AI - Surprisingly good help in a creative context

[GregB]

My “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” cover is 99% complete ... a classic ballad but with my own music/lyrics forming the first third.

 

I’m now turning my mind to its music video but am finding that my usually reliable pool of visual ideas seems to have been concreted over! So then I thought, "I wonder if the ChatGPT AI could have even an inkling of what I’m after"?   Well, Lo and Behold, it has given me some solid ideas.  Not only free, but done in seconds.

 

No doubt, in a few more months, AI could even generate the video itself!  But would I have too much creative pride to use it??? ... now THAT is a troubling question, Grasshopper.

 

ME: Describe some scenes that could be made with stock footage/stills that could make a music video for the song "Hard to say I'm sorry".

 

ChatGPT

"Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is a classic song by the band Chicago, known for its emotional and reflective lyrics. To create a music video that complements the song's themes of love, regret, and vulnerability, here are some scenes that could be made using stock footage/stills:

1. Romantic Montage: Show a series of stock footage clips portraying happy couples in various stages of their relationships: holding hands, sharing intimate moments, laughing together, and walking in scenic locations.
2. Broken Promises: Use imagery of shattered glass or broken objects to symbolize the broken promises and mistakes that have led to the need to apologize.
3. Distant Memories: Show old photographs or faded film reels capturing moments of joy and togetherness, highlighting the nostalgia and yearning to go back to a happier time.
4. Longing Glances: Use close-up shots of individuals looking contemplative, lost in thought, or staring out of windows, conveying the idea of yearning and the difficulty in expressing regret.
5. Symbolic Gestures: Show hands reaching out towards each other but just missing, symbolizing the longing for reconciliation and the difficulty in bridging the emotional gap.
6. Changing Seasons: Create a visual metaphor by showing the changing of seasons from winter to spring, symbolizing the hope for renewal and healing in a strained relationship.
7. Lonely Walks: Depict a person walking alone in an empty park or on a desolate street, highlighting the isolation and sadness that can come with relationship troubles.
8. Writing Letters: Capture scenes of someone writing letters, crumpling them up, and starting over, reflecting the struggle to find the right words to express regret.
9. Rainy Moments: Utilize footage of raindrops falling on windows or umbrellas, symbolizing tears and emotional turmoil.
10. Reconciliation: Conclude the video with shots of two people slowly walking towards each other, eventually embracing and reconciling, capturing the essence of the song's message of healing and forgiveness.
11. Musical Performance: Intersperse the narrative scenes with shots of the band performing the song, adding a sense of authenticity and emotion to the video.
12. Close-up Expressions: Focus on close-up shots of individuals' facial expressions, capturing the complexity of emotions ranging from sorrow and regret to hope and determination.
13. Home Footage: Incorporate snippets of home videos or handheld camera footage, creating an intimate and personal touch that emphasizes the genuine emotions of the song.

Remember that the key to a successful music video is to create a visual narrative that resonates with the song's lyrics and emotions. The scenes should enhance the viewer's connection to the music and amplify the themes being expressed.

 

 

2 / 2

"Hard to Say I'm Sorry" by Chicago is a heartfelt ballad that deals with themes of regret, reconciliation, and the difficulty of admitting one's mistakes. To create a music video that complements the emotional depth of the song, you could consider incorporating the following scenes using stock footage and still images:

1. Flashback Memories: Open the video with sepia-toned or slightly desaturated images that represent memories of happier times between a couple. Show scenes of them laughing, enjoying outings, and sharing intimate moments.
2. Breaking Apart: Transition to more muted and darker tones as the relationship begins to experience tension. Use shots of the couple arguing, walking away from each other, or looking distant and sad.
3. Lonely Interiors: Show empty interiors of their shared spaces, emphasizing the void left after a breakup. Shots of an untouched table for two, an empty chair, and a half-empty bed can effectively convey the loneliness.
4. Messages and Letters: Incorporate shots of handwritten letters, texts, or emails. Show close-ups of words like "I'm sorry" and "miss you" as a representation of the characters' attempts at communication.
5. Symbolic Objects: Utilize objects that hold sentimental value in the relationship, such as a piece of jewelry, a stuffed animal, or a photo frame. These items can be featured prominently to evoke emotions of nostalgia and loss.
6. Reflections and Regret: Use scenes of raindrops on windows or mirrors to symbolize tears and introspection. Show the characters looking at their reflections, conveying a sense of regret and self-evaluation.
7. Changing Seasons: Incorporate footage of changing seasons to mirror the emotional journey. Use spring blossoms and summer sunsets for the happier memories, and transition to autumn leaves and winter snowfall to reflect the cooling emotions.
8. Strangers in Crowds: Intersperse shots of the characters in busy public spaces, surrounded by strangers. This can emphasize the feeling of isolation even in a crowd and highlight the absence of the person who was once so close.
9. Attempts to Reconnect: Show shots of the characters attempting to move on while still clearly longing for each other. They might pass by places they used to visit together, or be shown separately visiting a place of shared significance.
10. Reconciliation and Forgiveness: The climax of the video could feature scenes of the characters finding their way back to each other. Use shots of them hesitating, sharing a heartfelt conversation, or finally embracing as the chorus reaches its emotional peak.
11. Moving Forward: Conclude the video with images of the couple rebuilding their connection. Walking hand in hand, sharing smiles, and creating new memories together can signify hope and healing.
12. Fade to Black and White: As the song draws to a close, fade the visuals to black and white, and use a still image of the couple holding each other closely, symbolizing their rekindled love and commitment.

The key to a successful music video for "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" is to capture the emotional journey of the song's narrative using carefully curated stock footage and still images that resonate with the lyrics and mood of the music.

 

[john]

Firstly, a great post Greg. Quite a bit of work in there.

 

I look forward to the day I can choose to generate the idea, create a draft vid, create the stages of the vid, and or hi here's the song and the conceptual parameters... go.

 

I know I for one love the doing, but AI really is very useful when you apply it with a degree of understanding of the subject at hand and a degree of understanding of the nature of AI... the parameters you need to set, the initial queries to get good results.

 

Good stuff though.

 

I have been using AI for a number of reasons, for evaluation, and I have found it genuinely useful and frustratingly incorrect. You can't take its output simply as right. It gets things very wrong, it invents stuff and it lies.... which does make for a fun interaction!

[GregB]

The AI journey continues.

1. "Hard To Say I'm Sorry".  I've finished the video (which mixes stock video with AI-generated still images) and I'm just waiting on the track to be finished (hopefully approx 1 week) ... I'll post about the video then.
2. "Agincourt". One of two tracks so far without a video from my 30-track album "The Flat White Album", purely due to lack of variety/quality of relevant medieval imagery times (Agincourt was c.1415). However, having cut my teeth in Midjourney 5.2 with "Hard ..." video, I now felt more confident. I ended up with 150 images that more-or-less fitted the 'film' I had always had in my mind, and the 11:33 video is now completed, bar a few tweaks.  Although, believe me, my confidence was often shattered by the idiot-savant nature of AI.  For example, archery/longbows appear to be a blind spot (so I gave up on such prompts), while there were other occasions when the AI seems to have actually gone mad ...

a) medieval longbow archer, photo, realistic, --ar 16:9

 

b) using ‘Vary Region’ to replace perfectly presented  medieval knights on horseback with ‘longbowmen archers and men-at-arms’ ...

... WTF?!  I was literally stunned and slack-jawed for several seconds when this appeared.

 

Greg  

[john]

Lol wonderful. Some of the stuff AI gets wrong is amazing. For a long time hands seemed to be a particular problem.

 

I don’t want to detract from your journey, so I plan to start a new topic I will tag you on where I am looking to create a new video by ai generated video using photo and text prompts.p to get workable results.

 

Meanwhile while I am enjoying your voyage... Now I am also promoted to start a topic about when AI goes wrong on image generation!

[GregB]

10 minutes ago, john said:

a topic about when AI goes wrong on image generation!

Great idea. Make it for all AI (not just images). 😀