How We Made This Insane AI Trailer

We took on a challenge of using AI to help create every shot of this retro sci-fi trailer:

AI TOOLS

Midjourney - For all the base image creation, generating matte paintings and set extensions, and for creating some of the VFX assets.

Adobe Photoshop Generative Fill - For extending set extensions, and matte paintings, and adding static elements to shots.

Eleven Labs - AI voice generator used to create the narration.

PixelCut - For upscaling images.

LeiaPix - For adding motion to some still images.

NON-AI TOOLS

CapCut - For all the video editing, sound design, color grading and additional effects.

Adobe After Effects - For compositing and adding VFX elements.

Video Copilot - For 3D animation inside After Effects.

PROMPT EXAMPLES

retro sci-fi fantasy film still of a princess with her face covered by a veil on an alien planet --aspect 16:9

1950s sci-fi fantasy film still of a massive arch on an alien planet --aspect 16:9

a massive planet from orbit, film still --aspect 16:9

distant shot of a large spaceship on a solid black background --aspect 16:9

cinematic full body shot of a scary alien villain realistic film still --aspect 16:9

massive spaceship in the distance, film still --aspect 16:9

film still of retrofuturistic spaceship cockpit --aspect 16:9

chrome starfighter film still --aspect 16:9

half of a planet, realistic, film still --aspect 16:9

massive starship on a solid black background --aspect 16:9

closeup of massive ringed planet as seen from space, film still --aspect 16:9

massive spaceship graveyard, film still --aspect 16:9

giant on alien planet, in the style of Denis Villeneuve, film still --aspect 16:9

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
00:15 Narration
00:49 Music
01:20 Placeholders
02:09 AI Imagery
02:59 VFX
04:06 Sound Design
04:48 Color Grading & Effects
05:28 The Trailer

SOL KILLER

It is said that long ago, The Galaxy was once a peaceful and prosperous place. Ever since The Fall, it has descended into chaos. Warlords, slavers, pirates... all manner of horrors now plague these lands. A select few were chosen by The Old Ones for one reason... to restore order to the universe. Many have died, but one man remains…

That man... is Sol Killer.

CapCut

Made by FILM CRUX

[deplatt]

Umm… you glossed over the motion effects. Thats what people watching this want to see.

[iRYO]

I think the 80% of that trailer is based on your expertise, not on ai tools
looks stunning

[aldunlop]

Honestly it's this level of grandeur that's been missing from Star Wars (well good stories wouldn't hurt). Some of the best movies in history have no dialogue, just grand vistas, and sweeping music to convey emotion, such as Luke Skywalker looking up at the twin sun's setting and we immediately know the longing and sadness that he may be stuck on this moisture farm forever. Of course, these shots can't exist in a vacuum, dialogue still needs to drive character and plot. It seems sometimes when I watch new movies that the filmmakers didn't even study these basic concepts in film school. Too often, every split second is filled with dialogue as an excuse to get to the next action scene, meaning there's no drama or tension, no space to allow the audience to experience the emotion.

The other mistake made excessively today is over the top CGI. For example, at the end of Star Trek Picard season 1 and Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker, a thousand ships show up for the battle. It's a mess, and the number of ships actually takes AWAY from the drama. How many times in Star Trek did ONE ship decloak in front of the enterprise menacingly to great effect. CGI is a fantastic tool, but it requires careful application so as not to detract from the story.

[mythicproductions]

I can't use the fill extent of this tutorial just because I have a few different tools, but this is a nice inside look to how one could plan out and develop a trailer. Especially if you can't use a traditional method with a full film or show produced to source scenes and shots. Thank you for posting this.

[ThoaiQuang]

Can you create a detailed video tutorial? Because it's really cool

[SuperMyckie]

Funny thing with all these Ai buzz is.. someone'd just asume you go type some prompt and boom.. u a badass... listening to this guy i can tell he is a long practicing visual artist before now... just added the ai images to his workflow

[sergiomarchelli]

Wow you can create without imagination!

[DaGamerTom]

AI is costing real artists their job and is taking the soul out of what it means to create artwork! Don't let it steal your job, but #StayAwake!

[raggeCKo]

Should've been a trailer for "Souless".

[guillermonippermedia]

Nice short and sweet class!!! Thanks !!

[ANGELCRYPT]

Would be nice to see fans teach Hollywood how to do great movies more often! 😊

[eastudio-K]

great work, friendly thought, I think the voice is too familiar, doesn't have the same effect as the video, maybe someone with a deeper voice, like you said close your eyes and listen to the voice like listening to the sound

[TheAngel]

I'm loving this, i love the graphics.

[mensurbasic]

This was amazing ...for motivation and inspiration

[alekosimba]

One of the very few times, where the title is not clickbait. This is trully insane. Could you please create a video where you explain how you give motion to these pictures, how you generate them in Midjourney etc etc? Would really help us

[murphthesurf]

Thanks for demonstrating an app for sci-fi /fantasy creation and not another one to create corporate sales presentations.

[HardBlues]

Thank you. This was awesome. Going to try something like this myself

[whodat]

This is amazing. After watching this I beseech you to peek into Invoke AI for custom generative builds. PS is great, but greater and focused control is immeasurable when using this. But then again, you may stick with PS. Great watching this guys!

[mlegrand]

Bravo! 👏🏻 Nice work guys. I'd love to see a break down of the sound design and why you designed it the way you did. I think those videos are extremely helpful for those of us who have purchased your audio packages. 👌

[ai_beyond]

This is amazing... very well defined..