Midjourney version

Project Goal

Produce a sequence of cinematic scenes showing two siblings encountering an alien presence in the forest — blending emotional storytelling with sci-fi spectacle — all using AI-generated video and imagery.

Objectives

• Prototype a short narrative sequence using AI video tools.

• Visualize consistent characters across multiple scenes.

• Combine scriptwriting + prompt engineering to guide cinematic shots.

• Build short scenes for movie intro demonstrating storytelling with AI.

Tools & Workflow

1. Story Development

• Concept: Two siblings stumble upon a landed alien ship in the forest.
• Narrative arc:
1. Discovery – Siblings spying from behind bushes.
2. Contact – Approaching the alien ship.
3. Escape/Transcendence – Ship takes off into space.

2. Prompt Engineering with ChatGPT

• Broke story into scene-level JSON prompts (Veo/Flow).
• Defined consistent character traits: biracial siblings, curly hair, expressive emotions.
• Locked camera style: cinematic wide shots, atmospheric lighting, moody tones.
• Added style control: Disney-anime hybrid with 3D realism.

3. Visual Development

• Used image generation to create reference stills (character poses, environments).
• Adjusted prompts for lighting, foliage, atmospheric detail to match cinematic continuity.
• Experimented with multiple renders until the siblings appeared consistent across scenes.

4. Video Generation in Google Labs Flow (Veo 3)

• Generated clips for each scene (10–12s).
• Added emotional cues in descriptions (“eyes wide with awe,” “alien glowing softly”).
• Iterated multiple times to fix issues like character drift or misplaced props.

Final Deliverables

• Scene 1 – Forest Discovery: Siblings hiding in bushes, spying on alien + ship.

• Scene 2 – First Contact: Siblings cautiously step onto glowing spaceship ramp.

• Scene 3 – Takeoff: Ship ascends into space with siblings visible inside.

• Reference Stills – MidJourney/Flow-generated stills used for consistency.

Key Learnings

• Narrative control is possible with AI when prompts are split into small, modular scenes.

• Character continuity is challenging — solved by defining “master character descriptions” carried across prompts.

• Atmosphere matters: Lighting, tone, and camera direction influenced scene emotion as much as dialogue would.

• AI can speed up previsualization: A short story sequence was created in days, not months.

Google Labs: Flow version

Outcome

Once Gone demonstrates how AI tools can function as a previsualization studio, allowing a designer to:

• Rapidly prototype short films, trailers, or cutscenes.

• Translate a script into visuals without a production crew.

• Experiment with style, tone, and narrative direction in real time.

For my portfolio, it showcases my ability to blend:

• Storytelling & Direction (building cinematic arcs).

• AI Prompt Engineering (JSON structuring for Veo/Flow).

• Visual Design & Continuity (consistent characters + environments).