ANCESTRA is a film from Primordial Soup, a storytelling venture founded by director Darren Aronofsky in collaboration with Google DeepMind, this film shows how generative tools can be used by artists to expand creativity rather than replace it.
This is one of the first films that I saw that used generative imagery to enhance the artistry of the film and not distract from it. Normally, a short film doesn’t get much of an effects budget because of the economics of the film industry. For me, this short proves that we no longer need to worry about having an effects or animation budget to articulate our artistic visions. It is also a great example a “hybrid” project where you mix more traditional filmmaking techniques in combination with generative imagery… and is a very touching film that will most likely bring you joy and make you cry! 😭
Here is the “Making of ANCESTRA” which is a very well produced documentary about their process and artistic intentions:
