Earlier this year, R/GA received a daunting task: create an ad that would have been impossible to make without generative artificial intelligence (AI).
The challenge came from Google, which wanted to show off the capabilities of its generative video model, Veo. Adding to the pressure, the tech giant gave R/GA just four weeks to make the ad.
“It was slightly terrifying,” said Nicholas Pringle, chief creative officer, EMEA at R/GA.
The result, unveiled in June, was “From the Mountains to the City,” an experimental spot created with Veo and featuring luxury fashion brand Moncler. The short film sparked conversation on social media and at Cannes Lions earlier this year, where Google showed it to a group of creative leaders.
While the platform had limitations, Pringle said it forced his team to develop a new way of working and showed how far AI has advanced in a short time.
ADWEEK spoke to R/GA about how using the generative tool changed the creative process.
Embracing randomness
Filmmaking is typically a linear process—from writing a script and creating a storyboard to shooting, editing, and post-production.
“At no point would you want to go back a step, because it’s cost-prohibitive,” Pringle said.
But with AI, the process became much more fluid, he observed. Staying flexible was essential, because when creatives prompted Veo for each scene, it didn’t always produce what they had envisioned.
It could be “frustrating” when a specific scene couldn’t be generated, Pringle noted. For example, Veo failed to render a scene in which a man zipped up a tent. But at other times, he called the tool “amazing,” producing unexpected results that were woven into the narrative, such as the ice sculptures that appear in the final ad.
“In that way, AI becomes like a creator, because sometimes the randomness of the technology presents you with something you hadn’t anticipated,” Pringle said.
Filmmaking with AI enables more “real-time direction,” said Sadie Thoma, director of Google Ads marketing. “It opens up the aperture for creativity, because you don’t have to shoot exactly what’s in your storyboard.”
But that randomness and fluidity can be challenging with a client like Moncler, which has high standards as a luxury brand, Pringle said, adding that Moncler was enthusiastic about experimenting with the tech nonetheless.
Creating with Veo also changed the client approval process, because “you’re expressing your idea through a scene that is moving and living, so there’s less of a ‘ta-da’ moment,” he explained. “You have to have a clear vision.”