Making Our Mark: Experimenting with AI at Mills James

With AI advancing rapidly, how does it fit into what we do at Mills James?

Mike Van Horn, our Creative Director for Visual Effects, explored AI’s creative potential in a futuristic “formula for success” spot. We sat down with him to talk about the project and the advantages and limitations of working with such cutting-edge technology.

What role will AI play in shaping creativity at Mills James? Read on to find out.

Can you walk us through the creation of this project and the inspiration behind it?   

I wanted to do a spot that was completely AI. I had a concept in mind of a formula for success. But I was wondering, “Do we showcase the building? The people? How do we position ourselves as thought leaders? What is it we do?” That was the inception. Then I started using ChatGPT to help me round out the scripting. I've looked back at the notes and the prompts, and there was a lot of human prompting that came from thoughts generated after AI results. We (AI and I) kind of worked in tandem. I told it what I wanted, and it returned something in a professional format. I'm not the greatest scriptwriter, but I wanted to just go for it and see what tools I could use, exclusively AI-driven, to make a spot from scratch and have it be compelling.

How does this process differ from the traditional process of making a spot? 

Conventionally, you would create a storyboard, then shoot and edit your content together. You would capture the content practically with cameras and computer-generated imagery. Using AI to create content, you generate an image based on text prompting, take that image, and then generate the motion, continually prompting until you get what you're after. In both cases, you edit the footage together manually for a final flow of story. It's the same process in both worlds—just one is the conventional capturing of the content versus AI-generated.

What opportunities does this open for us at Mills James? 

It proves that we can make elaborate, set-dressed environments in a brand new way that look realistic. Because of this, we can fabricate more scene work for clients. We can expand their footprint with shots that they can't afford to go shoot. We can perhaps make it in AI and then stitch it into their productions. So, it's opening doors for people that don't have the budget for some of these types of very costly productions.

As an alternative, AI allows us to capture the vision that clients are looking for. We can bring this technology to bear in a professional manner. A lot of people are using it to create fun, low-res social content. So, what we're trying to do is vet this stuff. Can we create high resolution content, and then put it through conventional editing techniques to make it sing as a professional production? It's proven to be pretty true at this point.

I'm just blown away that you can have an image created from your head, and you can continually regenerate it to get a different result. It opens so many doors creatively, but it still requires that kind of human instinct, that human touch, to point it in the right direction.

We don't really use AI as a crutch, but as a tool to elevate our projects and to achieve the goal that the client is looking for. Relying too heavily on AI would conflict with us exploring our personal abilities with the traditional tools that we've been using, which is something that we value greatly.

Is AI a tool that you or your colleagues at Mills James use often, or is it more of an experimental phase at the moment?

It's always in the experimental phase, because development of these tools is happening now, in real time. But it allows us to ask new questions like, “What if we used AI to capture what I'm trying to do in 3D? Or to generate something that a client wants that might be difficult to achieve?” So, it's still experimental in that regard, but it's growing fast as a tool in our repertoire that we can pull from to create content. We have created full-resolution content with AI and infused the results into our productions for a handful of clients so far.

Is there anything that AI can't do? 

It does some things strongly, other things not so much. You still have to keep an eye on time. Many jobs have budgets based on time spent per department. An artist needs to be able to prompt well enough to get the result they want. If they have to keep repeating the process, it burns a lot of clock. It can be a time-waster when you have a conventional method that would have gotten you farther. So, knowing enough to choose the right tool is always key in the professional seats that we hold.

Is AI the way of the future in the realm of virtual production? 

 When it comes to AI versus traditional production, it's always going to be done in a tandem fashion. I don't think one thing will replace another. It will only be another tool added to the arsenal to keep creating cool content. Because you need all of your creative tools to put this stuff together, and we have to keep hitting “professional.” 

Does AI fit in well at Mills James? 

I think so. We're totally open-minded about the tool, and we're trying to find its home for us in these projects. Each project is different and calls for a different investment of time in AI versus traditional production. Everybody uses it in different ways.

The verdict?

AI is an exciting, versatile tool for digital artists, opening up new possibilities for select projects. But like any tool in our creative arsenal, it’s only one piece of the puzzle—and we use it thoughtfully, where it truly adds value. It works best when paired with other finely tuned creative techniques. AI has strengths, weaknesses, and a place in certain projects—but it’s not the whole story. Knowing when and how to use it takes a keen eye, a creative mind, and sound judgment. Fortunately, we have plenty of each.