Camera Obscura – Christopher Hill's AI Obsession
Christopher Hill is a film director working across advertising, music videos, fashion films, experimental, long-form projects, and anything else he can get his hands on.
His multi-disciplinary approach sees him comfortably and successfully navigate various different genres, from comedic, to dramatic, to conceptual works. Each project is approached with a unique style and craft drawn from the concept. An instinctive eye for emotive and realistic performances and detailed cinematic visuals result in timeless and memorable work.
Recently his work for Xero, Specsavers and BWS again showcased his ability to easily slide between various styles and techniques, from heavy VFX and design to traditional visual narrative.
LBB> What is your niche craft obsession?
I’m going to put forward a new obsession - AI.
LBB> How did you first come across AI?
I’d seen it before on some Instagram accounts, but in November 2022, in the living room of my house, a friend had got Midjourney up and running. We played around with it for a while, typing in whatever ridiculous prompt we wanted. It was fun for a time but we quickly got bored of its limitations and, maybe more so, our naivety on how to use it.
LBB> Was it an obsession straight away or something that has evolved over the years?
I forgot about it for a few months until mid-January this year. I started to see people doing things like reinventing old genre films as if directed by someone else - it looked way more cinematic than I’d previously seen with A.I. I got onto Midjourney myself and started learning how to prompt to make things look more realistic, and filmic. I wasn’t interested in recreating other films or other director’s styles but figured I could use AI created images that looked like any wild film or photographic idea from my own imagination. From then on, I was hooked. I’m not sure where this new obsession is going, but I’m definitely intrigued.
LBB> What are the most interesting debates or conversations you are having around this obsession?
There are so many debates and many conversations. I try to remain objective and pragmatic in any debate. I also don’t really take sides in the AI in film debate, except for stating that it’s not actually AI yet, simply advanced machine learning.
There’s the big obvious conversation for people in film; fear of AI one-day replacing real-life production jobs, which is fair, but I like to joust with the concept that technology has always made new advancements in creativity, and I don’t like any of my decisions to be based on ‘fear’.
For example, photography replaced painting, the computer replaced pencil and paper, digital cameras replaced film cameras, and CG replaced in-camera effects. But did they really replace them, or are all these things just new tools and mediums in the same pursuit? There are always ‘craft’ purists, but as a director, I feel the heart of what I do is about storytelling and ideas. AI is just another tool in that pursuit and doesn’t replace all the other elements involved in what I do. What it comes down to is you still have to have an idea, knowledge of the medium and taste. AI is not conscious. Yet it doesn’t generate the idea for you.
Is AI just mangling internet references together in different forms? Maybe, but then what’s new about referencing? I read or look at a book, I watch films via the internet. We already ingest so much from different forms of text, including the internet and spit it out in our own ways. Possibly this is the same thing? A human is still the lens through which the machine interprets the world.
I like to cheekily compare this to a quote I like from Jim Jarmusch. Not sure what Jim thinks of AI, though.
‘Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you like it.’
Maybe I’m shooting myself in the foot, and I’m aiding in the replacement of my own job, but if we get to a stage where I can plug the machine straight into my brain and it interprets my thoughts into feature films instantly, I’ll be super excited! It also won’t stop me from loving the collaborative and random imperfect process of present filmmaking. Just the same way that I still enjoy drawing on a piece of paper with a pencil or taking a photo with a shitty point-and-shoot film camera.
LBB> How widespread do you think this obsession is with your peers?
I’m not sure. I think a lot of people are intrigued, but there’s also a lot of fear and scepticism.
LBB> Can you share any examples of work where that obsession really came to the fore and elevated the final production?
I haven’t used it directly in production yet. I’ve been using it like a direct link to my subconscious to reflect my ideas back to me visually at basically the same speed I think of them. In that way, it’s like a learning tool, and I feel I evolve through ideas much faster, which I think will innately come out in physical productions I’m involved with in the future.
But I did use it on a project this year to initially help design a look of some boots worn by an invisible person and a tone of lighting and style for this project at night. I couldn't find these exact references anywhere else to show the agency what I was talking about. So AI was useful for being able to quickly visualize what I wanted to do and probably did influence the final production.
LBB> For anyone just getting into your field, what advice would you share to help them get their head around this particular thing?
Like anything, remain open and versatile to new things. Play around and experiment. Learn through doing. Also, presently don’t expect A.I generated stuff to be instantly good. It actually takes me hours to get images that I find useful or interesting.
