ILM Makes ‘Star Wars: Field Guide’ Short Film Using Generative AI

Visual effects house Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has showcased a new “Star Wars” short film made using generative AI.

Presented as part of a TED talk by ILM’s Chief Creative Officer Rob Bredow, the two-minute short “Star Wars: Field Guide” showcases a menagerie of weird alien hybrids created using imagery of Earth animals and AI.

Billed as a test, rather than a final product, the aim of the piece, Bredow said, is to “see the trajectory we are on and the trajectory we want to be on next.”

Bredow highlighted VFX artists’ anxiety about artificial intelligence, noting that when ILM worked on 1993’s “Jurassic Park,” its pioneering use of computer graphics made many in the special effects field feel like they were facing extinction.

Now, he said, “many of us are feeling that way about AI.”

But, he argued, the special effects and visual effects industries have thrived when old and new technologies are used in concert. Bredow pointed to how “Jurassic Park” used classic techniques such as animatronics alongside VFX.

More recently, he gave the example of 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” in which star Harrison Ford was “de-aged” for a key sequence in the film. To realise the effect, he said, ILM artists “hand-tuned generative AI models” based on Ford’s past performances as Indiana Jones. Simultaneously, VFX artists created a “full CGI” version of a younger Ford.

This hybrid approach was adopted because while generative AI was good at “pulling all the details” from Ford’s on-set performance, it struggled with “the details and the controls.” ILM’s artists “created a blend of the two” to realise the de-aging effect, which Bredow called, “some of the best work of this kind ever done.”

Likening “Star Wars: Field Guide” to a “mood board, but a moving one,” Bredow argued that generative AI needs “better artist focused tools,” pointing out that text prompts are “not great ways to make a movie.”

With the advent of ever more powerful generative AI video tools, Bredow said, “we do need to use them thoughtfully, with the full permission of the talent.”

Generative AI and film

The use of generative AI in film and TV has proved contentious among the creative community, with films such as “Late Night With The Devil,” and “The Brutalist” coming under fire for their use of the technology.

Artists are particularly concerned over AI firms’ use of copyrighted material to create the models on which their products are based, with firms such as OpenAI and Meta facing lawsuits over their failure to obtain proper licenses or permission from creators.

Some productions, such as A24 film “Heretic,” have even resorted to adding a disclaimer stating that no generative AI was used in the making of the picture.