“This Film Wouldn’t Exist Without AI” — An Interview with Ryan Patterson, Short Film Runner-Up for The Ribbon

What did AI enable you to do in your film that would have been impossible—or unimaginable—without it?

Ryan Patterson: I hear a lot of people saying that generative AI removes the barriers to entry for filmmaking. And while I think that’s true, I see it a little differently. I think these tools have actually ignited a creative spark inside a lot of people. I believe most of the AI films we’re seeing are a result of technology unlocking new ideas and letting us express them through an entirely new creative process. I wasn’t sitting on a script waiting for someone to greenlight it. This film would not exist without generative AI. I think we need to acknowledge how impactful this moment is. Artists have just been given the most revolutionary creative tool in history.

Did your vision for the film change once you started working with AI tools? If so, how?

Ryan Patterson: One of the incredible aspects about using AI tools in storytelling is the ability to iterate not only forwards but backwards. In The Ribbon, I was about three quarters of the way through creating the film when I realized something was missing. I wanted to include a small symbolic object that could be a thread throughout the timeline in the film. Using generative AI, I was able to go back through the story and add a ribbon in each of the shots.

How did AI shape the emotional tone or atmosphere of your film? Was that an intentional choice or a surprise outcome?

Ryan Patterson: Sometimes we can’t describe a feeling until we’ve seen it. In that sense, the ability to visualize multiple “takes” makes AI such a powerful filmmaking tool. And the ability to choose to follow any of those emotional threads can have a huge impact on the direction of the story. There were several times in The Ribbon that AI surprised me with an emotionally heavy look from one of the characters that then inspired the tone and direction of the next scene.

"The Ribbon" by Ryan Patterson

Were there any limitations with current AI tools that you had to creatively work around?

Ryan Patterson: We’re at a stage where everyone is in a learning phase - including the AI models themselves. This is all uncharted territory. I picked figure skating as a technical challenge because I wanted to see where AI was at in terms of generating motion. I quickly found that figure skating terms weren’t part of the model’s dictionary. The workaround was having to meticulously describe in plain language how I wanted the character to move on the ice.

If you could re-do one part of your film with next-gen AI capabilities, what would you revisit—and why?

Ryan Patterson: There were times where I wanted to linger on a specific shot for an extra second but was unable to because of morphing or hallucinating. Knowing where AI tools are now, after only a few months of improvements, I would go back and rerun the figure skating shots to have more options.

What does winning the MetaMorph AI Film Award mean to you, especially at this moment in the evolution of storytelling technology?

Ryan Patterson: Being one of the finalists in the MetaMorph AI Film Award means so much to me. This kind of recognition not only validates what a lot of us are trying to do but also inspires us to keep pushing the limits of what’s possible with generative AI. I think festivals like this are an important piece of the puzzle that will elevate creators and the craft itself. Storytelling has got me through so many big moments in my life and to be able to now share my own, on such a big visual level, feels like a dream.