At the Oscars, many of the films nominated for visual effects awards used machine learning and artificial intelligence in their production.
Artificial intelligence has been incorporated into many aspects of the film industry, used to predict the success of films, write scripts, design graphics, select actors, and even promote film projects. The ways AI can be used in the film industry are described below.
Table of Contents
How Is AI Used In Movies?
Let’s see how AI may be used at different stages of filmmaking.
Write Scripts
It is important to choose scripts that will have an impact and generate revenue. Using artificial intelligence to create new scripts may help filmmakers handle the task more efficiently. Machine learning algorithms feed large amounts of data in the form of movie scripts, analyze the data, learn from them, and produce unique scripts. This makes the process faster, saving filmmakers a lot of time and resources.
Predict The Success Of A Movie
AI can also be used to analyze a movie’s script to predict how much the movie is likely to earn. While algorithmic predictions may not always be completely accurate, they have attracted increasing interest from major movie studios. Warner Bros., for example, has turned to a platform based on movie analytics AI to predict the success and box office receipts of its films. 20th Century Fox has integrated the Merlin system, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to match films to specific genres and audiences, and provides complete demographics for any film. ScriptBook is another AI-based movie prediction system that Sony Pictures has used to analyze 62 of its films.
Choose An Actor
AI technology could speed up the casting process for actors by automating auditions. AI platforms find actors in databases based on specified criteria and textual image descriptions, and they can also be used to digitally add actors with different emotions to movies, and even reduce actor age for certain roles. Filmmakers can also benefit from applying artificial intelligence to create various digital characters, such as the fictional supervillain Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War designed using machine learning.
Promotional Film
Movie studios have been using artificial intelligence for effective advertising and promotion. Analyzing different factors such as audience base, and global popularity of actors, studios may plan their events based on the specific locations they expect audiences to be most interested in. For example, 20th Century Fox developed the Merlin video neural network to predict the success of promotional videos. The studio also used IBM’s supercomputer to create commercial clips for the movie “Morgan.”
Edit Movie
Film editors can use artificial intelligence to create trailers for movies. AI systems can identify high-action and emotional movie scenes and bring them out to help editors craft tantalizing trailers. A real-world example of artificial intelligence in film editing is the IBM Watson program used to create a trailer for the sci-fi movie Morgan.
AI can also edit full-length movies well. AI algorithms use facial recognition to identify major characters and scenes involving major plotlines and can assist editors in the process of editing full-length feature films.
Create Music
AI-based music creation tools are becoming a reality, and in some cases, they can also be used to create musical compositions for films. Through reinforcement learning, AI can analyze data from different compositions and, based on the genre of the film and what is expected in the film, develop musical patterns that adapt to the film’s environment. Many tech companies use artificial intelligence to develop systems that can learn various musical styles and create new music from large song databases. For example, Japanese tech giant Sony used an AI program called Flow Machines to create a Beatles-style AI song. While there is still some skepticism about AI-generated music, at least AI could support humans in creating original compositions, some of which could be used in different movie scenes.
Make Movie
Last but not least, AI also makes its own movies. Benjamin Ey teamed up with Ross Goodwin to create the sci-fi film Zone Out in just 48 hours. While the film is unlikely to win any awards, it’s still an impressive, challenging experience and a step forward in the intelligent use of artificial intelligence to automate video creation.
Summary
It’s amazing to see how technology is changing the film industry, almost every aspect of the filmmaking process is affected by technology. Advances in editing and recording software, 4k and 3D film technology, drones, and AI-based scriptwriting tools have had a major impact on the filmmaking process. Visual technology and a more innovative movie viewing experience, improved sound effects, a new projection interface, and modern editing tools bring a movie experience like never before.
The advent of artificial intelligence has opened up more innovative applications across the industry, while also bringing many benefits to the filmmaking world. AI has the potential to help humans make automated and data-driven decisions, and it could simplify the entire filmmaking process, allowing businesses to increase operational efficiency, reduce labor costs and generate more revenue.
