Director Gareth Edwards is unafraid of generative artificial intelligence and what it might portend for Hollywood. In fact, he’s excited about it.
leader The birth of Jurassic World and Rogue one He has been experimenting with diffusion models in depth over the past nine months, and even wants to create a generative AI hybrid movie, he told a panel Thursday. But it doesn’t do that yet, because the rate at which technological developments are occurring may outpace the filmmaking process.
“These things seem to change every three months,” he said. “It’s as if we’re going to have to revisit the plan six months from now because it might be a completely different set of tools. Things that… weren’t possible three months ago or six months ago, some of them are possible now.”
His interest is perhaps not surprising, given that he directed the 2023 film creatora science fiction film that took a largely positive approach to the subject of artificial intelligence. But his public embrace of the technology remains rare among his cohort, also known as the managers in charge of big-budget intellectual property.
Edwards, who made the remarks during a panel discussion on world building at Amazon’s AI on the Lot event in Culver City, began his career doing visual effects work, and compared the rise of artificial intelligence to the mainstream arrival of CGI in films in the 1990s. However, he believes AI could be more impactful. “I can’t see a reason why you wouldn’t be interested in this stuff as a filmmaker. It’s obviously a tool that a camera might have. It would be better than computer-generated images,” he told the assembled audience. “I’m excited, and I hope you are too.”
However, he said generative AI is primarily useful in terms of organizing ideas, testing concepts and producing images, rather than generating human stories that resonate with audiences. “It has no taste at all. It’s a genius at helping you,” Edwards said. “I look at it like having a billionaire second unit manager on acid. Like, he’ll do anything you ask, and it’s no problem. Sometimes it will be like that.” [go] crazy. And you’ll give him notes, and he’ll be like, “I don’t take notes.” I’ll do something completely different. But it’s worth it.”
Although AI won’t turn any random movie fan into a good filmmaker, it may allow more people to “get in on the competition” by allowing them to develop trailers for their concepts and produce work at a lower cost. “It’s good just to iterate and figure out what the movie should be, and then once you know what it is, start making it your movie,” Edwards said.
During his remarks, he stressed that artificial intelligence filmmaking requires supervision, as the director frequently needs to use a tool to achieve a specific creative vision. Doing so is not much different from the intense level of decision-making in designing shots for a traditional film or TV show, he said.
However, the director was clear that he doesn’t know where AI is headed in Hollywood. He added: “We don’t know where it will go.” “I think anyone who says they know exactly what’s going to happen over the next five years is just lying.”
Edwards, one of the most notable creators to appear at Amazon’s event, followed up with his appearance earlier in the day American gigolo and The first reformer Director Paul Schrader. Schrader was more optimistic about the storytelling capabilities of generative AI, describing his attempt to create a story idea in his wheelhouse using ChatGPT. “I can send it,” he said of the score. “I know the response I’ll get: That’s a second-rate Shredder… but he’ll be a first-rate Shredder soon enough.”
