Earlier this 12 months, R/GA acquired a frightening activity: create an advert that may have been unimaginable to make with out generative synthetic intelligence (AI).
The problem got here from Google, which wished to indicate off the capabilities of its generative video mannequin, Veo. Including to the strain, the tech large gave R/GA simply 4 weeks to make the advert.
“It was barely terrifying,” stated Nicholas Pringle, chief inventive officer, EMEA at R/GA.
The end result, unveiled in June, was “From the Mountains to the Metropolis,” an experimental spot created with Veo and that includes luxurious vogue model Moncler. The brief movie sparked dialog on social media and at Cannes Lions earlier this 12 months, the place Google confirmed it to a gaggle of inventive leaders.
Whereas the platform had limitations, Pringle stated it compelled his workforce to develop a brand new means of working and confirmed how far AI has superior in a short while.
ADWEEK spoke to R/GA about how utilizing the generative device modified the inventive course of.
Embracing randomness
Filmmaking is often a linear course of—from writing a script and making a storyboard to capturing, enhancing, and post-production.
“At no level would you wish to return a step, as a result of it’s cost-prohibitive,” Pringle stated.
However with AI, the method turned far more fluid, he noticed. Staying versatile was important, as a result of when creatives prompted Veo for every scene, it didn’t at all times produce what they’d envisioned.
It could possibly be “irritating” when a particular scene couldn’t be generated, Pringle famous. For instance, Veo didn’t render a scene during which a person zipped up a tent. However at different occasions, he known as the device “wonderful,” producing surprising outcomes that had been woven into the narrative, such because the ice sculptures that seem within the last advert.
“In that means, AI turns into like a creator, as a result of generally the randomness of the expertise presents you with one thing you hadn’t anticipated,” Pringle stated.
Filmmaking with AI allows extra “real-time course,” stated Sadie Thoma, director of Google Advertisements advertising and marketing. “It opens up the aperture for creativity, since you don’t need to shoot precisely what’s in your storyboard.”
However that randomness and fluidity will be difficult with a consumer like Moncler, which has excessive requirements as a luxurious model, Pringle stated, including that Moncler was obsessed with experimenting with the tech nonetheless.
Creating with Veo additionally modified the consumer approval course of, as a result of “you’re expressing your concept via a scene that’s transferring and residing, so there’s much less of a ‘ta-da’ second,” he defined. “You must have a transparent imaginative and prescient.”
Constructing a brand new workflow—and coping with limitations
Adopting AI for this challenge pushed R/GA to develop a brand new inside system for collaboration. The company constructed an app known as Shopflow—constructed with Google’s AI assistant, Gemini—which served as “a shared workspace the place we might deconstruct each factor of a scene,” stated Pringle.
As workforce members prompted their variations of Veo from totally different places of work, Shopflow helped streamline international collaboration and ship extra constant outcomes, he added.
Regardless of these fast developments, AI instruments nonetheless have notable limitations for creatives.
Pringle pointed to character consistency as the most important problem. He famous that in R/GA’s Moncler advert, characters subtly shift in look from scene to scene. Visible glitches just like the distorted tent zipper additionally persist. Tech giants like Google have but to totally remedy these points.
Authorized considerations pose one other hurdle.
“There’s an enormous limitation across the authorized framework of utilizing AI commercially,” Pringle stated, noting that manufacturers and companies are nonetheless studying how one can keep away from copyright dangers.
People + machines
Veo might have accelerated R/GA’s inventive course of, nevertheless it’s no substitute for human creativity, stated Pringle.
Whereas the video was AI-generated, the rating was not, composed by musician Tom Gallo. And the script, prompts, and visible course got here from creatives, who introduced their style, expertise, and storytelling instincts to the challenge.
“The mixture of all these issues made it really feel just like the imaginative and prescient of individuals, not only a machine,” Pringle stated. “There’s a device that permits us to create, nevertheless it requires human ingenuity, style, tactical prompting, and understanding how one can leverage that expertise.”
For creatives hesitant to discover AI, Pringle suggested: “Get into these instruments and begin enjoying round with them, regardless of how idly. Simply attempt to make your very first thing.”
