How AI Helped Create a Key Dream Sequence for “Shoestring Budget” Oldenburg Film ‘Traumnovelle’

As a tech-savvy cinephile who’s always eager to witness the convergence of art and technology, I must say that the revelation of Traumnovelle incorporating an AI-generated sequence is nothing short of exhilarating! The idea of AI contributing to the visualization of dreams in a film is not only innovative but also a testament to the limitless potential of technology in storytelling.

Occasionally, a conversation with an interviewee reveals unexpected information, such as “In our discussion over Zoom, Florian Frerichs (director and co-writer of ‘Traumnovelle’) casually shares that the movie features one of the first sequences ever generated entirely by AI.

Nikolai Kinski, who plays the lead in the film opening the 31st Oldenburg Film Festival on Wednesday, about a high-class couple immersed in a hidden realm of sensual imagination, was just as taken aback by the news. “What do you mean?” he queries. (In this version, I’ve used more conversational language to make it easier to read and understand.)

Frerichs points out, “I believe it was one of the earliest films to employ this technique,” referring to the use of AI in a dream sequence within the movie. In this scene, Jakob, played by Kinski, learns about Amelia’s dreams from his partner, portrayed by Laurine Price. Frerichs adds, “There’s a lot of animation happening there.

Currently, Frerichs has captured everyone’s focus. He emphasizes that the dream sequence in the book is incredibly unique and never-before-seen due to its surrealistic nature, making it challenging to film. Interestingly, it was not included in any of the other adaptations based on the novella.

Frerichs explains that by combining AI technology and the efforts of his friends Sven and Victor, they managed to bring the concept of our dream sequence to life. Regardless of personal preferences, this transformation was facilitated using artificial intelligence.

Working with AI proved to be quite an intricate process for our team, and there were certainly some hurdles along the way. As the director elaborates, it wasn’t as simple as instructing the AI and having it execute tasks immediately. Instead, it required six months of extensive research and experimentation. The process was more akin to trial and error, with a lot of prompting, but also an essential skill called negative prompting – telling the AI what not to do rather than what to do. This was particularly crucial in the post-production phase as we brought our dream sequence to life, something that would have been challenging on our limited budget otherwise.

Kinski can’t wait to catch the finale of the film, particularly since he hasn’t watched the final version that includes the AI sequence. He’s quite intrigued and expresses his eagerness by saying, “I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

The actor finds the idea of “AI interacting with humans” captivating, and he believes this marks the start of an exhilarating, untamed new epoch.

Does AI concern or unsettle Frerichs? “Our machine generated a dream sequence for our movie, requiring much effort from us,” he explains to THR. “Thus, I don’t fret about animators or others losing their jobs. My interaction with the AI was that it is merely a tool, and it requires considerable creativity to extract value from it.” The filmmaker summarizes: “This is why I can confidently state that we have an AI sequence in there which enhances the entire sequence and film.

2024-09-12 11:24

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