‘House of David’ Creator Explains Using AI to Create the Goliath Origin Sequence (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina The newly released episode 6 of Amazon’s “House of David” opens with a mythical origin sequence for the character Goliath, created in an inventive way by incorporating generative AI tools in the production workflow. “The entire scene is driven with generative AI tools as the horsepower to the scene.

What we found is that these tools work when combined with traditional tools,” Jon Erwin, series creator and co-showrunner, tells Variety.

He relates that, originally, this roughly 90-second sequence as scripted was much smaller in scope, but then the filmmakers began to envision more ambitious visuals and incorporate AI applications. “We had gotten permission to use the technology, we had formed a team around it, and [thought] let’s really go for it.” In all, season one incorporates 72 shots that involved use of AI, and it was a learning process for the filmmakers. “People can make cool images, certainly, and use these tools sort of as consumers, but to really use them in professional ways, it really is how you stack tools together that matters,” Erwin asserts.

In the case of “House of David,” the team assembled at his indie studio Wonder Project used AI tools include Midjourney for image augmentation; Magnific and Topaz for uprezing and adding details, and Runway and Kling for generating video, combined with traditional tool such as Unreal Engine, Nuke and Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. “They all have unique strengths,” Erwin says of the AI tools, citing Runway’s image-to-video application as an example. “Because I don’t want to generate imagery from scratch.