Love Brings Magic to Life in Quirky AI Video for Tymbark

TELEVISOR'S creative director Paweł Krzemiński delves into the company's latest AI project.

Q> Tell us a little about your role in the studio and what Televisor does, what you do and what excites you most about the work?

Paweł> As the creative director at TELEVSOR, I am responsible for guiding and selecting both stylistic and technical tools that will best help achieve the vision of the agency and the director.

My role involves a deep creative contribution to the production process, where I collaborate closely with the team to develop innovative concepts and visual styles. I work on refining ideas, ensuring that each project has a unique and compelling aesthetic. This involves constant research and experimentation with new technologies and techniques to push the boundaries of what's possible. What excites me most about the work is the opportunity to bring imaginative ideas to life and see them resonate with audiences in impactful ways.

Q> Can you tell us a bit about how this project came to you and where the idea came from?

Paweł> The music video for a new arrangement of the iconic Polish song is already a traditional marketing activity of a Tymbark brand. Every time there are invited top polish artists to perform the song. This production, however, stands out because it incorporates the use of artificial intelligence (Al). The literal translation of the song's title is 'Everything tells me that someone love me', but we've changed it a bit to be more accurate to the project's specification. The innovative project for was made possible by the pioneering approach of DDB agency and director Krzysztof Grajper, who placed great trust in TELEVISOR Studio.

Q> It’s a beautiful and nostalgic song. What is its meaning?

Paweł> It’s about the feeling you have when love appears in your life. Everything seems beautiful, and full of magic. You know what I mean, don’t you? haha.

Q> AI -What is your take on the subject? Nowdays this is quite a big topic raised on many forums by many Agencies and Clients does it often appear in the briefs you receive?

Paweł> My perspective on AI in our industry is one of cautious optimism. AI is indeed a hot topic, frequently discussed on various platforms and increasingly mentioned in the briefs we receive from agencies and clients.

AI tools are becoming valuable assets in the creative process, and even preliminary design work. However, while AI can enhance efficiency and provide new insights, it cannot replace the human element of creativity crucial to our work. Our team's unique artistic vision, emotional depth, and innovative thinking are irreplaceable to each project.

In our studio, we integrate AI in ways that complement our creative efforts, using it to handle repetitive tasks or to generate initial concepts that we can then refine and humanize. This allows us to focus more on the creative aspects that truly define the final output. The balance between leveraging AI for its strengths and maintaining the integrity of human creativity is what we aim to achieve in our projects.

Q> What was the creative process like, how did you work with the idea and the script?

Paweł> The idea to use AI in the project came entirely from the agency. This put us in a very advantageous position, as we could focus on selecting the best visual aspects of AI that are currently available. Since the agency was already on board with using these new techniques, there was no need to convince the client. This allowed us to dive straight into exploring and implementing the most cutting-edge AI tools to enhance the project's visual appeal.

Q> Can you tell us what was the process of working with the agency / client in this case?

Paweł> Despite having the desired style of the visuals, and overall tone of the project, creating a video with Al is an ongoing creative process. As the Al software is fed with data adequate to expected results it gives back a huge range of content. Then it has to be processed by a team of artists and CG supervisors, which means the selection of material and its adaptation to the video. Usually, this process needs to take a few cycles before reaching the final, desired result.

Q> What tool did you choose to generate content in AI and why?

Paweł> We created a video using an exciting fusion of Al (stable diffusion) and NeRF (Neural Radiance Fields) technology. This combination not only provides excellent entertainment but also opens up a new chapter in the future of visual art. The Stable diffusion software allowed us to precisely control Al's results, which can often be chaotic, by using specific tools and our video material. NeRF, on the other hand, allows us to scan the 3D space after capturing the shot and transform the data into glitchy, holographic Visions. This revolutionary technological crossover allowed us to unleash our creative imagination and create authentic, eclectic, and intriguing representations of each artist.

Q> How can you explain in the simplest terms what Nerf is?

Paweł> In the simplest terms, NeRF, which stands for Neural Radiance Fields, is a technology that uses artificial intelligence to create detailed 3D scenes from a few 2D photos. Imagine you take several pictures of an object from different angles. NeRF uses those pictures to generate a 3D model that you can look at from any angle, even ones you didn't originally photograph. It's like magic for turning flat images into fully explorable 3D worlds.

Q> What did the new techniques bring to this implementation?

Paweł> With NeRF, we can animate the camera independently of the original recording positions. This allows for fluid, dynamic camera movements through the scene, enabling unique perspectives and cinematic shots that were not possible with traditional methods. By having a 3D representation of the scene, we can explore different moments and viewpoints within the same timeline, offering a more flexible and comprehensive understanding of the action.

Q> Did they make it possible to do something that was not possible before?

Paweł> Creative exploration at a fraction of the cost. Stable Diffusion allows the exploration of multiple creative paths from a single text prompt. For example, a prompt describing a 'futuristic city' can yield a variety of interpretations - each with unique architectural styles, lighting conditions, and atmospheres. This enables creators to explore a broad spectrum of visual ideas and select the most compelling ones.

Q> What were the technical challenges involved?

Paweł> The technical challenges were varied, from ensuring quality input data to optimising model training. Integrating AI changed our post-production process dramatically. Instead of traditional editing after shooting, we created basic movable mock-ups pre-shoot. AI-generated a plethora of footage, providing multiple solutions for each scene. We selected the best versions, cutting clips to the desired lengths. This hybrid approach maximised creativity and efficiency, resulting in high-quality visual content.

Q> With your experience in implementing AI in projects, how do you see the future of you as a studio in terms of AI presence?

Paweł> Creating a video with the help of Al might appear as a shortcut way. I couldn't disagree more! Al offers new possibilities and a wholly different approach, but it does not mean less work. Creating a video with Al is not a shortcut way, but a powerful transforming tool for idea creation and production. It requires a team of professionals, their knowledge, and skills to create truly unique videos! I am an optimist. I don’t see it as a threat but as an opportunity for our industry to completely new challenges