AI video Visual Reference
The intention of this page is to help illustrate how some of the more abstract AI sequences in the film might look. This will be an evolving process as we workshop the design, but I want to capture the FEELING and the sort of physics and image fidelity I see here.
(NOTE: This is reference ONLY for the AI videos in the film. The real world body horror I want to achieve with practical SFX, and have the environment stylistically feel very grounded.)
Exteriors VIBE
There is no perfect reference out there yet, so imagine a combination of elements from each of these. The work of photographer Brisco Park catches a really cool vibe for the exterior portions of the cursed videos. The POV flashlight and analog grainy footage feeling is something I would like to really ground the feeling of the footage.
interior VIBE
The above video is from the film Sinister, and I think the “snuff” sections of the AI films should carry a similar grit and darkness. The camerawork itself will feel different (more on that below), but think of the above as the sort of texture, lighting, and tone.
THE MOTION/camera
These are good examples of the “oner” style that I see in these videos. There would be no real cuts, but the camera can whip pan and push through barriers into new scenes. I especially like the way the environment morphs to create transitions between sets, while maintaining that photorealistic quality.
As for the content of these videos - don’t take this reference too literally. There is some interesting gore, but I want to keep the content intentional and restrained enough to dip into uncanny valley and implied gore, so as to avoid the feeling of this being cheap slop.
I think this will work very well, combining all the references I’ve listed here.
body horror + gore
Here’s a few videos with trippy body horror visuals. There is some pretty explicit gore (the knife cutting the eye) in the AI video descriptions in the script. There should be a touch of surrealism to it so this doesn’t feel like torture porn, and I think the way these videos toe the line of something looking real but feeling surreal is a good balance, especially when presented in the style and texture described in the prior examples.