Darren Aronofsky has always been a divisive filmmaker. But the director of hits like “Black Swan,” “The Wrestler,” and “Requiem for a Dream” has now nearly squandered his credibility, even among his die-hard fans, after creating an almost entirely AI-generated historical video series.
The show, titled “On This Day… 1776,” consists of several minute-long “episodes” meant to cover notable events that occurred in the American Revolutionary War, but instead has drawn attention for its constant anachronism on top of how terrible its AI visuals look. Colonials living in homes with modern vinyl siding? Sure, Why not.
Predictably, the reviews are brutal. In one titled “Request for a film-maker,” Guardian stuart heritage destroyed Its faux-photorealism aesthetic has been called “ugly as sin” and its heavy reliance on centre-framed, back-of-the-head shots has been noted. “Ultimately, this is because the back of an AI-generated head is much less likely to make people scream in shock than an AI-generated face,” Heritage wrote.
“‘On This Day… 1776’ really is terrible to watch,” he concluded, “and everyone involved should be ashamed. It’s the most disturbing thing Aronofsky has ever made, and I’ve watched the last eight minutes of ‘Requiem for a Dream’.”
It’s hard not to agree. The entire show operates in the mode of meaningless montage, because stringing together a collection of barely related, aesthetically generic shots is the only form of “filmmaking” for which AI is suitable. The effect is like watching an extended advertisement. But whereas an ad usually has the nice courtesy of finishing in less than a minute, Aronofsky’s monstrosity presses ahead with its cavalcade of fast-cutting but slowly moving close-ups, as if to demonstrate for maximum effect how ridiculous it all sounds.
Big names are associated with the series. The show is a collaboration between Aronofsky’s AI studio Primordial Soup, Google’s DeepMind Lab, Salesforce, and Time Studio. It’s not being sold to us as Aronofsky’s work sitting in his bedroom typing AI indicates. It is considered a high watermark of what AI can bring.
Angie Hahn wrote, “But keep looking for more than a few seconds, and it will quickly become clear that the slut is a slut, no matter how horny.” For hollywood reporter. “‘On This Day’ reveals itself to be a well-funded, high-profile, apparently good-faith effort to demonstrate how AI can be deployed as a tool to enhance human artistry rather than replace it. Instead, it merely demonstrates that the problem with AI in filmmaking goes much deeper than its technical limitations.”
“How disappointing” it continues, “Under the guidance of a visionary filmmaker like Aronofsky, with the lavish financial backing of companies like Google and Salesforce, this thing – a pair of cheesy, TikTok-length clips that would barely pass as animated illustrations for a high-school history lesson, let alone coherent pieces of storytelling in their own right – is the best anyone can make of the supposedly limitless limits of AI?”
By the way, Aronofsky was once going to direct a biopic about Elon Musk. Now, it looks like he’s drunk the same AI Kool-Aid that Musk is drinking.
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