Ian’s Creative Lab Experiment
Hi Google, I made this 90 second video to introduce myself to you.
(Top secret new product development is enclosed…)
Ian Martin
Filmmaker, Storyteller, AI Creative
Welcome Google Hiring Team and those in Creative Lab! I hope you liked the above.
I’m Ian, and that’s me in the above video. I shot and edited this over a 2 day period, having been inspired by the “magic” part of the AI Creative job description.
On this page I’ve created for you a little discussion of what I did with that video, my love for AI in general, and then some portfolio snippets that I think are relevant.
In terms of the above video, I shot it myself on a Sony A7iii with a few LED panels. I love small, agile and versatile kit. Then I edited in Adobe Premiere, with sounds by Epidemic Sound.
Generative AI was largely using Kling (3.0 and 01), as well as some elements from Runway and Adobe Firefly. My process is to generally amend something I’ve already shot (or create something from scratch) in Nano Banana Pro, before then feeding it into one of the video models.
Some before and after shots, showing Nano Banana Pro in action:
For the Google logo I wanted to add a notion of part of the logo dematerialising, as if teleporting. I liked the idea of the red and blue parts meeting (where usually they don’t) to briefly create purple in the logo. I then used the idea of the Google brand colours being the predominant colours in the teleporting out effect. It makes for a cheesier look than a more realistic Star Trek-style effect, but that fits with the playful style of the video.
One of the things I love about AI is the speed with which you can test concepts and create mood boards. The advent of things like Firefly Boards and Google Flow are very exciting to me, as it feels like it gives us real direction over what we are creating. At minimum, it is a wonderful playground to test concepts.
Testing concepts with AI:
My philosophy/approach to AI
A lot of my friends are filmmakers, artists and writers - and the vast majority of them tell me “I hate AI”. And they have their reasons, and I will always give a balanced view of potential issues.
But for me I love it.
It has the ultimate potential to let human imagination go further than it ever has. To provide accessibility to those who couldn’t create before (for example if someone has a disability and can’t pick up a camera.
To me, it’s the first sign of getting towards something I always dreamed of as a kid - A Star Trek Holodeck.
But coming with the experience I have of filming both in small and large crews, I find myself in love with both sides of any debate an artist may have with AI. I love AI, and I love art made by human hands. To me it is all creative, and it is all led by the person.
I want to be one of the pioneers, but also someone who teaches others to use it in the right way, to keep the soul in creation, no matter which tool you use. I have a 7 year old daughter, and I’m keen to see how kids will grow up - with so many tools around them - it’s so important we keep those values of creativity and keep our imaginations working. This is one of the things I hope to do with House Storm - to show that imagination is a superpower, and I believe AI is another step in unlocking our potential.
My deep thoughts on AI did mean that I tentatively explored AI at first - especially when the generation models simply weren’t very good compared to what I could make with my own hands. Back in the summer I filmed a summer mindfulness series, a series of shorts with a fantasy theme designed to inspire.
These have a subtle use of AI in them, that for me gives them a little magic.
For more of my House Storm filming experiments, including a recent christmas series, please check out my instagram or YouTube (same videos on each platform currently):
Examples of my client work
To show some of my narrative filmmaking, here is the short film I won best cinematography for at the FantaSci Film Festival 2017. Back in the days of no AI, just a group of filmmakers holed up in a nuclear bunker in Scotland with a budget of £3500. My role was purely lighting and camera for this:
This next video is an example of my solo/2 person crew corporate videos, filmed for eBay. Our aim was to get an emotional story out of our time with the eBay sellers. We filmed over 50 ‘seller stories’ for eBay across several years:
Please find more of my corporate portfolio here:
Filming
Photography
Aerial
Now, let’s hope I find my way to the Google offices if you did want to talk to me…
“Things are only impossible until they’re not ”