Steampunk Girl video now: one major scene still to render, which will take approximately 20 hours to create 40 seconds of film. There's still time for things to go wrong, but provided there aren't too many crashes the film will be ready for a premiere screening at Kino London on Monday.

My first foray into kinetic typography has been really satisfying. I'm working in Blender which has advantages and disadvantages. KT lends itself very well to 2D animation and a lot of videos have been made using 2D packages like After Effects or Photoshop. It's not hard to simulate some 3D effects in these programs as well. For me it makes sense to work in a 3D space, not unlike making a physical stop motion animation, I think this matches the way I think. Also Blender is designed for really fast creative work once you are familiar with all the short cuts, and where you actually need 3D effects, or smoke, particles, physics, fluids etc. they are all built in. I also found I could use the compositor to create a look and feel for the animation, for example incorporating fake shadows, motion blur, vignetting etc.

For KT music videos, one issue must come up quite often, irrespective of which animation software you use: what do you do when you hit an instrumental break and there are no words to base your animation around? I came up with a solution, but you - and I - will have to wait until Monday to see if it worked...

Killer Eels From Mars

Molly Brown's short film, made for a Kino Challenge. One of the voice-overs sounds strangely familiar...

Santa meets John Stuart Mill

I like Santa. I like John Stuart Mill. But which is best? Two indie music videos made by talented Kino London regulars:


"What Did John Stuart Mill Say Again?" Butterflies On Strings
Directed by Emma Rozanski, DoP Jamie Kennearly


"Topsy Turvy Xmas" David Fisher featuring John Cooper Clarke
directed by Molly Brown

Six Of The Best [Music Videos]

A selection of music videos from the indie film scene, mostly seen at short film nights: great opportunities to meet other filmmakers or artists and share war stories. I've mentioned one or two of these films before but I thought it would be good to bring them all together. So make yourself some popcorn and enjoy your own music video festival...

A fantasy antidote to a busy life: "Lazy" Juliet Russell, directed by Ayala Sharot (spotted at Rotoreliefs)

An intergalactic love story: "Cold Caller Love" Me & The Neck, directed by James Spinney (spotted at Kino London)

"Ivan" Leika Mochán, directed by Carlotta Cardana & Marcos Villaseñor (spotted at Kino London and everywhere)

"Young People Love Noise" Lazarus directed by Angelo Calarco (spotted at Kino London)

"Lover" Bandish Projekt Feat. Shaa'ir directed by Geoffrey Gilson

And finally a heart-broken robot tries to escape the clutches of his moonshine-making hillbilly captor: "Purity Of Heart" Pearson directed by James Scott (spotted at Moviebar)

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" Screening: Portobello Pop-Up Cinema

Possibly the trendiest screening yet of "We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" will be at Portobello Pop-Up Cinema on Friday 20th July. As part of the London Lo-Fi season, the evening's entertainment includes a selection of Kino London shorts followed by the 1950 classic "Night And The City."

Kino London Calling

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" is Kino London's film of the week. Thanks guys! Indeed I should point out that if it weren't for the Kino London house rules this film might never have been made.

Kino London 38

The Kino London screening on 1st March featured several impressively creepy horror productions - watch out Tom Six! - so it felt good to be able to provide a little light relief with my own animated film. Molly Brown also continued her unbroken run at Kino, screening an insightful wildlife documentary. The evening ended with two great indie music videos, both with their own distinctive style: Young People Love Noise (Lazarus) directed by Angelo Calarco, and Hayley Don't Say Goodbye (Zoe Konez) directed by Joaquin Bas, below. It helps that the songs are awesome too. I must acknowledge a classic schoolboy error in failing to start my own music videos with a close-up of a gramophone.

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" Screening: Kino London

"We Can Get You Some Really Cheap Gear" wrapped on Sunday night and will be screened at Kino London, at the Vibe Bar in Brick Lane, on 1st March.

Once Upon A Time In Lapland

Short film made for a Kino London challenge, with a title chosen by the audience, filmed in Dalston in November, screened for a Kino audience on 1^st December. Music by Parlour Cafe used with kind permission of the artists. I previously blogged about the making of this film here.

Energized

This is how a good screening feels: "Once Upon A Time In Lapland" was shown at Kino London on Thursday. All the production team made it to the screening, the film was well received, and, best of all - the rumours about mince pies turned out to be true.

Our film needs some final adjustments but will be online very soon. The programme on Thursday was rich and varied: here are two that made me laugh:

Laplander 2: The Last Santa

made by Molly Brown who also accepted a challenge at the November screening

Suicide Tuesday directed by Anton Short

The Kino London team: Jamie, Laura and Santa

"Once Upon A Time In Lapland" Screening: Kino London

"Once Upon A Time In Lapland" will be screened at Kino London's open mic film night today 1st December, at the Vibe Bar in Brick Lane. Details at www.kinolondon.com . There are unconfirmed reports that mince pies may be occurring.

Kino Challenge Update 1: Once More, Mit Sleighbells

Take six film enthusiasts, lull them into a suggestive state with hypnotic music videos - some with more horses than others. Add a certain amount of gentle persuasion, and a title selected by the audience - and the Kino Challenge is on. We carried out a very rapid shoot last weekend in Dalston, and our Santsploitation movie "Once Upon A Time In Lapland" is now in post-production.

Cold Caller Love

Probably my favourite of the Kino London films in November - an amazing music video, directed by James Spinney, who described it as "an intergalactic love story."

Where's Kino?

"2007" was screened at Kino London on 3rd November, alongside some other truly memorable films: a family psychodrama turned out to be about peanuts, an alien stranded on Earth made contact with a horse, a man contemplated his breakfast egg (possibly best film of the evening) and the hunt for a certain bespectacled, knitware-wearing tourist took a sinister turn.

I'll post links to these films when I can. I've also taken on a new challenge making a film with some other Kino Londoners over the next month - watch this space.

"2007" Screening: Kino London

Exciting news: " 2007" will be screened at the Kino London short film night on 3rd November 2011, at the Vibe Live venue in Brick Lane. Entry £4. Details at the Kino London website or Facebook event page.