LBB Film Club: The Kiss 1.0

Using a variety of different AI tools, Native Foreign’s director Nik Kleverov has created a film that will never be finished. Based on Anton Chekhov’s short story, ‘The Kiss’, the Russian-Ukrainian director combined Dall-E, Runway Gen-2, and other tools to reimagine the story into a first-person re-telling, leaning into the inherent imperfections of AI-generated visuals to reflect the protagonist’s unreliable memory.

“I had been wanting to make ‘The Kiss’ for a while… but a 19th century short film based in Russia was too cost prohibitive to make,” Nik tells LBB’s Ben Conway. “As the AI tools came about, it struck me that this is how I would make this film.”

As the tools evolved, so did his idea, growing into a vision of an art installation where three versions of ‘The Kiss’ would play simultaneously, showing the evolution of the AI technology through the different iterations. “In the context of this film, it reflects a commitment to harnessing the latest advancements in AI to enhance storytelling, visual effects, and overall viewer experience.”

“This approach allows the film to evolve alongside the technology,” he adds, “ensuring it remains at the cutting edge of digital storytelling.”

Developing the AI tool pipeline for this project was a highly iterative process, and one that involved a great deal of experimentation to find the best fit for each aspect of production. Dall-E was used for storyboarding, to visualise scenes and set the tone of the film; Runway Gen-2 was used to transform the static images into dynamic text-to-video sequences; ChatGPT and multiple AI text-to-speech and translation tools were used to create natural-sounding Russian dialogue. 

“The key was to maintain a flexible approach,” says Nik, “constantly testing and integrating new tools as they became available.”

The biggest challenge for the director was to ensure that these AI-generated elements retained emotional authenticity and depth. By fine-tuning the AI inputs, incorporating human oversight, and refining a suitable emotional and narrative depth, Nik says he found, and maintained, the synergistic sweet spot between human creativity and AI capability.

“Balancing technology with human elements was central to this project. While AI generated the foundational layers, human intuition and creativity were crucial in interpreting, refining, and giving meaning to those elements.”

This human intuition was all the more vital during the process of reimagining Chekhov’s story into a first-person narrative. Applying his own deep understanding of the protagonist, Nik used ChatGPT in combination with his own knowledge of the work to rewrite a summary of the story into a first-person voiceover. This ensured that it married the themes of the story with the AI tools’ capabilities and shortcomings.

“The idea of a soldier longing over this woman he had a chance encounter with one night – her realising she kissed the wrong person, him not being able to remember her face, and ultimately obsessing over that for the rest of his life – leans into the imperfection that the AI look has,” he says. “I wanted to lean into the imperfections of the current AI capabilities to bring to life this dreamlike world.”

Known for its “deep humanism and exploration of complex emotions”, Nik adds that Chekhov’s work is a rich foundation for AI-generated visuals. Chosen specifically for its timeless themes and subtle narrative, he says ‘The Kiss’ not only makes use of AI’s often ethereal and uncanny visuals, but also challenges the technology to capture “intricate layers of human experience” with precision and depth.  

“It offers an ideal narrative complexity that tests and showcases the capabilities of AI in interpreting and visualising literary art,” he says, explaining that these tools can, one day, become a useful evolution of human artistry. “To critics, I'd emphasise that AI-generated art like this is not a replacement for human creativity but an extension of it, opening new avenues for expression and exploration that were previously unimaginable.”

He continues, “This short film illustrates the vast potential of AI tools in enhancing creative ideation and expanding the possibilities of filmmaking. It demonstrates how AI can serve as a co-creator, providing novel ways to visualise stories, generate content, and even tackle complex aspects of production, ultimately heralding a new era in filmmaking where technology and human creativity merge to create compelling narratives.”

An iterative project by its very nature, Nik anticipates significant advances in AI capabilities by the time he creates ‘The Kiss 2.0’. 

Noting the “rapid development” of OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video model as a recent example, he hopes to see an improved ability to understand and generate more nuanced emotional expressions and interactions. “[This] will be key to enriching the storytelling,” he says. “It could offer more sophisticated narrative and visual elements, making the film even more lifelike and emotionally resonant.”

Beyond ‘The Kiss’, Nik has integrated AI tools into his general workflow, particularly in the ideation and wider pre-production stages. “Their ability to rapidly generate visual ideas, draft narratives, and even assist with logistical planning has proven invaluable, allowing for a more efficient and expansive creative process.”

“That being said,” he adds, “there is some exciting new brand work that we’re getting to be a part of at Native Foreign, utilising capabilities from our Native Foreign AI Labs programme to bring new stories to life. I can’t wait to share it!”