“Filmmaking” using various AI tools is becoming far better and much easier. A company called Curious Refuge is now billing itself as The World’s First Home for AI Storytellers, and their online course walks participants through a variety of tools that make it possible. Now, a single person with these tools, some prompt-writing skills, and a little time could pull together a screenplay, art direction, cinematography, and editing to create their own short films.
Carleton’s Media & Design Specialist, Dann Hurlbert, recently walked Carleton Winter Conference attendees through this iterative process. The video series below offers abbreviated insights from that presentation. It includes:
- Story and Storyboard Development using ChatGPT and Google Gemini
- Image Generation using MidJourney
- Image Animation using Runway
- Voice Over Generation using ElevenLabs
- Character Animation using D-ID
- Basic Video Editing using Adobe Premiere
*Note: each tool has different pricing packages. Carleton College has enabled Google Gemini (formerly Bard) for all accounts and can offer an Adobe Premiere license to Carleton faculty, staff, and students. Otherwise, please pay close attention to user agreements and what you will purchase.
Episode 1: AN OVERVIEW
Episode 2: STORY DEVELOPMENT
As you explore text generation tools, it’s essential to be attentive to the racial, gender, and political bias the results may provide.
Episode 3: IMAGE GENERATION
As you explore image generation, it’s important to note that AI tools, such as Midjourney, often amplify bias. Creating prompts and iterations that reduce that bias is important. Here’s a well-written article from Victoria Turk that appeared on www.restoftheworld.com that analyzed and explained that bias.
Episode 4: IMAGE ANIMATION
Episode 5: NARRATION
Episode 6: AUDIO FROM POND 5
Episode 7: PREMIERE EDITING
Episode 8: ON-CAMERA “TALENT”
Episode 9: PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER
While the consumer-level AI “filmmaking” process isn’t yet competing with Hollywood, it’s easy to see how these AI text, image, and video generation tools do have some practical applications . . . and they’ll just continue to improve. To learn how more faculty are using generative AI in their classes, check out my “Golden Age of Weirdness” post.
If you have questions about these tools or other video production tips, feel free to reach out to me, Dann Hurlbert in Carleton College’s Academic Technology.
*As always, I owe a huge thanks to the PEPS team of students who helped me create these AI videos, especially Auiannce Euwing, who became an AI character herself!