Beyond the Brief: Creating a Music Video Entirely With AI

The summer of 2024 will go down in music history as one of the greatest eras of music in human history. Taylor Swift dropped The Tortured Poets Department, the country world met the Beyhive with Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, and Charli XCX made sure we know what it means to be BRAT.

But while all those albums are amazing, we like to think the biggest reason this summer will be one to remember was our debut album, Make it Pop Vol. 1.

Like any artist, releasing a new album is just the first step. Next, we needed a music video for our first single, Corporate Blue. That's the challenge Júlio Aymoré, Superside's Creative Director of Generative AI Excellence was given: Creating an AI music video. He took it up a notch and decided to only use generative AI for the creative.

The Brief: Making an AI Music Video

We were making an entire album with AI, and most of the videos and the support content were made traditionally. It made sense to make one that was entirely AI-generated.

Júlio AymoréCreative Director, Generative AI Excellence, Superside

Aymoré was asked to produce a 30-second video for the track Corporate Blue and given something we think of as the holy grail in our industry, the commandment: “You have full creative freedom.” Stepping up to the challenge, he decided to make a music video that was produced only using AI.

He had received some somber news at the same time the music video brief popped into his inbox. His grandmother had passed away suddenly and he took some time to be with his family. During this period, he thought about the song’s theme and lyrics and how it connected with his feelings about loss. Inspired by his thoughts and emotions related to change, Aymoré set to work.

It was hard to cope with losing my grandmother, knowing that I was so far away. I took that feeling and looked at the song, Corporate Blue. It’s about change. How sometimes people fight against it or feel swamped by it. And, sometimes it’s hard to understand change is necessary.

Júlio AymoréCreative Director, Generative AI Excellence, Superside

Beyond the Brief: Melding Human Imagination and AI Mastery

Corporate Blue isn’t a blues track, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take inspiration from the genre. As Blues legend Buddy Guy said, “Funny thing about the blues—you play 'em 'cause you got 'em. But when you play 'em, you lose 'em.”

The first step for Aymoré was visualizing his concept. He wanted to tell the story of a character who slowly succumbs to the stagnating world of corporate life (and ties—so many ties).

I tried to translate some of the lyrics into concepts but more abstractly because it's a music video, and we don't need to be literal with everything that we show.

Júlio AymoréCreative Director, Generative AI Excellence, Superside

Getting into character

Typically, Aymoré would create a storyboard for a project like this. Instead, because he had the freedom work be both the creative and the customer, he listened to the track to envision the story and then started writing prompts to generate new imagery, including characters and scenes.

Because I had this creative freedom, it felt more organic and amazing. If I had tried to create a storyboard for it, I would have spent way more time trying to constrain myself instead of just creating.

Júlio AymoréCreative Director, Generative AI Excellence, Superside

Another change in his process was the way he approached prompt writing. Instead of starting with “a guy running through a forest,” Aymoré wrote prompts to generate images that captured the essence and style of what he wanted. Once he had the style right, he got to work on the scenes and character prompts.

At first he had nearly 20 different versions of the main character. Then, he selected the one that he liked most and used it as the character reference (cref) in his prompting to ensure consistency in both the style and the portrayal of the character.

Focusing on the concepts

Aymoré is well into his AI era and experience with Midjourney, Runway and Luma Dream Machine helped him focus on the concepts rather than the prompting.

He reflected that when you're learning prompting, you're curating more than creating. Now that he's past that learning curve, he has more control over the things he creates. With one or two prompts, he can get the image he wants.

This evolution of skill sets, also lets him be more intentional.

There are things that are intrinsic to being human. I think we need to be very careful about AI. When we lose focus on the purpose of our actions, the ability to generate anything can create a lot of noise.

Júlio AymoréCreative Director, Generative AI Excellence, Superside

Quick Takes: Creating a Music Video With AI

Sometimes, an opportunity comes to you at a moment in your life when you need it most. For Aymoré, creating the music video for Corporate Blue was a chance to think about change in his life and craft.

• Creative freedom and generative AI pack a powerful punch. Aymoré got to work the way he wanted, letting him be more organic and fluid.
• The real magic comes from concepts not prompts. Once you become fluent in prompting, you can pour your focus into concepts and creating.
• Be intentional. People can tell when there's a reason or emotion behind something. Use your instincts to guide you and your use of AI.

Like any technology, in the right hands and at the right moments, AI has the power to let you do things you’ve never done before. To learn more about how our team of AI experts can help you, click on the banner below.