A.I... the Final Frontier for Fan Films

Jonathan Lane's Fan Film Factor dives deep into the world of artificial intelligence tools for Star Trek fan films, including The Romulan War. I was thrilled to be part of Jonathan's learning curve and the results were... fascinating as our favorite Vulcan would say.

Speaking of Vulcans, Jonathan's first experiment using A.I. tools involved a scene for TRW featuring Ambassador Soval and First Minister T'Pau from Enterprise (above). The scene came out nicely and you can get the full report in Part 1 of what would become a four-part series of blog entries documenting Jonathan's journey into the world of generative artificial intelligence tools.

Jonathan then took on a more challenging project... taking real-world footage shot by fans in front of a greenscreen and transforming the appearance of the actors, their costumes, and the environment they were in. As Jonathan details in Part 2, this was a heavier lift but again, the end result was pretty spectacular.

In Part 3 of his series, Jonathan discusses the A.I. magic that turned amateur self-taped footage of actor Brian Holloway into Captain Aaron Stiles of the starship Challenger (R.I.P.). After several frustrating attempts and multiple tools, Jonathan managed to coax a whole new Captain Stiles out of thin air complete with a new uniform and 22nd century captain's quarters. These shots will all be used in an upcoming TRW webisode.

Having gotten more confident in writing prompts and understanding which A.I. tools work best for the various creative tasks, Jonathan took on his most ambitious shots yet, as documented in Part 4. This time, he created scenes in an NX-era engineering section, a bridge with interactive elements, and a whole new bridge crew including an Andorian tactical officer who delivered lines of dialogue. Jonathan and his A.I. toolbox also built a shot of a group of officers gathered for a funeral near Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco as a shuttlepod lands in the background.

For the record, The Romulan War series, including The Romulan War Part 1, the various TRW webisodes and our audio dramas have all been produced "old-school" with real actors on a real soundstage and a crew of actual human beings. Our visual effects were created by Samuel Cockings and his team of modelers and digital artists, all of whom are (rumored to be) humans. Ditto for our score, which is lovingly crafted by composers Adam Mullen and Andrew Currier. Even the random background voices of crew members and other characters across the TRW saga come from my friends, family members, and the donors who contributed to our Indiegogo campaign. So far, the only uses of generative A.I. in TRW productions has been what Jonathan has documented in his blogs, though I'd be lying if I said I'd rule out using more A.I. tools before we finish the show.

I personally see A.I. as just another tool in a storyteller's toolbox and I don't believe filmmakers and artists should rule out using those tools any more than they would dismiss computer editing, digital cameras, Pro Tools, or virtual sets. Unlike well-funded studio productions, fan filmmakers and micro-budget filmmakers should be free to use whatever tools are at their disposal to affordably and vividly present their artistic vision. We cannot throw money at all our problems and yet we are still expected to deliver pro-level production values to our audience. Artificial intelligence tools like the ones Jonathan's explored bridge that gap and make these things possible now and I encourage other creators to take advantage of them.

Thanks to Jonathan for his time and efforts on the various shots and for writing about his experiences. His blogs are a great primer on best practices, navigating the various A.I. products, and understanding the technology's strengths and limitations. I'm glad to be the beneficiary of his learning curve and so will you when The Romulan War project is finally completed.