NEW DELHI: When Arfi Lamba’s recent film had a scene with a family stranded in a cable car high in the Canadian mountains, a tight budget prevented travel. But the shots were still made, as he turned to a new filmmaking partner: artificial intelligence.
The only part of the film that was shot abroad ended up being the mountains. And even those were filmed in a cheaper location — the Italian Alps.
“The footage was treated like American mountains and Canadian mountains. If we had no AI, the footage would not have worked. We had to fill the mountains with more ice,” Lamba said.
“We shot the entire film in a studio in Mumbai.”
Visual effects cost much less with AI. When Lamba’s friend was engaged in a project to make a street in Budapest look like it did in the 1930s, using AI cost a fraction of employing a visual effects team. It also saved the producer the time of obtaining shooting permits.
