Three-time Best Cinematography Oscar winner Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki (Gravity, Birdman, The Revenant) directed via Park Pictures this short, One Night, for Absolut and agency BBH London.
The piece–with visual effects from Framestore–takes us through creative moments in history in rapid fire succession with a voiceover from actor/musician Juliette Lewis, ultimately arriving at the present moment, a night where the creative possibilities are endless.
Client The Absolut Company Agency BBH London Ian Heartfield, executive creative director; Simon Cenamor, Raymond Chan, creative team; Victoria Keenan, producer; Zaf Choudhury, assistant producer; Melanie Arrow, strategy director; Raphael Bittner, strategist. Production Park Pictures Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, director; Stephen Brierley, managing director; Jackie Kelman Bisbee, executive producer; Caroline Kousidonis, executive producer (L.A.); Sophie Hubble, executive producer (London); Nick Goldsmith, producer. VFX Framestore Andy Rowan Robinson, creative director; Charles Howell, VFX producer; Raul Ortego, Sebastien Boulange, Gigi NG, Karch Coon, Nick Tanner, 2D; Phil Robinson, Charlotte Bae, Nate Diehl, Georgios Cherouvim, Mohamed Echkouna, 3D; Callum McKeveny, design. (Toolbox: Maya, Nuke, Flame, Houdini, CapturingReality, Photoshop, Heiro, 3DE, PtGui, Arnold) Editorial Whitehouse Post Russell Icke, editor; Greg Hayes, Joe D’Ovidio, assistant editors; Antonia Porter, producer. Color Company 3 NY Tom Poole, colorist; Alex Lubrano, producer. Sound Soundtree Peter Raeburn, creative director; Jay James, music supervisor; Henning Knoepfel, sound designer; Luke Fabia, music editor.
Steve Fuller wrote, directed and served as artificial intelligence creative lead on this AI spec film for the Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Fuller took on the spec piece not as a tech demo but rather as a storytelling experiment. He was no stranger to AI going into the project, having deployed it for the past couple of years on treatments and as a means to supercharge his design work. Still, the veteran director--who’s enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Jeff Lewis’ The Directors Network--felt the need to learn and experience more when it came to AI. Thus he initiated a spec piece so he could integrate AI even better into his narrative toolbox.
Spurred on by a desire to discover how his directing instincts could translate into the best utilization of AI resources, Fuller came up with a creative concept for a product he was a user and fan of--the Fire TV Stick. What if a treasure trove of iconic characters and worlds were racing towards a huge Fire TV Stick in the middle of a desert, converging there in order to compete for viewer attention? And the climax of the spot has a household about to make the fateful choice for what they’re going to watch from all these varied options and forms of entertainment.
While via AI he was able to amass major celebrity talent and elements of blockbuster entertainment franchises for the Fire TV Stick adventure, that wasn’t the objective for Fuller who explained, “I was not trying to make a short film and suddenly have it star Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. Instead I wanted to see if I could use AI to make a really big and epic commercial.” The spec project was designed to open up the opportunity to curate imagery, create video sequences--all the while making choices as a director. “I approached it as I... Read More
