03/06/2026
Gen AI in videography...
I've been going back & forth with this for a while, especially with how divisive it's becoming.
It's not easy to have a solid opinion when the goalposts keep moving with what is acceptable and what is heresy.
I'm not talking about the shoddy slop some brands are putting out that show impossible-to-film angles or uncanny valley subjects.
I'm talking about utilising it as a tool alongside real-camera work, real environments, real people.
I'm young enough to acknowledge that the barrier to entry even when I started has reduced massively - buying a 4k camera in 2012 would have cost tens of thousands and now it's impossible to find one without it.
Or even transitioning from film to digital, where the latter has the luxury to watch back what was shot and adjust on the fly, rather than waiting to have film back and adjusting on the next shoot.
So as strictly a tool gen-AI is just another leap forward and I can't put what I do now on a pedestal just because I'm comfortable and happy using cheap & very high quality cameras.
But - and it's a big but - I also don't consider software that conjures up something from nothing (or worse, plagiarised) as a tool in the same way as a smarter, more advanced camera.
Using AI to achieve a shot that is physically impossible, financially unrealistic or even dangerous to film does provide leverage for indie productions but using it to replace parts of the job that requires taste is frankly where it falls apart for me.
Prompting is a skill, sure. But it's not the same skill. It can't be put into a box with all the other filmmaking skills and thought of the same.
Knowing which shot serves the story, when to hold on a face rather than cut away, when something should be out of focus slightly rather than tack sharp all the time.
That's not something you develop as a creative by typing it better than someone else, sorry.
Rather than standing on business and taking a clear side, I will keep using it in the same way as I used what used to be called software features (you know, like removing something from the shot, extending a clip etc).
But I can't sit back and feel happy as a creator knowing the limit came in manipulating the words used in a programme.
That's not why I picked up a camera.
