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The Prequel Radical Redux Ideas Thread — Page 378

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Regarding to AI

A lot of AI Star Wars movies and scenes are in creation and released especially on YouTube.
Two examples with potential:

  1. Order 66
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQJOiR2ybk0

  2. Anakin against Tuskens
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxeS47VOYA

Most of the AI content on YouTube is crappy and the artificially characteres are just telling each other the content (tell, don’t show). But some short shots are really nice. Shots where you can think of adding it to fan cuts for deeper dives.

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Eugh, no thank you. The less time spent on the soulless slop of Star Wars AI Youtube, the better

I like you, let us burn things together.

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AI is fine as a tool for just throwing together a proof of concept. I don’t think it should be used to create actual movies or shows, but I don’t think most people here would be using it that way anyway. I see some of the ones on YouTube as fun gimmicks, though they’re artistically hollow and I don’t think they should be taken seriously.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

the average text prompt only uses about 5 drops of water

Just wanted to drop a quick reply noting that 5 drops for a single prompt may not seem like a lot, but that adds up quick. If everyone in the US executed a single prompt with AI, were already at 75,000 liters of water. Now, surely not everyone in the US is using AI, but everyone who is, is generally doing orders of magnitude more than a single prompt. Additionally, not every prompt is generated by a human. All sorts of AI integrated tools are constantly prompting, nonstop, around the clock, around the globe. Lastly, it’s not even really about the amount of water being used - but more so about the infrastructural and financial havoc that datacenters wreak on the smaller towns and communities that they invade.

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I can actually agree on your last point. We need laws around how close data centers can be to residential areas. But I was simply pointing out the absurdity of claiming that one person using AI to make some pictures is guzzling gallons of water. You’d be saving significantly more water if you chose to live a vegan lifestyle than you ever would if you never used AI. A single 1/3 pound burger patty takes like 660 gallons of water. I just don’t like it when people act all holier-than-thou but in reality they are either misinformed or being a hypocrite.

And, I mean, come on now. You’re really going to call this masterpiece slop?. And it’s only going to continue to get better.

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It’s visually interesting but narratively dead.

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Yeah funny how that would be a critique of the human writer and not the AI visuals lol. Or maybe they wrote it with a LLM idk.

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Yeah. I finished my entire episode 1 using my AI generations, an amazing tool for those who have ideas but not the means to bring them to life… because it’s way too expensive, not everyone is Lucasfilm. I’m keeping my project to myself.
If the purpose of the forum is to preach, I’m not interested.
I think I’m going to delete my account here. We’re in the same situation as when photography was invented. There was a lot of rejection and criticism about its use, like from Charles Baudelaire (in France), and then over time it got recognized. We’ll see how it evolves with this AI. Yeah, maybe there should be a bit of regulation.

So,

Goodbye!

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

I can actually agree on your last point. We need laws around how close data centers can be to residential areas. But I was simply pointing out the absurdity of claiming that one person using AI to make some pictures is guzzling gallons of water. You’d be saving significantly more water if you chose to live a vegan lifestyle than you ever would if you never used AI. A single 1/3 pound burger patty takes like 660 gallons of water. I just don’t like it when people act all holier-than-thou but in reality they are either misinformed or being a hypocrite.

And, I mean, come on now. You’re really going to call this masterpiece slop?. And it’s only going to continue to get better.

Yes, yes I am. Soulless filmmaking done by a computer, uninspired cinematography (with some lifted directly from the Ahsoka show), completely impersonal delivery, and dull writing retreading the same ground these characters have experienced for forty years. Human creations are better, end of story.

I like you, let us burn things together.

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I don’t think I was ever arguing that AI creations are better than human-made ones. Obviously that’s not true. But it’s certainly getting very impressive. Would it hurt to have a little nuance instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water? That’s all I’ve ever been arguing here. Particularly in the case of a fan-made project, which doesn’t have the resources of an entire corporation, and isn’t being sold, AI has a perfect place.

Honestly this all sounds exactly like what people said when the prequels came out. Something like - “None of the sets are real, it’s all green screen CGI slop! Old fashioned filmmaking is better than digital, end of story.” It’s no wonder George has the extreme position on AI that he does, he’s heard all of this same stuff before and is likely sick of it.

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AI will always be slop.

I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.

Star Wars has 3 eras: The eras are 1977-1983(pre Expanded Universe), (1983-2014) expanded universe, or (2014- now) Disney-bought version. Each are valid.

My movie reviews aren’t AI, they’re just written by someone who’s Neurodivergent. If you don’t like them, then simply don’t read them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/comics/s/kDGHJj2bLl

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

Honestly this all sounds exactly like what people said when the prequels came out. Something like - “None of the sets are real, it’s all green screen CGI slop! Old fashioned filmmaking is better than digital, end of story.” It’s no wonder George has the extreme position on AI that he does, he’s heard all of this same stuff before and is likely sick of it.

No point in arguing. Some people will always have a closed mind when it comes to AI. I work with it every day and have seen both the benefits and negatives of it. Give it 10 years and revisit it. I remember when people were arguing that digital art was not actually art because it was done on a computer and not by hand…

The Star Wars Saga:
I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX | Rogue One · Solo
What was first just a dream has become a frightening reality…

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Grand Admiral Thrawn said:

I remember when people were arguing that digital art was not actually art because it was done on a computer and not by hand…

Yup, and that’s similar to the comparison I was bringing up regarding CGI/green-screen vs set design. I already know what the counterargument is - that CGI still requires intentionality and skill. But if you looked at the workflow it took to produce the video I linked, you’d be sorely mistaken to believe it’s just a guy typing words into a prompt machine. Otherwise everybody would be producing quality like that. There’s definitely some real intention and skill expression going on there. Probably lots of photoshop and fine-tuning certain audio and visual details.

I think a lot of the cold reception has to do with the fact that this forum was made by fans of… well, the original trilogy! It’s the name of this place lol. A lot of old school folks. People like Ady that appreciate miniatures and retro filming techniques. Which is cool shit. But it’s not the only way to express your ideas anymore. I just wish we could coexist without dogpiling on what will inevitably become a new facet of entertainment, for better or worse.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

I think a lot of the cold reception has to do with the fact that this forum was made by fans of… well, the original trilogy! It’s the name of this place lol. A lot of old school folks. People like Ady that appreciate miniatures and retro filming techniques. Which is cool shit. But it’s not the only way to express your ideas anymore. I just wish we could coexist without dogpiling on what will inevitably become a new facet of entertainment, for better or worse.

I think you’re underestimating how much of the response you’re seeing here is actually just pretty normal in society. Some don’t mind, some embrace it (and often badly), but many people have a intensely negative response to anything AI-generated, and for good reason.

ROTJ Storyboard Reconstruction Project

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It’s more like 50/50 in the real world, at least according to my research. I kind of assumed that already, I should have clarified what I meant is that the ratio leans more negative, say 80:20, on places like this. Because it’s an old-school forum founded on trying to get what George has called imperfect versions of his original films released. Whereas people here might say that the original releases had a certain charm and grit to them, and the CGI takes away that humanity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super pumped for the 50th anniversary re-releases. But that’s going to be a one-time experience for me, not my definitive version.

George was held back by the tools of his time, so he had to pioneer clever workarounds to let us see his vision for Star Wars at that time. Ya’ll probably won’t like to hear this, but if he still had control of Star Wars today he would have continued putting more CGI in it and maybe even used AI to modify his movies. I agree with his perspective of film as a fluid, evolving medium that can continuously be updated and refined as technology advances and artistic vision changes. It’s only the emotional impact of the narrative that ultimately matters, not the tools used to make it viewable.

Only I’d take it a step further. I’m hoping this all leads toward the myth going back to how it was when it was spread by word - having different endings and beats depending on who is presenting it. The myth will be democratized in that way, with the most popular versions in a society becoming what people want to watch.

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Yeah, unfortunately it’s become a very politicized issue. And politics in and of themselves are incredibly polarized now. So you’ve got one group trying to shove AI into literally every aspect of life in order to profit at any cost, and you’ve got another group willing to commit a Butlerian Jihad on all the data centers. It’s rare to encounter people who have a more balanced take on it all. It’s just a tool, and there are healthy ways to use it, and there are harmful ways to use it.

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It’s actually quite ironic that the person writing the most nuanced and intelligent things here goes by the nickname Jar Jar… Binks—oops, Bricks. Haha.

By the way, is it possible to delete an account?

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JulioTanaka said:

By the way, is it possible to delete an account?

Nope, I’m pretty sure you’d have to ask a mod to ban your account.

I have been wondering recently if there are other online communities where I could share these ideas / projects. But unfortunately this is a niche within a niche. At least for now.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

Only I’d take it a step further. I’m hoping this all leads toward the myth going back to how it was when it was spread by word - having different endings and beats depending on who is presenting it. The myth will be democratized in that way, with the most popular versions in a society becoming what people want to watch.

In other words, a bunch of anti-intellectual slop only designed to give people what they want. No challenging narratives, no unexpected occurrences, just slop that rots your brain.

I gotta quote George here:

Pleasure’s fun. It’s great, but you can’t keep it going forever; just accept the fact that it’s here and it’s gone, and maybe then again, it will come back, and you’ll get to do it again. Joy lasts forever. Pleasure is purely self-centered. It’s all about your pleasure: it’s about you. It’s a selfish, self-centered emotion, that is created by a self-centered motive of greed. Joy is compassion. Joy is giving yourself to somebody else, or something else. And it’s a kind of thing that is, in its subtlety and lowness, much more powerful than pleasure. You get hung up on pleasure; you’re doomed. If you pursue joy; you will find everlasting happiness.

I know he had pro-AI points later, but we all contain multitudes and shifting opinions.

All the AI tools do is pleasure. No creative joy, just stimulation of the pleasure centers in utter hollowness. If you want what you describe, go to AO3 and see all the human-written fanfic, the ai-free fan films on YouTube, or all the hand-drawn and computer-rendered (not AI) art throughout the web. See people trying to become better at craft, not surrendering to the prompts.

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I don’t understand why would you use a quote from George when he’s literally gone on record to state that he supports AI in film. All you’ve done is taken another one of his quotes out of context and placed your own subjective feelings regarding AI on top of it.

I would say that your argument is boiling down to the fact that you don’t like the way AI has been used. Yes, most of what’s available on the internet right now AI-wise doesn’t have a lot of thought put into it. Most of it is fan-service. But that’s to be expected with how universally accessible it is. In other words, it’s user error, not the tool’s fault. Believe it or not, people do want engaging and challenging narratives. It’s 100% possible to create those and then use AI in order to illustrate them. And I would expect those to become among the most popular projects.

I can use that quote from George right back at you with my own subjective opinion. “Joy is giving yourself to somebody else, or something else.” I’m sure there are tons of people out there that would love to have the opportunity to share their own understanding of what Star Wars means to them, but they don’t have the skills or capacity in order to make that story heard. AI is the tool that can allow more people to give a piece of themselves in a more digestible format. In other words, it can make mythmaking less dependent on technical or financial privilege. It gives more people the ability to translate their understanding of a story into a form others can receive. In that sense, it can turn interpretation into an act of giving.

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Jar Jar Bricks said:

I don’t understand why would you use a quote from George when he’s literally gone on record to state that he supports AI in film. All you’ve done is taken another one of his quotes out of context and placed your own subjective feelings regarding AI on top of it.

Fair.

I would say that your argument is boiling down to the fact that you don’t like the way AI has been used. Yes, most of what’s available on the internet right now AI-wise doesn’t have a lot of thought put into it. Most of it is fan-service. But that’s to be expected with how universally accessible it is. In other words, it’s user error, not the tool’s fault. Believe it or not, people do want engaging and challenging narratives. It’s 100% possible to create those and then use AI in order to illustrate them. And I would expect those to become among the most popular projects.

Ok, name them. Tell me where you’re seeing this and not just fanservice junk. Otherwise, this “user error” is pretty universal.

I can use that quote from George right back at you with my own subjective opinion. “Joy is giving yourself to somebody else, or something else.” I’m sure there are tons of people out there that would love to have the opportunity to share their own understanding of what Star Wars means to them, but they don’t have the skills or capacity in order to make that story heard.

Then learn how to write, how to draw, how to create things without AI. It’s that simple.

AI is the tool that can allow more people to give a piece of themselves in a more digestible format. In other words, it can make mythmaking less dependent on technical or financial privilege. It gives more people the ability to translate their understanding of a story into a form others can receive. In that sense, it can turn interpretation into an act of giving.

It makes garbage and that’s all the users will ever get from it. Trying to couch it in the language of financial privilege is a filthy tactic, given how AI has destroyed so many financial privileges for many.

This isn’t mythmaking, it’s fanwank. But unlike the best Rule 34 you’ll find online, it was made without any real skills or passion. You can try to dress it up all you want or try to add nuance, but it’s all deflection. You so deep in this hole that I know I’m wasting my time, but I just want to get my points out there.

I will never support a fanedit or fanfilm that uses generative AI. There’s an excellent essay on the Star Wars slop plague, I recommend it.