Happy Socks' great migration

The phenomenon of odd socks is one which we're all aware of, but which has never been satisfactorily answered... until now, if you believe Happy Socks' new AI-created campaign. 

Directed by Zach Math and produced through Lovely Animals, the 70-second film takes us to Sweden and explains the extraordinary story of how odd socks mate in order to create pairs of wholly new offspring, ready to keep our feet nice and warm.

"We developed the concept knowing we had these new creative tools at our disposal," says Math. "But we didn't write for AI — we used it as one of the tools to help bring ideas to life. The film was conceived by humans, written by a human, directed by a human, partially shot and edited by humans [and] AI simply gave us a toolset that let us skip traditional CG, which made the whole process faster, more efficient and a lot less expensive, without sacrificing storytelling quality."

Asked whether negativity towards AI productions has lessened as the technology has evolved Math continues; "I think certain aspects of AI can be incredibly empowering for artists/creators, but there are obviously concerning aspects of AI, so I’d like to keep all the filmmaking tools alive. I love shooting on film — and we actually did that for a few shots in The Great Sock Migration. 

"For me, it’s always about choosing the best tool for each moment to serve the idea and story. I don’t want great ideas to die on the vine because of time or budget constraints. I was on a call where Darren Aronofsky said he can now make a $300 million movie he’s always wanted to make for $10 million. I think that’s a good thing. At the end of the day, everyone making something just wants to build a great team and create good work."