Using AI As Your Training Wheels
As I mentioned in the last issue, I’m not anti-AI.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
But I’m PRO HUMAN, if that’s a thing.
Even if we talk about art in general, like photography or illustration where everyone is freaking out right now because AI is supposedly “stealing” from artists to take over their jobs, my view is substantially different.
I’m convinced that AI will only make actual human art much more valuable in the future, and human relationships so much more precious.
Great artists don’t have anything to fear from AI, just like great programmers, great writers, and any person that’s truly exceptional at what they do.
Their art will become 100 times more valuable than it used to be in a few years’ time, when people start deeply appreciating and craving for authentic human-produced goods.
Just like today you can buy any piece of clothing made by a machine for a very inexpensive price –commodity price– but people still pay thousands of dollars for a hand-woven Peruvian “poncho”, and tens of thousand of dollars for a hand-made Japanese kimono.
Big changes are coming, and every industry is already shaking and being restructured from the inside out by AI technology, not only art.
Whatever your position is on this debate, the only thing that’s certain is that AI is here to stay.
We can rebel against it, live in denial, and be left behind…
Or we can use it to grow and flourish beyond our wildest dreams.
That’s my choice, and if you’re reading this, I will assume it’s yours as well.
So today I want to propose you to start using AI –all kinds of AI– as your own personal training wheels!
Lean on it, and don’t be ashamed of doing so!
Yes, it is true that difficult times are around the corner, and many people will lose their jobs.
Worse yet: as many people tend to confuse their day job with their life’s purpose, they’ll feel lost.
But that crisis will be taken care of –it will have be taken care of– one way or another, just like every other crisis we’ve faced before.
As with every new technological wave, many occupations will disappear, and people will have to learn to do something else.
(Yes, this time the impact will be much more widely spread, and will happen too fast for most people to have time to adapt… but that’s a subject for a different newsletter)
The movie industry will also be affected by AI, and profoundly changed in the process.
GenAI is already been widely used by studios in different stages of their workflow, from pre-production to the final cut… but bigger, more drastic changes are on the horizon.
But as scary as all of this is, and I’m not trying to minimize it here, I truly believe that 20 new doors will open for each old door that closes.
So I really want to congratulate you today for being here, in the right place, at the right time.
You’re early, even if you’re feeling the FOMO.
We are just starting to re-discover this wonderful industry together…
But things are moving super-fast –just like everything AI-related– so this is the year to start making your mark.
There is not time to waste!
Make no mistake: you and me, and the people who are taking AI Filmmaking very seriously TODAY, are the people who will be established as the go-to experts, the Kings and Queens of the AI Filmmaking hill just 2 short years from now.
Conversely, the people who today say: “Oh, AI is just so bad… I’m just going to wait until it gets better”, are the same people who today are whining because they didn’t buy Google stock back in 2001, or invest in Bitcoin in 2009.
You know how it goes: if you wait until everyone agrees something is a good idea, you’re already too late!
So I want to invite you to start TODAY.
You don’t need to know anything…
Reality is, in despite of what anyone wants to say, AI Filmmaking is a completely new industry in the making, and none of us knows how it will develop in the next few months and years.
And that’s the wonderful thing about this time: the big reset button has been pressed, and the playing field is finally leveled.
Nobody has any real advantage over you anymore.
Not yet.
This is your chance to do something you love, and shine!
Besides… you have your training wheels! (AI)
There has never been an easier time in history to learn ANYTHING, in record time and with the help of the most patient tutor one could wish for!
In the next few issues, we’ll get our hands dirty establishing the foundations that will allow us to craft stories that move our audiences to tears (or laugh)
But in not moment I want you to feel inadequate, or that you can’t do something.
YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN!
I also want you to see these filmmaking exercises like a game.
A fun game you’re just learning to play.
It’s supposed to be fun, so don’t take it too seriously!
This is art after all, and people say that art is in the eye of the beholder.
But I will go way beyond that and tell you that art is never about the art piece you’re creating; it’s all about how it changes YOU –the artist– in the process.
So have a play with it, and enjoy the process…
Finally, I want to warn you that you don’t need to enjoy every single aspect of making a movie to become a great visual storyteller.
If you’re just starting out, just allow yourself to experiment, and see what you like, and what you don’t like.
One of the main reasons why making a movie –even a short movie– was an impossible goal for most people until last year is that movie-making is a team sport.
Even a modest short film or documentary used to call for a team of a dozen people or more to pull it off, and Hollywood productions require, as you know, many millions of dollars in equipment and sets, and hundreds of high-skilled professionals.
AI is already changing that…
Don’t be afraid to start from zero.
That’s what this newsletter is for.
Flawlessly Human’s mission is to train a new generation of filmmakers and visual storytellers.
I will personally teach you every step of the process of making a film with AI, from scriptwriting to the premiere.
But don’t think you need to be a master of them all.
At the beginning, you might use AI to do pretty much all the work, and that’s ok.
That’s what training wheels are for, aren’t they?
But little by little, you’ll start discovering what parts of the process you really enjoy, and slowly but surely, you’ll start claiming them back.
Maybe you find you love writing your own stories…
Or perhaps you cannot be bothered with that… but you LOVE coming up with the perfect visual for a scene…
Or maybe you’ll discover that you have a knack for coming up with the perfect camera movement to highlight the character’s emotions just right… or have a keen eye for the perfect frame composition.
My goal is to help you experience each one of these disciplines involved into making a full movie, and others like acting, editing, music selection, sound design and more.
(YES, you can also act in your own AI movies if you choose too!)
That’s why Filmmaking is such a complete Art form.
As you advance, you’ll be resting less and less on your training wheels, learning from AI and taking over for yourself the areas you really enjoy, while letting AI take care of the talks that bog you down.
Remember: You’re the Director, the Actors and the Crew.
YOUR WAY is THE way!
See you in the next issue,
Leonardo
P. S. If you happen to know someone special that would LOVE to be part of this journey with us, please share Flawlessly Human with them: