I wasn’t previously a practitioner in the film and television industry. I was a programmer for 10 years and have been writing for over 10 years. My strength lies in writing, not in visualization. Now, among AI filmmaking practitioners, there are some individuals, like myself, who weren’t originally from the film industry but joined due to the advent of AI.
I know what makes a good story – first, it has emotion, and based on that emotion, it has soul, a unique charm that transcends life and death and must be written. I approach AI filmmaking from the perspective of a story creator, and I have a solid grasp of the foundation of screenwriting.
This means I need to transform from being purely a writer to adopting a director’s perspective in filmmaking. This is a balance of technology, art, and literature. Initially, I was driven purely by passion, jumping straight into making AI short films without any methodology – just pure love. As a result, the films I produced had very low completion rates and suffered from problems that many people encounter.
The first problem was the dialogue, which felt like a PowerPoint presentation – just two people standing and talking, taking turns speaking, with no pauses or other inserted shots, no character reactions, and no atmospheric enhancements. Pure standing dialogue without even over-the-shoulder shots. In September last year, I made films like this – that was my skill level at the time.
Then there were too many empty shots, too few close-ups, all medium shots of characters. I was really making films out of pure passion, and only then did I realize my shortcomings and start learning. First, I studied audiovisual language, then carefully observed how others edited their films. I can’t say I’m doing very well now – after all, I’m crossing over from writing – but I’ve improved tremendously compared to before. So passion is necessary, but learning is also essential.
Sometimes AI gives me surprises. For example, with the short film “The Withered Sea Project,” I was initially resistant and procrastinated for several days, not wanting to shoot it, even though I knew I had to film what I had written. But later, after I created the protagonist, the stellar mathematician Yu Baiyun, and saw her capable image wearing orange glasses, I suddenly wanted to tell her story. This was an experience that pure text could never give me before.
So, although AI filmmaking can’t make every shot exactly as we imagine, it’s even more restrictive than dancing in shackles, with too many limitations. Many times, looking at the script, I wonder how on earth this can be filmed. But once I actually start doing it, I find various ways to work around the limitations and express what I want.
In the process of adapting novels into film, starting from text, there’s an advantage that novels are rich in detail, and the content becomes a visual work only after being streamlined. For example, in the short film “The Determination Not to Bow Down,” the scarf around the protagonist Shuying’s neck is the last birthday gift her brother gave her. Although the character’s styling photo somewhat resembles that of a famous character, I still retained this detail. You can also see Shuying reaching out to touch the scarf in the short film.
Although AI can provide tremendous convenience, can it allow me to maintain the purity of creation? Do the technical limitations inspire creativity, or do they confine all works to a style with perfectly symmetrical faces and a heavy AI aesthetic? I can only say that I’ve seen talented creators who maintain their own style even under AI technical constraints.
Although I’ve already created some AI films, I haven’t yet determined my true visual style, constantly shifting between high and low saturation. Sometimes I want DC’s deep darkness, sometimes I want bright colors so audiences can see character facial details clearly. This is what I need to explore – to ultimately find the visual style that suits me.
I remain an independent AI creator. If you’re worried about whether it’s too late to enter now or whether one person can make highly watchable videos, there’s no need to worry at all. I began searching for team members at the start of this year and haven’t found the right match yet, but I’m still here, still actively creating. Perhaps I didn’t catch the first wave, but I believe AI technology is still developing rapidly, and the industry is far from being set in stone.
On my public account, I don’t share my views on the AI filmmaking industry every day. Actually, I want people to experience the development process of the Computational Universe world more often. Witnessing the creative process is a valuable experience, so I will continue to create and share my work with everyone.
Currently, I have 25 short story concepts that I will gradually turn into AI short films. At the same time, I’ll continue writing the “Computational Universe” octology, striving to publish the first three books on Amazon KDP next year. As AI technology matures, I plan to produce feature films or series.
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