Recently, several friends have told me they don’t want to make bad films in the AI era, and I’ve always felt the same way. Although AI films aren’t rated on Douban, I don’t want to open Douban one day and see my movie scored at 3-something. Or have it start with all praise, only for real audiences to angrily give it 1-star ratings after watching – that kind of book or film.
Making a great film is difficult, and getting a 9-point book rating is also hard, but I’m writing to create a 9-point novel. Whether I can achieve it depends on my lifetime, talent, and effort. An 8-point rating should be reasonable – I want to write works like that. Of course, what I most want is for the Computational Universe to become an IP like “Harry Potter.”
I grew up reading “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “A Song of Ice and Fire,” and similar works. When I was 11, I really thought an owl would fly in carrying a Hogwarts letter. When I watched “The Lord of the Rings,” I believed Middle-earth was part of human history. At least linguistically, it spoke of ancient Indo-European languages.
Similarly, I grew up playing games. I’m still a “World of Warcraft” role-playing player and the final Grand Master of one of the oldest role-playing guilds – the Knights of the Radiant Heart. “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” is my favorite game; I thoroughly explore every cave and read every note. However, what most influenced my science fiction writing was “Stellaris” – I practically wanted to write fallen empires, stellar devastation, and mechanical ascension into my work.
My favorite film is Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.” To this day, every time I watch the final segment, I get goosebumps and feel sad for Batman. The entire film strikes the ultimate balance between art and commerce, boasting a script that can be called perfect. I’ve memorized it completely.
These games, films, and literary works had the most direct impact on me: I became a worldbuilding fanatic. I love viewing and creating works with vast yet rigorous worldbuilding. I started creating fictional worlds when I was 13. My first world was called The Beyond Realms. I still have maps of The Beyond Realms at home.
Some people criticize my novels for having too many fictional elements. Still, once you create a fictional world, you must also create a complete set of technology, culture, geography, and so on that belongs to that fictional world. You can’t make it half-fictional and half-real, or it easily breaks immersion. Fictional worlds must be self-consistent.
In the AI era, I suddenly realized I could finally express the universe in my heart through audiovisual language. Even though my skills still need gradual improvement, these works have had a lasting influence on me. I also want to create works like them – I don’t want to make bad films.
My desire to rival these works shows delusional confidence. Yes, all NYU students have this kind of excessive confidence and believe they can create their own world. For this dream of expression, I have been intensely studying AI technology and directing techniques, and I continue to write diligently.
Current AI creators generally don’t want to make bad films, either. We’re already in the AI era – why make bad films? I know AI development still faces many obstacles; countless shots can’t be produced, and character and scene consistency remains problematic. But this belief in not making bad films is shared by our group of creators.
The first step to not making bad films is definitely having a solid technical foundation, whether in AI technology or directing techniques. Hardcore elements always show in the details. Those who tell you technology is useless to say so because they lack technical advantages themselves, so they can only claim art is most important. AI is a balance of technology, art, and literature – none can be missing.
The second step to avoiding bad films is to create stories you genuinely want to tell and share. In the AI era, if we still don’t know our own stories, no era ever will. Tell your own story might not bring immediate returns, but this is faith-charging. What emerges will be more sincere, and sincerity is also a killer move in artistic expression.
I know Chinese science fiction is difficult, but I’ve already created a science fiction universe, and I cannot abandon it. The characters and stories within are already living beings to me. This science fiction universe, no matter how people criticize it for being too grand or too removed from life, is where my beliefs lie.
Not making bad films – this path is difficult, but what real choice do we have otherwise? This is the AI era – tell your story.
Follow me as we explore AI filmmaking together.
