Watch <Story&Code> Trailers!

A selection of AI-augmented teasers as artifacts, demonstrating a profound commitment to experimentation, inviting scrutiny and reflection, challenging preconceptions and offering a critical lens on the transformative possibilities of this emergent medium.

This work was developed as part of the <STORY&CODE> program - an artist residency and research project by AIxDESIGN and Sublab experimenting with and reflecting on the role of AI in animation specifically, and storytelling at large.

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DEAR UPSTAIRS NEIGHBOR

by Connie He & Maria Than

Dear Upstairs Neighbor is a story about a tired artist who goes to bed after a hard day of work, only for her upstairs neighbor to throw a massive flat party.

The teaser was created by Connie He (animator) and Maria Than (creative technologist) and made using a mix of traditional and AI video tools including Stable Diffusion, RunwayML, OpenAI, Midjourney, Premiere Pro and Photoshop.

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Character designs by Connie

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RunwayML video editor workspace

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LORNA

by Nick Cremers

Lorna is a black and white animated mystery/horror story that plays out on the coast of Ireland in the 50's. Ben the young son of a fisherman witnesses his mother throwing herself off a cliff. She reappears unscaved back at the house and starts displaying a behavior that leads Ben to question if she really is his mother.

This teaser was created by Nick Cremers (3D generalist/animator/VFX artist by trade and storyteller by night) and made using a mix of traditional and AI video tools including Stable Diffusion, EbSynth, Firefly, Cinema4D, Runway GEN-2, and After Effects.”

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"I roughly keyed out the footage without going to deep into it and see what would happen. Since the result has to go through EbSynth the transparancy of the key would not be preserved so then you atleast try to get the best green color behind it to later key out in a compositing program." - Nick

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"I used Cinema4D to make a 3D representation of the depth pass." - Nick

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GARDEN OF DIGITALIS

by Vilja Achté & Leda Sadotti

Garden of Digital(is) examines the relationship of a female protagonist to her surrounding landscape — and her eventual, weird metamorphosis with it.

The story begins with a female protagonist battling traditional gender roles and power dynamics in her life. She feels she doesn't have agency and is like a plant who is moved around in a planting pot. After experiencing a supernatural occurrence, she consumes a digitalis flower from her overgrown garden. This functions as a catalyst for a strange metamorphosis — the woman’s perception of reality undergoes a shift, and she eventually fuses physically with her environment. The teaser is an atmospheric glimpse into the storyworld, where the environment is an active part of the narrative.

The teaser was created by Vilja Achté, a Helsinki-based artist, and Leda Sadotti, a London-based artist and creative technologist and made using a mix of traditional and AI video tools including Cinema 4D, Z-brush, Adobe Mixamo, Deforum Stable Diffusion, Octane, Runway Gen 2, Flowframes, Topaz AI, AIVA, Chat GPT, Replica AI, and Touch Designer.

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Plant experiments with local Stable Diffusion.

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HARDWIRED

by Guido Duijn & Cailean Finn

Hardwired is a story about a wild dog mother struggles to take care of her child while navigating a post-war African savannah.

The teaser was created by Cailean Finn (a media artist and creative technologist from Waterford, Ireland) and Guido Duijn (a character animator and filmmaker from Haarlem, Netherlands) and made using a mix of traditional and AI video tools including Stable Diffusion, Adobe Firefly, ControlNet, Segment Anything Model [SAM], Audiocraft, ML-Agents, EbSynth, x6ud.github.io.

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2D Sketches → Stable Diffusion + ControlNet + TemporalKit

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Diffusion Flicker → Stable Diffusion + Segment Anything Model (SAM)

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HOUSE OF SATURN

by Cody Gallo & Chloé Michel

The House of Saturn teaser provides an interactive AI experience that immerses audiences into an aspect and theme of the film’s storyline.

Chloé Michel (Creative Technologist and Media Designer) and Cody Gallo (Filmmaker) present this interactive teaser for House of Saturn written by Kate Ryan Brewer; a feature film about an interplanetary training mission threatened by a mysterious anomaly. Produced with ChatGPT, Midjourney, RunwayML gen1 + gen2, Python, Elevenlabs, AIVA.

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ANCIENT TIMES

by Stein Louise & Ioana Mischie

In a past long forgotten, we follow the exodus of a people, longing for answers. But this time you just might be the main character.

The teaser was created by Stein Louise and Ioana Mischie and made using a mix of traditional and AI video tools including Stable Diffusion, ElevenLabs, D-ID, ChatGPT, RunwayML GEN-2, Adobe After Effects, and Photoshop.

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Even a doodle can be used as a means to create an image

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