“Sometimes, there’s advantages to not seeing things quite so clearly.”
That’s the opening line of a 10-minute biographical piece written by my producer client for a new inductee into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. As a young man, he didn’t pass the Navy’s eye exam—an event that completely altered his career path.
My job? Find the right imagery to bring this moment to life.
In the past, I would have searched stock video libraries, hoping to find something close—but never quite right. Plus, I would have needed to ask my client to pay for stock clips, cutting into his profit margin. But this time, I turned to AI to create exactly what was needed, cost-effectively.
🔹 The clip I’m sharing here is my final product. Below, I’ll walk you through how I created it step by step—so you can try similar techniques in your own projects.
How I Made This Clip Using AI
1️⃣ Generating the Initial Image
I used ChatGPT’s DALL·E to generate a still image based on this prompt:
“A cinematic depiction of a dramatic moment in 1965. An 18-year-old male sits nervously in a navy exam room, hoping to pass an eye test. The stern examiner is in the foreground, slightly out of focus. The lighting is dramatic, with deep shadows emphasizing tension. Muted navy blue and olive green dominate the color palette.”
After reviewing the results, I refined my request:
“Put the young man’s face up to the eye machine.”
This gave me a compelling, period-accurate image to work from.
2️⃣ Animating the Image
Next, I used Kaiber’s Luma Creation Flow (Kaiber.ai) to bring the still image to life.
I applied this prompt:
“Very slowly move the camera in, focusing on the eyes of the person on the right.”
This created a slow, dramatic zoom, enhancing the emotional weight of the scene.
3️⃣ Making Refinements
When the client requested a small tweak—removing bumps on the cadet’s left cheek—I used Reverse Stabilization in After Effects and Mocha tracking to seamlessly retouch the moving image.
For those interested in this technique, here’s a great tutorial:
🔗 Reverse Stabilization Workflow in After Effects
https://lnkd.in/eSWUwS38
🚀 Key Takeaways for Video Creators Using AI
✅ AI is like a stock footage library that customizes clips to your script. No more settling for “almost right” stock video.
✅ Start with free/low-cost AI tools for still images, then invest in the best animation solution.
✅ The landscape is evolving FAST. After finishing this clip, I tested Dream Machine, a new text-to-video model by Luma Labs (dream-machine.lumalabs.ai)—and got even better results!
AI is rapidly transforming how we illustrate, animate, and enhance video storytelling.
📌 Check out the clip I created using this workflow and let me know—have you experimented with AI-generated video yet? What tools and techniques are working for you?
Let’s discuss in the comments!