Christopher Nolan Explains How AI Could Actually Improve Filmmaking

The arrival of AI in the film industry has been a topic of debate in recent months and Christopher Nolan joins the discussion. From using ChatGPT to write an episode of South Park, applying artificial intelligence to improve dialogues on Amazon Prime Video, and studios considering finalizing scripts using these new tools amid writers’ strike, AIs are here to stay and it is only a matter of time before they become a tool for everyday use.

After popular directors like Joe Russo or acclaimed actors like Tom Hanks expressed their opinion regarding how AI will master the future of filmmaking, the man behind Oppenheimer shares his opinion on the matter, although he does not seem so concerned about the arrival of new technologies in the industry, but ready to use them in order to improve his work (via Wired):

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAYSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT

“The whole machine learning as applied to deepfake technology, that’s an extraordinary step forward in visual effects and in what you could do with audio. There will be wonderful things that will come out, longer term, in terms of environments, in terms of building a doorway or a window, in terms of pooling the massive data of what things look like, and how light reacts to materials. Those things are going to be enormously powerful tools. I’m, you know, very much the old analog fusty filmmaker. I shoot on film. And I try to give the actors a complete reality around it. My position on technology as far as it relates to my work is that I want to use technology for what it’s best for. Like if we do a stunt, a hazardous stunt. You could do it with much more visible wires, and then you just paint out the wires. Things like that.”

As Nolan implies, it’s not about the AI, but how people use it. These technologies can definitely be a helping hand when it comes to visual effects, but as any tool can get out of hand too. Oppenheimer’s story is in fact a clear example of how technology can be both an improvement or a lethal weapon.

Oppenheimer Has Left People Devastated

Universal Pictures

An AI-dominated future may not be devastating for the director, but it looks like his new movie is. During his interview with Wired, Nolan confessed that those who have already seen Oppenheimer have had a shocking reaction to the film:

“Some people leave the movie absolutely devastated. They can’t speak. I mean, there’s an element of fear that’s there in the history and there in the underpinnings. But the love of the characters, the love of the relationships, is as strong as I’ve ever done. Oppenheimer’s story is all impossible questions. Impossible ethical dilemmas, paradox. There are no easy answers in his story. There are just difficult questions, and that’s what makes the story so compelling. I think we were able to find a lot of things to be optimistic about in the film, genuinely, but there’s this sort of overriding bigger question that hangs over it. It felt essential that there be questions at the end that you leave rattling in people’s brains, and prompting discussion.”

Oppenheimer follows the story of one of the most complex and controversial personalities from the 20th Century, Robert J. Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb. The movie stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Tom Conti, and many other big stars.

You can view the original article HERE.