This Film Does Not Exist
PhilNote: really good opinion piece using SciFi director Alejandro Jodorowsky (unrealized Dune film) as the framing device for a discussion of AI moviemaking.
I was recently shown some frames from a film that I had never heard of: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1976 version of “Tron.” The sets were incredible. The actors, unfamiliar to me, looked fantastic in their roles. The costumes and lighting worked together perfectly. The images glowed with an extravagant and psychedelic sensibility that felt distinctly Jodorowskian. ...
The truth is that these weren’t stills from a long-lost movie. They weren’t photos at all. These evocative, well-composed and tonally immaculate images were generated in seconds with the magic of artificial intelligence. ...
Just because you cannot watch Alejandro’s “Dune” doesn’t mean it didn’t change the world. This unfilmed film’s influence on our culture is nothing short of astounding. Specific ideas and images from the “Dune” art bible have escaped into the world. They can be experienced in movies such as “Blade Runner,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Prometheus,” “The Terminator” and even the original “Star Wars.” His “Dune” does not exist, yet it’s all around us. ...
I want to say that influence is not the same thing as algorithm. But looking at these images, how can I be sure? ...
See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/13/opinion/jodorowsky-dune-ai-tron.html?mc_cid=5f90288db0&mc_eid=116e9f337b
