AI in Filmmaking: We Made an AI Short Film and Now We Have Questions
- Indie Film Podcast
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
AI in filmmaking is one of those topics that can turn a casual conversation into a full-contact sport (or at least a fun people-watching endeavor). Some filmmakers see AI as a useful tool. Others see it as an ethical disaster wearing a tech-bro hoodie. So instead of just arguing about it in theory, we decided to actually test it: We blocked off a few hours and tried to make a short film using AI as much as possible.
The rules were simple. AI had to write the script, create the character designs, generate the voices, and make the video. We would stitch the final pieces together, but the actual creative heavy lifting had to come from the robots. The result was technically a short film. Emotionally, spiritually, and narratively? That is where things got a little more questionable.
AI in Filmmaking Is Not Magic
The biggest surprise from our AI filmmaking experiment was that it actually made us less worried about AI replacing original filmmakers overnight.
The AI-generated script was messy. The video generation struggled with continuity, camera logic, physical space, and basic visual consistency. (To be fair, neither of us is very capable nor experienced with guiding AI prompts...that probably played at least a small role in the horrendous failure of this short film.) The characters shifted. The setting changed. The whole thing had the energy of a robot trying very hard to understand drama after reading three sad sci-fi poems and a toaster manual, while thinking that Grimm's Fairy Tales were lacking in happy endings.
That doesn't mean AI video generation is useless. Far from it. There are definitely ways AI tools could help filmmakers, especially with visual effects tests, concept development, rough mockups, or impossible-to-shoot ideas (read: impossible-for-our-budget ideas). But the experiment also made one thing very clear: AI still needs human taste, direction, story instincts, and a filmmaker who knows when the output is bad.
In other words, AI in filmmaking may be a tool. But it is not a replacement for having a point of view.
The Real Concern Is Bigger Than One Bad AI Short Film
The scarier part of AI in filmmaking is not necessarily that AI will suddenly start making great indie films on its own. The bigger concern is volume.
If AI can generate endless videos, songs, images, scripts, and “content” at scale, then real filmmakers aren't just competing with other filmmakers anymore. They're competing with a flood of AI-generated noise. That matters on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Spotify, and anywhere else creative work already struggles to get discovered.
There are also ethical concerns that filmmakers probably shouldn't just shrug off: Scraped artwork, fake voices, synthetic faces, creative consent, environmental costs, and the devaluation of human-made work. Calling AI “just a tool” doesn't automatically make it harmless. A hammer can build a house, but, it can break a few windows, too.
So Should Indie Filmmakers Use AI?
Our answer is: It depends. (We know, get off the fence, right?)
AI in filmmaking is complicated. It can be useful, but it can also be lazy, exploitative, and creatively empty. The question really shouldn't be (and probably isn't any longer) "Can AI make a film?" The better question now is "What kind of work are we willing to hand over, and what are the impacts of doing so?"
This week on Indie Film Podcast, we talk through our AI-generated short film experiment. We're talking about what worked, what failed spectacularly, and why the future of AI in indie film is probably less about replacing good filmmakers and more about making it harder for good work to be seen.
Watch or listen to the full episode, then tell us what you think: is AI filmmaking a useful tool, a creative threat, or a total mess?
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