‘Treat AI as an ally, not a threat’: Spanish filmmaker Paco Torres

Spanish filmmaker Paco Torres, prepping for his second narrative feature, began his career in the pre-digital era a quarter century ago. “I have seen it all — film, Betacam, analogue, digital and after,” he says on the sidelines of the recently-concluded 23rd Pune International Film Festival (PIFF).

He is now in the thick of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) action and making the most of the freedom and flexibility that generative tools offer. “In the fluid moment that the world is in, AI gives us the power to work very fast. We can make much more in much less time,” says the Seville-based director. Ahead of his session on ‘Using AI in Cinema’ at PIFF, Torres made a 90-second film in just four hours, working alone in his hotel room with a slew of AI generative tools.

In his talk, he presented a demonstration of how he made the film happen, starting with a prompt to ChatGPT and then employing Midjourney to improve the image, Kling to convert image to video, Krea to enhance the visuals and Eleven Labs for lip sync. He used the short film — titled Chai & Secrets, about two grandmothers sitting on a bench in Pune and revealing long-suppressed secrets to each other — to spell out the strengths, limitations and dynamics of AI. Although the background was less than perfect, given that the film was pulled out of a hat in next to no time, it was nothing short of a mini marvel. “The dialogue could have been in the local language if I had a few more hours at my disposal,” says Torres. He adds: “There is no way that AI can be wished away. Things are moving faster than ever before. Don’t be afraid. Surf the wave. We need to be in the driver’s seat instead of letting AI completely take over content generation.”

AI vs. human brain

Torres’ body of work includes 300-plus commercials made worldwide, one fiction feature (The Magic of Hope, 2011) and several short films, including the award-winning The Rattle of Benghazi (2012), about a boy and a girl who play with a rattle to drown out the noise of bombing.

While Torres has used AI extensively in his filmmaking in the last three years or so, he strikes an inevitable note of caution. “Ensure that AI is only the co-pilot. We must continue to be the pilot. Our active participation is crucial because no AI can yet compare to the human brain,” he points out.

It is important, he asserts, that “you have the services of a team for the ability to work better and faster”. He adds, specifically referring to India’s innate potential in animation and visual effects, that with the judicious and ethical use of AI, “you could produce three films or TV shows, instead of just one, in a year-and-a-half”.

A still from Torres’ award-winning short film ‘The Rattle of Benghazi’.

At the end of Torres’ two-hour talk, Serbian cinematographer Djordje Stojiljkovic, who shot last year’s Telugu blockbuster Kalki 2898 AD and served on PIFF’s Marathi Film Competition jury, wondered if AI could deliver an over-the-shoulder shot of the face of one of the old women in the film Torres rustled up in his hotel room. That might not be possible right now, Torres admitted. But he was quick to add that AI might soon be able to fully replicate camera placements and movements.

His remark reflected the misgivings and doubts that technicians are currently grappling with across the world. Another PIFF jury member, Indian filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, whose directorial credits include Pink (2016) and Lost (2022), asserts that AI can at best be a butler, an assistant. “It can never replace the human brain,” he says.

Torres does not disagree. “AI is an ally and not a threat if you know how to use it creatively and imaginatively.” He, however, understands why people in the industry are worried. Misgivings are inevitable when any new technology disrupts the routine, he says. But we must recognise that by innovating and experimenting sustainably, we only extend the possibilities of the medium.

Notwithstanding the inevitable doubts being expressed by film professionals and festivals, the role of AI as a support tool for filmmaking is increasingly being acknowledged, if only grudgingly at this point of its evolution. “I expect festivals to programme films made with AI sooner than later,” says Torres.

Paco Torres

Building a 100-year-old port

How much AI will Torres be using in his upcoming film, Veleta, which brings to screen the story of Spain’s first woman footballer, Anita Carmona, who played in the 1920s disguised as a man? Not much, he says. He might, however, need AI in a scene to create a boat at the port from a hundred years ago. It would cost a bomb to make a boat from the period. “I will use AI for the purpose and then let the VFX company take it from there. That will be much, much cheaper,” says Torres, who will be in Jordan next to film a commercial.

Veleta has entities such as La Liga Studios, Banijay Iberia and M Content on board as producers along with Amaya Muruzabal, showrunner of the successful Spanish series Reina Roja (Red Queen).

“This year,” says Torres, “we are going to see a bunch of movies made entirely with AI. These are in the works even as we speak. We must embrace AI and mould it to our needs. Banish the idea that AI will replace you. It will only be an extension of your work.”

The writer is a New Delhi-based film critic.