August 11, 2026
This piece is another instance of upgrading an existing movie. The original was called “Idyllic Foundation” and consisted of DALL-E images depicting a beautiful world. Mostly, it was just something to watch while the music – entitled “Foundation” – played on YouTube.
Sometimes, AI tosses something out that changes everything.
I decided that instead of just a series of pretty places, I would have several young people hiking through the woods, following the general “plot” of the original movie. So I had Generator make a picture, and Animator make the kids hike away from the house.
Only after the work was done and the precious credits were gone did I notice: the youth were now kids. Ten-year-olds! Bummer!!!
I kept having Chat generate images based on the shots from the original film. But as I watched them, a new idea, a subtler vision, emerged. The hikers were children. They would change. Some would just disappear from the story. And they would grow up. Indeed, the final stage (which had been Stonehenge in the old piece) would be a cathedral, emerging out of the woods. At the altar would be a portal – through which we could see that original house. And the lead character would go through the portal, up the steps of the house, and go in.
This was about a life. Indeed, a mythic life. And it just might have worked. You decide!
Animals were added to the story – animals that indicated the stage of life we were experiencing. Little critters scamper. A stag observes their youth. A bear and her cub speaks of family. An owl watches the accumulated wisdom.
I also chose the style of the images. The earlier shots were to be light watercolor. Youth was photo-realistic. The family scene was in a Norman Rockwell style. And the woods move to hard monochrome as the cathedral appears. The transition was accomplish in VideoPro, my editing program. The color of the woods drains away, as a harshness that become the stone walls of the cathedral.
The lead figure is in late middle-age, accompanied by two “priestesses.” The portal shimmers with sci-fi electricity as he walks through. The he ascends the steps of the house. He turns and looks up at the sky – and his age is registered.
Finally, a full fade to black fades back in – to the kids on their hike. A mist arises and completely absorbs the story.
Mythic Life!!
As I put in the titles, I decided on using the passage from Ecclesiastes to speak to the seasons that would pass by in this short motion picture.
And lastly, I had Chat present a title card, which I have used since “It’s a Usual Life.” The form is once again a triptych – three images from the whole movie. It is a nice summary of the work. Also, I had previously designed an Intro for all my films in this series. Four robotic musicians play their instruments while a robotic operator turns the old hand-cranked movie camera to face the audience. A green circle emerges from the camera lens. This, in turn, is used to reveal the title card before the movie commences.