Story
I composed this music track back in 2018, and it’s been patiently waiting for the right moment to become a full multimedia experience. I’ve always loved filmmaking and storytelling. Even as a kid, I’d turn my bedroom into a spaceship set for homemade sci-fi films. In high school, I created a detective show, editing it painstakingly with two VCRs (one borrowed and lugged around from my dad’s setup). It was challenging, sure, but I enjoyed every second.
Filming and editing stayed a huge part of my life. I’ve documented countless personal moments, from my son’s soccer journey to random shorts with friends, pouring hundreds of hours into editing purely out of passion for visual storytelling. Music composition has been equally essential since I was seven years old. It’s as vital to me as breathing. For more than ten years, I’ve composed cinematic orchestral music meant for imaginary media. I’ve always dreamed about merging my two passions: music and cinematography.
Until recently, creating the kind of detailed videos I envisioned - with intricate sets, costumes, and locations - was simply too costly and impractical. However, recent multimedia breakthroughs in AI have finally made it possible. Over the past year, I’ve jumped head-first into using these AI tools.
Importantly, this wasn’t simply about pressing buttons and hoping for the best. It was a highly involved process that required directing every element of the production, just like in traditional filmmaking. I had to think like a director. Every visual detail, movement, and emotional beat had to be imagined, communicated, tested, and refined across multiple iterations. The process was deeply involved and mirrored traditional filmmaking techniques. As a “director”, I coordinated closely with “departments” like set design, costume design, character development, and location scouting. I planned each scene meticulously, directing camera angles, movements, emotional expressions, and even guiding “actors” through their performance cues. Each step required multiple iterations or “takes” and careful adjustments, much like real-world film production. The tools are still a little limiting and are still evolving, and sometimes the results come out a bit janky/imperfect/inconsistent, but that’s okay. It’s part of the creative process, and part of the charm of working at the edge of what’s possible.
Editing this AI-generated footage alongside my music has been an exhilarating journey. I’m absolutely thrilled to finally see these two lifelong passions - cinematic storytelling and music composition - come together. These tools are not perfect yet and I’m still learning how to use them, but that’s part of the excitement - seeing something I started in 2018, something that lived in my imagination for years, finally take shape in the way I always hoped it could. This is a new frontier and there is still so much to learn. I can’t wait to keep exploring and see where this incredible journey takes me next. This is beyond exciting to me!
Here is the list of tools I used and what I did with them: ChatGPT – Brainstormed and developed ideas for set design, characters, character backstories, costume concepts, locations, aesthetics etc… Midjourney – The foundation for the visuals - Created and refined concept art for sets, actors, environments, locations, colors, lighting, weather/time of day and camera lens/focal length choices Runway – Created final movie sets, character sheets and defined actor and camera blocking/positioning. Directed actors. Generated video scenes Kling AI – Created additional video scenes CapCut – Used for final video editing, pacing, transitions, and adding additional visual effects to match the music.
Things I want to tackle in the future:
- Sound design
- Actor Dialog
- Narration (for documentary style videos)