When people talk about visual effects, the first thing that comes to mind to most people are the fantasy and sci-fi tricks from featured fictional characters that inspire and impress. However, visual effects are more than that as they also include realistic techniques and complex editing processes reshaping how stories are experienced.
Accordingly, creating these special effects requires both time and the right tools. In that context, Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes useful not only to provide the most accurate visual effects but also to optimize various processes. Below, let us explore the various ways AI enhanced the ability for creatives to enhance visual effects and how it intersects with storytelling.
Automation of Routine Editing Tasks
Video editing is part of the production process of a film or a show and is considered to be a labor-intensive job. The video editing process is similar to reviewing a college term paper where you have to ensure each and every entry is accurate and supports the main statement you have made.
In video editing, if you do this manually it will take countless days to completely review all the angles and edit the best shots. As such, this is where AI comes in to streamline the process and significantly reduce the time spent on editing and simply focus more on the creative elements. AI tools such as those offered by https://ltx.studio/ and other similar ones allow you to modify any shot or image on the spot or control and construct a videoframe exactly the way you envision it.
By utilizing the advanced algorithms offered by these tools, it allows video editors to choose the best cuts and transitions for a polished final product that actively supports and guides the direction of storytelling.
Enhanced Animation Techniques
Another way that AI is assisting video editors in enhancing visual effects for creative storytelling is by adopting AI-assistive animation tools.
Traditionally, animators would meticulously track and draw characters by hand but has now evolved into modern techniques through computer-generation. Accordingly, a part of this evolution is the adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence which have both emerged as game changing applications assisting creators to streamline their animation processes.
With the help of AI tools, creators can easily analyze raw video data or sketches and from there, generate realistic animations based on real-human movements or physical principles.
Improving Color Grading and Realism
Aside from automating routine editing tasks and enhancing animation techniques, AI tools also assist creative editors in enhancing cinematic realism.
Considering that most audiences require a certain bit of realism in the films that they watch, it is necessary that the film footage has the accurate color grading elements consistent with the storytelling they are striving for. For example, to convincingly portray a 1960s setting in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the editors must have had to engage in extensive color grading and implement various film editing techniques.
Of course, just like the other steps in the editing process, color grading techniques to achieve realism also takes time when done manually. Considering that most films and shows are constrained with imposed budgets, the need to use tools such as AI is inevitable.
With AI tools that allow flexible aesthetic control, editors can easily switch into the appropriate color grading they need as well as the texture they want to achieve to create the realistic world they want their audiences to see.
Interactive Narratives and Viewer Choices
Lastly, AI can also be used to create interactive narratives that cater to various targeted audiences.
Although we only experience interactive storylines in computer games, it is no surprise that the film industry has also adopted the concept. As early as the 1960s, interactive films were created, but the concept has never really become popular. Recently, the streaming platform Netflix introduced interactive films to help viewers experience the film firsthand and shape their own endings. Examples of interactive films are Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend and Bandersnatch.
In creating these interactive films, it is necessary that alternative stories must be ready. With AI tools such as AI storyboard generators or script to video tools, they can easily create multiple storylines to make these interactive films as interesting as they can be to the audience.
AI as a Tool Rather than a Replacement for Creativity
From these various ways enumerated where AI intersects with creative storytelling, one can see that AI is definitely opening new horizons for the film industry.
As technology progresses, the fusion of AI and human storytelling is bound to reshape the landscape of entertainment. While there are numerous concerns and challenges when it comes to using AI, it is crucial for creatives to recognize that it should serve as a mere tool and not a replacement.
Embracing this perspective will allow the industry to flourish, enabling its audiences to experience stories that are deeper and more immersive than ever before.
