1. Script Development and Enhancement

At the heart of every blockbuster lies a compelling script. Deep Brain’s AI injects innovation into script development, offering tools that analyze successful scripts, predict audience preferences, and generate creative suggestions. This not only expedites the scripting process but also introduces fresh perspectives, contributing to the creation of narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.

2. Virtual Pre-Visualization with AI

Before a single frame is shot, filmmakers can now embark on a virtual journey thanks to Deep Brain’s AI. The technology enables virtual pre-visualization, allowing directors and cinematographers to explore scenes, camera angles, and special effects in a digital realm. This not only streamlines the planning process but also enhances creativity, providing a dynamic platform to experiment with visual storytelling.

3. AI-Enhanced Casting Decisions

Casting decisions become more nuanced and data-driven with Deep Brain’s AI. The technology analyzes historical data on actors’ performances, audience reactions, and industry trends to provide insights that aid casting directors. This ensures more informed decisions, optimizing the selection of actors who not only fit roles but also resonate with the intended audience.

4. Efficient Post-Production Editing

Deep Brain’s AI revolutionizes post-production editing by introducing efficiency and precision. The technology aids in automating certain editing processes, accelerating workflows, and reducing production costs. This allows filmmakers to focus on refining creative aspects, ensuring that the final cut aligns seamlessly with their artistic vision.

5. AI-Generated Soundtracks and Scores

Music has the power to elevate cinematic experiences, and Deep Brain’s AI brings a new dimension to film scores. The technology analyzes emotions depicted in scenes and generates music that complements the mood, enhancing the overall impact. This AI-driven approach not only simplifies the soundtrack creation process but also ensures a harmonious fusion of visuals and music.

6. Predictive Box Office Analysis

In the ever-evolving landscape of film distribution, Deep Brain’s AI contributes to predictive box office analysis. By crunching numbers, assessing historical data, and considering market trends, the technology provides filmmakers and studios with insights into potential box office performance. This allows for strategic marketing and distribution planning, optimizing the film’s reach and impact.

7. Enhanced Special Effects and CGI

The magic of Hollywood often lies in its breathtaking special effects and CGI. Deep Brain’s AI enhances these visual spectacles by offering tools that streamline the creation of realistic effects. Whether it’s bringing mythical creatures to life or orchestrating gravity-defying stunts, the AI-driven approach accelerates the production of awe-inspiring visuals.

8. Personalized Marketing Campaigns

Tailoring marketing campaigns to individual viewer preferences becomes a reality with Deep Brain’s AI. The technology analyzes audience data, social media interactions, and viewing patterns to craft personalized marketing strategies. This not only maximizes promotional impact but also ensures that films reach the right audiences, contributing to higher engagement and box office success.

9. AI-Enhanced Storyboarding

Storyboarding gets a facelift with Deep Brain’s AI, offering a dynamic and interactive platform for visualizing scenes. Filmmakers can explore different angles, lighting scenarios, and pacing options through AI-generated storyboards. This accelerates the pre-production phase and provides a comprehensive visual guide for the entire filmmaking team.

10. Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Experiences

Deep Brain’s AI extends its influence to immersive VR experiences tied to film releases. Through AI-driven VR content, audiences can step into the worlds of their favorite movies, exploring key locations and engaging with characters in virtual environments. This not only extends the narrative beyond the screen but also offers a new dimension to fan engagement.

Conclusion: Redefining Hollywood’s Canvas

Deep Brain’s AI emerges as a game-changer in Hollywood, weaving its technological tapestry across every aspect of the filmmaking process. From script conception to post-production finesse, the AI-driven revolution enhances creativity, efficiency, and audience engagement. As Hollywood embraces these advancements, it sets the stage for a new era of cinematic storytelling, where the synergy between human creativity and artificial intelligence results in cinematic masterpieces that captivate global audiences. Deep Brain’s AI not only transforms the film industry but also contributes to the evolution of storytelling itself, ensuring that the magic of the silver screen continues to dazzle and evolve in 2024 and beyond.

This transformative exploration of Deep Brain’s AI contributions to the film industry is a sponsored post. While the content is crafted with informative insights, readers are advised to consider the promotional nature of the article.

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The most recent iteration of their machine learning-based natural language processor, ChatGPT3 has recently generated furore on the internet as to the possibilities of A.I. In order to test out the A.I tool, we asked the programme to define itself, giving the prompt “What is Chat GPT“? Here’s what it responded with:

“ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text in response to prompts. It is trained on a massive dataset of text from the internet and is able to understand and respond to a wide range of topics and questions. It can be used for various natural language processing tasks such as language translation, text summarization, and chatbot development.”

With that out of the way, it was time for a movie-related question. We asked the question “In your opinion, what are the 10 best movies ever made and why?” The response below is directly from Chat GPT:

“As a machine learning model, I do not have personal opinions or preferences. However, I can provide a list of some critically acclaimed films and a brief explanation of why they are considered to be among the best ever made.

“The Godfather” (1972) – Considered a masterpiece of filmmaking, the film explores themes of family, power, and corruption through the story of a New York crime family.
“The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) – This film tells the story of a man wrongfully convicted of murder and his friendship with a fellow inmate. It is praised for its performances, direction, and themes of hope and redemption.

“The Godfather: Part II” (1974) – A continuation of the story from the first film, this movie explores the early life of Vito Corleone and the rise of Michael Corleone, while also depicting the fall of the Corleone empire.

“The Dark Knight” (2008) – A psychological thriller that explores the theme of good vs evil through the story of Batman and the Joker. It is widely praised for its performances, direction and its exploration of the human psyche.

“Schindler’s List” (1993) – This film is based on the true story of a German businessman who saves the lives of more than a thousand Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. It is praised for its powerful performances, direction and its unflinching portrayal of one of the darkest periods in human history.

“12 Angry Men” (1957) – This film tells the story of a jury deliberation in a murder trial. It is widely praised for its performances and its exploration of themes of justice, bias and the human condition.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) – The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it is widely praised for its visual effects, action sequences, and its exploration of themes of love, sacrifice, and friendship.

“Pulp Fiction” (1994) – This film is widely considered a masterpiece of modern cinema. It tells a number of interconnected stories that explore themes of love, violence and redemption.

“Goodfellas” (1990) – This film tells the true story of a mobster’s rise and fall. It is widely praised for its performances, direction and its unflinching portrayal of the criminal underworld.

“The Matrix” (1999) – This groundbreaking film explores the theme of reality and perception through the story of a hacker who discovers that the world he knows is a simulation. It is praised for its visual effects, action sequences, and its exploration of deep philosophical ideas.”

The above is the full transcript of ChatGPT’s response. It is interesting to note that the machine learning tool clearly states it has no personal opinion. Current A.I chatbots (from ChatGPT to Amazon’s Alexa) function more as a development on Google search i.e. providing information to human prompts than they do as conscious humanoids who develop their own opinions in the way that we do (at least for now). However, it’s still interesting to see ChatGPT’s response. Firstly, it’s very well written and contains films that regularly feature on different movie lists. What is fascinating is why ChatGPT chose these films in this order. How did Chat GPT weigh up what a “critically acclaimed” film was? Why did it only respond with 9 movies? Furthermore, in the future when we look at such programmes to analyse critical acclaim, how do the human biases in the data that are used to train the A.I model play out in its response?

Also Read: A.I Generated Art & Movies: A Collision Course

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

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Recently a story of Bruce Willis selling his likeness to a deepfake company did the rounds. This has been reported as false, but the news was not far-fetched. With technology advancing, and even deceased actors being signed for new films, could this become a common thing? And if it could, does that mean it should?

“No one’s ever really gone” – Luke Skywalker

Darth Vader isn’t the only Star Wars character that could live on for as long as the franchise goes on. Several characters from the original trilogy have made appearances in projects made decades after but canonically set around the same time. Leia appeared de-aged in a cameo at the end of Rogue One, set moments before the opening of A New Hope.

Due to the (relative) poor box office of Solo, Lucasfilm moved away from films, instead focusing on series, such as The Mandalorian. They also decided they will no longer recast legacy characters, with Luke Skywalker being the most notable example. Luke has made celebrated appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Using a combination of Mark Hamill’s performance and a younger body double to create a version of the character as he would appear in his 30s.

The technology has improved very quickly. In the year between Luke’s appearances, the character looks much better, even if not seamless. The voice is also synthesised via a program called Respeecher, the same program used to recreate Vader’s voice. Given the comments about not recasting legacy characters, it is likely that this approach will be used in the future, in theory meaning that Luke Skywalker could be appearing in Star Wars projects, long after Mark Hamill is retired or has passed. The reactions to the “casting” of James Dean were overwhelmingly negative. But given the attachment people have to the franchise and Luke Skywalker in particular, would this still be seen as a negative? Especially when, currently, Hamill is still involved in the portrayal and it has his blessing

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should – Ian Malcolm

This does lead to a larger discussion of why? Of course, if the industry wasn’t so focused on Intellectual Property and nostalgia, we’d probably have a lot fewer prequels in the first place. But the question remains, why not just recast? Many successful franchises have recast, including Star Wars, with Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, recently recast one of its iconic roles – Captain Kirk. The challenge any actor faces with these roles is whether to imitate the original or offer their own interpretation. If an actor is just going to imitate the original, then a digital double makes some sense, it’s as close to the original as you can get. An exception to this rule is in voice acting, where actors taking on a role will often do an impression of the previous actor. Robin Williams famously went the extra mile to safeguard his likeness against being recreated after his death. This has resulted in his iconic Genie character always being played by an actor doing an impression of his performance.

So could this become the norm for actors in the future? Many actors avoided roles in the MCU because of lengthy contracts. Chris Evans almost turned down the role of Captain America because of the number of films he had to make, it’s hard to imagine including his likeness forever helping with that decision. Marvel also quickly clarified that Chadwick Boseman would not be recreated for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, following his death in 2020. So clearly some of the ethical decisions are considered with the technology. Ultimately, the final decision likely rests with the actors themselves, or their estate if they have passed. On one hand, it allows their iconic role to live on and ensure their legacy (as well as likely providing for their family after they’ve gone). On the other, it stops anyone else from putting their own spin on the role. Franchises like Doctor Who and the Bond films would probably not have had the longevity they enjoyed if the original lead was being recreated for every entry.

As technology will only improve, it is unlikely that this debate will go away. The decision will likely be up to individual actors, who will agree or disagree for a variety of personal reasons. Posthumous Stan Lee cameos might be a nice way for him to be remembered, but it’s hard to imagine Harrison Ford being pleased about new Indiana Jones entries with him as a younger man.

Also Read: A.I Generated Art & Movies: A Collision Course

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Top Gun’s story is centred around a training academy that produces the very best pilots. Tom Cruise plays the ambitious main protagonist (Maverick) who wanted to be number one and Top Gun shows us the rivalry Tom’s character has with the current number 1 (Ice) played by Val Kilmer. Tragedy, coming of age, romance and action, with a cracking 80’s soundtrack. I found that Top Gun is still an entertaining watch as an adult.

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer plays the confrontational Ice Man. The rival to Tom Cruise’s Maverick. The American actor later starred in Heat (1995), Batman Forever (1995) and worked with Top Gun Director Tony Scott again on True Romance (1993) and Deja Vu (2006).

In his interview with the New York Times Kilmer revealed he had developed a tumour. It was 2014 when a doctor diagnosed him with throat cancer. The treatments that followed involved chemotherapy and a tracheostomy. The Batman beat Cancer, but was left in a debilitating condition. His ailment meant that he now has to eat through a tube and use an electric voice box in order to speak. Kilmer featured in the autobiographical documentary Val (2021) after his recovery. You can hear how the actor sounds post throat cancer towards the end of the trailer.

Remarkably, despite his unfortunate circumstances, Val is still able to work. How could an actor who uses an electrolarynx be able to work? Through the power of technology.

Sonantic

John Flynn and Zeena Quereshi founded Sonantic in 2018. Their aim was to improve upon the common and robotic-sounding text-to-speech solutions that convert written text into spoken words. They achieve a hyper-realistic outcome by creating a model of an actor’s voice using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In 2020 Sonantic created Faith, who they claim is the first AI that can cry. Check out this demonstration of the emotion their algorithm is capable of conveying.

Return of the Ice Man

The Washington Post reported that Sonantic were approached by Val Kilmer’s representatives to make a custom AI voice model for him. The usual process involves having actors record a script and feeding the recorded audio into their Voice Engine (VE). The VE then trains the AI model. But because Val couldn’t record, Sonantic had to research and implement new algorithms. This resulted in more than 40 different voice models, so Sonantic selected the best one to use for Val. After the model is chosen, it can be fine-tuned in Sonantic’s desktop application. You can read more about the full process here and check out a clip of Val’s voice model below.

Sonantic developed desktop software with a beautiful UI (User Interface) that resembles DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) tooling. Operators have options to choose what kind of emotion the audio is delivered in and choices range from anger to happiness. One could opt for a shouting style and even configure the intensity. Perhaps a director wants the actor to convey a high amount of fear in a scene? Well, there’s an option you can toggle to make the voice sound like it is extremely fearful. A custom dictionary allows one to add new words to the model. Editors can adjust the pitch, the pacing and alter the emphasis too. One can even batch process multiple voices at once. It sounds powerful, doesn’t it? Check out the video demonstration to see this all in action.

Is an AI Voice Model Ethical?

Kilmer felt confident enough in his audio doppelgänger to pitch an idea to Top Gun Maverick Director Joseph Kosinski. The voice model and accompanying software offer filmmakers unparalleled control over an actor’s voice. But this leap forward in voice technology raises ethical questions. What if the actor is deceased? Should the model still be used? What if the software is misused in combination with deep fake technology? Could the actor be impersonated? Sonantic addresses these valid concerns in an article sharing their guidelines and principles.

The AI audio pioneers offered their assurances to actors worried machines are coming for their jobs. Sonantic’s mission is to empower actors, not to replace them. A synthetic voice can be used on multiple projects simultaneously. This could drastically increase earning potential and give actors a passive income. Film production budgets will be able to retain funds that would otherwise be used to cater for actors on site. Maybe the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?

Conclusion

I previously wrote about A Space Odessey 2001. A movie which featured the computer AI – HAL 9000. Back in 1968, the fictional precursor to Siri and Alexa was voiced by an actor. But in 2022 the actor could be at home while his voice model went to work for him. Synthesised voices do carry concerns about potential misuse and some may be wary of their potential to replace actors. But Val Kilmer’s story is a shining example of the good that voice tech can do to empower actors. Hopefully, fans of the original Top Gun movie will be glad that Sonantic’s Photoshop for voice exists. After all, you wouldn’t be able to bring back the Ice Man without it.

Also Read: Artificial Intelligence: The New Art of Storytelling?

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As filmmakers constantly look for ways that technology could be used to help them, such as what Disney has been doing with recent Star Wars and Marvel projects. With deepfakes becoming more common, the use of A.I. in media is becoming more common, so is it possible that one day we could go to the cinema and see a film written by an A.I.?

How does it work?

The intelligence part of Artificial Intelligence comes from the fact that it can learn. For example, Netflix looks at shows you like, dislike and even the time of day you watch, compares it to similar viewers to offer you recommendations. The more you watch, the more it learns and can make better recommendations. Of course, everyone is different, and it may be harder to determine some viewers’ habits than others.

A.I.s like these rely on information, the more they have, the better they can try to do their jobs. In this example, VFX artists attempt to improve on Luke Skywalker’s appearance in The Mandalorian using a deepfake. The A.I works by looking at various photos of both Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi, and of the stand-in actor. These then give it lots of information to “replace” the actor’s phase with Luke Skywalker.

A similar experiment was done with writing a Sci-Fi Film. A programme was fed several examples of sci-fi films, before creating its own, called Sunspring. The results are mixed, with some sentences making sense, but the overall plot comes off as nonsensical.

Mr Puzzles

Netflix recently tried the same experiment, this time using horror films. The result Mr Puzzles Wants You To Be Less Alive, was published online.

The “film” is quite obviously inspired by Saw, complete with traps, puzzles and a strange masked figure. A lot of the elements of horror are there, with some lines even working. However, it seems that the program hasn’t quite figured out how these individual elements fit together. The result plays more like a nonsensical parody of the genre. The whale twist is certainly original though.

The bot has clearly picked out key elements of horror movies, Jennifer’s having bodies and featuring chainsaws. However, it’s not able to separate them, resulting in it trying to include everything. Interestingly some parts do make sense, and there’s even something of a character arc for the detective.

While worrying about deep fakes is a real concern, it doesn’t look like we have to worry about A.I.s writing films just yet. The technology is impressive and has some understanding of what makes a horror film, it’s very limited. It doesn’t seem able to grasp the elements that make something scary, or what makes a character compelling. Perhaps this A.I. would be better suited to writing comedy?

Also Read: Your Favourite Movies DeepFaked

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The same can be said for media texts; they are stories which the writers and directors feel need to be shared and they have particular ideas about how these tales should be told. These decisions are influenced by numerous factors including environment,  personal experience and emotional ties.

So is the emerging trend of using Artificial Intelligence (A.I) taking away the personal touch that writers, directors and editors bring to a production? Or is this simply the direction that the film industry is moving in and we just need to get on board or get left behind?

AI has been used in other areas aside from the film industry to help predict the success of a piece of work. Wattpad is an online program and app which currently has 65 million users worldwide. People are able to publish books via this website and it has seen some become bestselling authors. Sounds brilliant, but where does AI come into it? The website uses ‘plot-analysing software which is able to determine which subjects and content have previously been successful, profile audiences and basically create the perfect plot for a target audience -all a user has to do is write the book to fit.

One person who did just that is Beth Reekles, author of the highly successful book ‘The Kissing Booth’ which she published at just 15 years of age. In 2013 she sold the film rights to Netflix and it is now one of the streaming sites most popular searches.

Wattpad now has its sights set on the film industry with its additional creation, Wattpad studios, and aims to continue its successful use of artificial intelligence.

Jack Zhang’s company, Greenlight Essentials, uses a specially created algorithm to discover which plot will be successful based on existing lucrative productions.

Greenlight used this strategy to come up with a script for a new horror called “Impossible Things” – they made the trailer for just $30 and it accumulated 2.3 million views on YouTube. Needless to say, potential investors quickly showed an interest.

Surely though, this reliance on computers is sapping the feeling from the scripts being created? That’s one thing artificial intelligence is yet to master: emotional intelligence.

This possibility was tested when director Oscar Sharp and Ross Goodwin, a New York University AI researcher used a ‘recurrent neural network’ (that helpfully named itself Benjamin) to create a sci-fi script called Sunspring. The machine was fed scripts of existing sci-fi success stories including classics like Ghostbusters and more recent offerings such as Interstellar and created its own script in a similar way to predictive text on your smartphone. (The term “predictive” implies that creativity isn’t a crucial factor here!)

The result? A script that consisted of completed, coherent sentences individually yet, when these were put together, it all started to go a bit downhill! The film created looks professional and the actors played their parts well but these aspects had nothing to do with artificial intelligence, highlighting that human influence is surely a prerequisite of a successful production.

Zhang agrees and feels that the creativity is still the most vital aspect of storytelling stating; “If you give 50 screenwriters the same elements, they’ll still come up with 50 different screenplays.” This seems to be the crux of the issue; artificial intelligence can help in the creative process prior to production by looking at what elements have proved successful, although even that could take away from the next surprise hit.

I’m sure Zhang won’t mind me saying that he sums it up perfectly:  “ is like a compass, but someone still needs to sail.” Based on Sunspring, I don’t think scriptwriters have too many stormy seas to navigate just yet!

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