Flawlessly Human: A New Vision On AI Filmmaking
As this is the very first issue of “Flawlessly Human”, please let me take a few minutes to explain WHY this AI Filmmaking newsletter is like no other in the space.
First of all, this is NOT about letting AI steal from artists and take our jobs.
I refuse to live in a zero-sum type of world, where a few winners take it all, and the rest starve to death.
As most things in life, it’s all about mindset and perspective…
Personally, I will go with the half-full glass every time, and THAT is a choice.
When it comes to AI, just like with any other tool we humans have created before, is all about the choices WE, as the creator, make.
You can decide you’ll be lazy, and you want to be a “vibe coder”, a “vibe writer”, or a “vibe filmmaker”. Let AI do all the thinking for you while your brain rots.
It might not be the wisest choice, but it is a choice. I’ll give you that.
OR you can take advantage of the fact that you’re living in the most incredible time in human history, and use AI as a AMPLIFIER of your human capabilities, rather than a REPLACEMENT.
And that’s why I’m here to propose:
Use AI as an always present and forever patient mentor, a companion and a helper that’s always willing to provide you with all the support you need to bring your vision, whatever it might be, to life.
That at least is my personal point of view, and the angle we’ll seeing AI from in this newsletter.
That’s why I decided to call it “Flawlessly Human” which, if you’re a good observer, is quite a contradiction!
But a fitting contradiction for the times we’re living nonetheless…
So… Why AI Filmmaking you ask?
Let me start with the obvious answer:
I have forever dreamed about creating a movie!
But seriously: who doesn’t?
We’ll have plenty of time in this newsletter to explore the many ways in which GenAI is making this possible by giving each one of us, for the first time in human history, the chance to become a 1-person movie studio.
You read that right: now you can be the scriptwriter, the director, the VP of photography, the actors and the entire camera crew.
Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it’s completely true:
You can start “filming” your own short movie TODAY, even if you have never picked up a video camera in your life, and have it ready to submit to some of the most prestigious AI Film Festivals in the world by this time next week!
With just a few selected AI tools we’ll learn about, you can get help with the script, create each shot in the movie –with total control over camera angles, camera movement and even character performances!–, produce the music scores and the sound effects…
… and edit it all together into an impactful package that might make a busy Hollywood executive stop on their tracks… and watch.
Don’t believe me?
Let me share here with you some of my favorite AI-produced short films, in no particular order:
Age of Beyond:
Katana:
Copernicus:
Des & Beth:
Mnemonade:
Battalion:
Newton’s Cradle:
Zero Shot:
Echo:
Intrepid:
Final Glimpse:
This is just a quick sample to wet your palate.
Incredible talented people from all walks of life are now creating amazing films with easy-to-use AI tools every day, and in 2025 this nascent industry is EXPLODING!
Actually, I didn’t list “all” my favorite AI Short Films above.
There is another short film that was recently released which I really LOVE.
I didn’t added to the list above for 2 reasons:
It’s a “narration film” rather than a “narrative film” like to ones above (don’t worry, you’ll learn the different in a future issue!), and
This beautiful short film is actually an ad, commissioned by one of the main AI Video platforms we’ll be using together: Kling AI.
Here it is:
The reason why I love this little jewel –by the incredibly talented AI filmmaker @PJaccetturo– is because I deeply resonate with the message being conveyed:
I wholeheartedly believe in the fact that we humans are, from the beginning of time, and above and beyond anything else, STORYTELLERS.
As a hypnotherapist and a coach, I’ve witnessed countless times the limitless power of stories to heal, change someone’s perspective, and even completely transform people’s lives.
We all have that power, it’s part of us, of who we are. Our heritage, if you will.
But now AI technology is giving us a HUGE AMPLIFIER, the ability to create stories that touch millions of hearts and souls at once.
That, at least, is what cinematography means to me.
That’s why I will teach you how to create stories that are worth telling.
After all, a movie without a good story to tell, a worthy story, is just eye candy.
A big weakness I currently see in the AI film community is that many creators seem to be caught up in the “stunning visuals” game… they don’t understand that a movie makers, we’re in the storytelling business.
Don’t take me wrong: this is true of Hollywood to a great degree too.
I call it the “fast food” era of movies: all VFX and ZERO substance.
But we’re here to change that!
A famous writer once said:
“Only two things are needed to write a book:
1) To have something to say, and
2) To say it."
It sounds simple enough…
But you’d surprised how many authors and filmmakers don’t have anything to say. (Sad, I know!)
And that, once again, is why that short from JPAce above is one of my all time favorites: he definitively had something to say!
But don’t make the mistake to think for a moment that the second part of the statement, the “say it”, is not equally as important…
The magic of art is making the ordinary, feel extraordinary.
Having something to say is fundamental… but not nearly sufficient.
You also need to master the way of communicating what you have to say in the most impactful, inspiring way.
That’s where the “art” part comes in.
Art is the ability to inspire others, to move them emotionally.
During our journey together I’ll share with you the most proven formulas used to “build” stories capable of changing minds and hearts:
From the basic 3-Act Structure to “The Hero’s Journey”, that will help us understand the way stories are constructed and how they work at a fundamental level…
…to proven modern cinema and TV screenwriting frameworks like “Save The Cat”, or the “Story Circle”.
But before we get there, I’ll start by teaching you how to draw with words the most basic, minimal seed of a story: a single image or “frame”.
From there, we’ll build up to a full, coherent, meaningful narrative story, and the right visuals that will support it and carry it over to your viewer’s minds and hearts.
And that’s yet another way this newsletter is different:
We’re building together a new world of self-expression, and I refuse to simply repeat the theory of the past.
We’ll learn the best bits, but we’ll move forward, we’ll wander and explore the new territory, we’ll discover this realm of infinite possibilities together and come up with new ideas and new frameworks, better suited for a new era of filmmaking.
We’re building, if you will, a new kind of film school.
A film school where EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
A film school where you can perform in your own stories, bring your humanity to the screen, be the director, the cameraman, the actor and the editor, ALL AT ONCE, and ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
As with every industry, AI is helping us reinvent Filmmaking for the new millennia.
The limits that separate pre-production, production, and post-production were created in a different era, to adapt to quite different constrains. We don’t have those constrains anymore.
That’s why many of the workflows that the film industry have been using and relying upon for the past 100 years are bound to become obsolete in the next 2-5 years.
What will they be replaced with?
I invite you to join me and discover it TOGETHER!
Welcome to Flawlessly Human!
Leonardo
P. S. Sorry if this issue has been a little long, but I felt it was necessary to share the vision behind Flawlessly Human.
I cannot always promise you, like newsletters usually do, that you’ll be able to read this newsletter in less than 5 minutes…
But I promise you it will be worth it.
A little ask: if you know someone who will enjoy joining us in this adventure, please share the love:
I really don’t have the funds to promote this newsletter with ads, and my mission is to make 90% of this newsletter’s content free for everyone, so any help spreading the love will be greatly appreciated!
Keep posted for our next issue where I’ll teach you about the “minimal viable story”, and how to create your first one, visuals included.
It’ll be fun!