Mathery’s feathery fashion faux pas

We usually celebrate AI as a tool to enhance ideas rather than create them, so we were pleasantly surprised to learn that this fun and darkly comedic film was created almost entirely using AI, from concept to script to scenery. 

Of course, it wouldn’t have come to life without the human touch of 1st Ave Machine duo Mathery, whose storytelling expertise gently steered the machines toward crafting this uncanny narrative, set in a nostalgia-tinged yet futuristic world where bikinis made of live pigeons are the must-have fashion accessory. 

The directors used a suite of generative AI tools to realise their creative vision - from the script, which was partially written by ChatGPT, to the initial images (created using a mix of Runway’s Frames and Midjourney) and the film footage (generated with Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha Turbo).  

At the heart of the film, the dialogue between the two protagonists was achieved through Runway’s Act-One tool, which uses a ‘driving’ performance to bring a character reference video to life. Overlaying the action, the narrator’s voice was created from Runway’s Generative Audio program. 

Erika Zorzi, one half of directing duo Mathery said: “We see every film as an opportunity to observe the world we know and transform it into one we don’t, one that’s filled with mystery, irony, and satire. This time, we thought it would be interesting to use AI to help us realise that transformation. Far from being a threat to creativity, making this film showed us how AI can augment it.”