Earlier this 12 months, R/GA obtained a frightening activity: create an advert that might have been inconceivable to make with out generative synthetic intelligence (AI).
The problem got here from Google, which wished to indicate off the capabilities of its generative video mannequin, Veo. Including to the stress, the tech large gave R/GA simply 4 weeks to make the advert.
“It was barely terrifying,” stated Nicholas Pringle, chief artistic officer, EMEA at R/GA.
The outcome, unveiled in June, was “From the Mountains to the Metropolis,” an experimental spot created with Veo and that includes luxurious style model Moncler. The brief movie sparked dialog on social media and at Cannes Lions earlier this 12 months, the place Google confirmed it to a gaggle of artistic leaders.
Whereas the platform had limitations, Pringle stated it compelled his staff to develop a brand new method of working and confirmed how far AI has superior in a short while.
ADWEEK spoke to R/GA about how utilizing the generative software modified the artistic course of.
Embracing randomness
Filmmaking is often a linear course of—from writing a script and making a storyboard to capturing, enhancing, and post-production.
“At no level would you wish to return a step, as a result of it’s cost-prohibitive,” Pringle stated.
However with AI, the method turned rather more fluid, he noticed. Staying versatile was important, as a result of when creatives prompted Veo for every scene, it didn’t at all times produce what they’d envisioned.
It could possibly be “irritating” when a particular scene couldn’t be generated, Pringle famous. For instance, Veo did not render a scene during which a person zipped up a tent. However at different instances, he known as the software “superb,” producing surprising outcomes that had been woven into the narrative, such because the ice sculptures that seem within the last advert.
“In that method, AI turns into like a creator, as a result of generally the randomness of the know-how presents you with one thing you hadn’t anticipated,” Pringle stated.
Filmmaking with AI allows extra “real-time path,” stated Sadie Thoma, director of Google Adverts advertising and marketing. “It opens up the aperture for creativity, since you don’t need to shoot precisely what’s in your storyboard.”
However that randomness and fluidity may be difficult with a consumer like Moncler, which has excessive requirements as a luxurious model, Pringle stated, including that Moncler was obsessed with experimenting with the tech nonetheless.
Creating with Veo additionally modified the consumer approval course of, as a result of “you’re expressing your thought by way of a scene that’s transferring and residing, so there’s much less of a ‘ta-da’ second,” he defined. “You need to have a transparent imaginative and prescient.”
