The ‘Marvel Director’ Joe Russo, sheds light on the future of AI in filmmaking. Russo says that it’s a matter of two years till AI can create a whole movie. Furthermore, according to Russo, AI will engineer storytelling (even in Hollywood?). However, ‘AI Protectors’ must be developed to protect us from AI. Sounds frightening? Because it is.
AI democratizes storytelling
In an interview held by Collider, the acclaimed director Joe Russo explained his thoughts and insights regarding AI in moviemaking. “The value of it is the democratization of storytelling. That’s incredibly valuable. That means that anyone in this room could tell a story, or make a game at scale, with the help of a photoreal engine or an engine and AI. tools,” Russo said. “That, I think, is what excites me about it most”. Russo added: “We’re in a world where the entire generation has a facile expertise in it, and is also not afraid of it”. However, Russo stated that: “Ironically the filmmaker emphasized that while he is receptive to the AI. era, there is a ‘need’ for AI. companies that can develop AI. to ‘protect you from AI’.
Two years till AI creates a whole (Hollywood?) movie
Regarding Marvel and Hollywood, Russo stated: “So potentially, what you could do with it is obviously use it to engineer storytelling and change storytelling. So you have a constantly evolving story, either in a game or in a movie, or in a TV show. You could walk into your house and save the AI. on your streaming platform. ‘Hey, I want a movie starring my photoreal avatar and Marilyn Monroe’s photoreal avatar. I want it to be a rom-com because I’ve had a rough day,’ and it renders a very competent story with dialogue that mimics your voice. It mimics your voice, and suddenly now you have a rom-com starring you that’s 90 minutes long. So you can curate your story specifically to you”. Moreover, Russo claimed that it’s a matter of two years till AI can create a movie, and in the long term, Hollywood-like sequences. If so, what’s the future of real (=conservative) filmmaking?
That’s frightening
If you have been reading YMCinema’s recent articles, you know that we are not a fan of AI. For us, Midjourney is an artistry killer. Make sure to read our opinion article: AI Prompt-Based NLEs Will Kill Editing As We Know It, which covers in a high-level sight, the new Adobe’s AI video editing tool (Firefly). Marvel director’s perspective is another proof that we are in the middle of a delicate path that can stray creators from the conventional moviemaking process. Obviously, the road for prompt-based films seems far far away, but the actual thought is pretty hair-raising. Don’t you think?
Scary
AI will be fine for Marvel crap as its mostly junk filmmaking anyway
The US patent office has made it clear that you cannot copyright AI generated art, as only human ingenuity is copyrightable. Meaning that a screenplay generated by AI from scratch carries no copyright protection. I would actually love that world where Studios no longer owned any IP. Unless they are going to be run by teenagers without common sense, no one in Hwood will want to produce work that carry no copyright protection. I would love a world where anyone can come in after and make the same movie word for word. beat for beat, but if the execution is better, you could potentially reap the rewards. Imagine remaking the Last Jedi or Book Of Bobo Fett? It would be a wild, Wild West of creativity, but why would any studio invest money in movies they can’t own the IP for?
It’s scary as hell. I’m re-thinking my career because so many things will go away. It’s very important that we learn to use AI to our advantage. We probably need to let go of the conventional ideas of filmmaking. Whatever will be left for us I don’t know.
Documentaries are a safe bet I think.