ABOUT

Since its creation, Campari has inspired the creativity of artists across different fields. Working with directors such as Sorrentino, Sollima and Garrone, its relationship with cinema has grown strong over the years. In 2020, for the 160th anniversary of Campari and the 100th anniversary of Federico Fellini, the challenge was to become a real game changer, creating something able to leave a mark in the cinema world. Collaborating with AI, we set out to unearth Fellini’s creative genius in ways that had never been done before and create a new short film infused with the genius of the Italian director. With computer vision and machine learning frameworks - such as real time object and multi-person tracking, face detection and shot type classifier models, emotion analysis services, and text prediction models - we analyzed Fellini’s past work to extract data and establish patterns of signature Fellini creative decisions. We looked at shot type, camera movement, dialogue and facial emotions. A new AI-driven script-writing tool was created using the GPT-2 AI model. This was retrained on Fellini transcripts, film script structure and syntax to make Felliniesque dialogue, characters, action and parentheticals contributions to the new script. We developed a pre-visualization tool from scratch which was used to bring the overall vision of the short film to life. The AI model at the core of the tool, the Fellini shot prediction model, was developed as a plug-in for real-time 3D creation platform, Unreal Engine. The Felliniesque nature of the AI-generated ideas pre-shoot were able to be accessed as real-time renders in Unreal Engine, leading us during the shooting. Although some of these tools had been used before, the way we were combining them to create a new workflow was completely unique. Another key part of our idea was to corroborate the AI’s suggestions with a team of human experts – members of Fellini’s original crew - to validate that the output data felt true to the director’s style. The whole project was filmed throughout in a one-of-a-kind documentary by award winning duo ZCDC, premiered at Venice Film Festival, presented at NY Film Festival and now on Prime Video.