How We Used AI to Make an Emotional Anime Short Film

The first AI film I watched from Mingdi Li was called Coronus. It's a dark, fantasy anime that's really impactful for it's story and unique style. It's not surprising that it became a finalist in Runway's Gen:48 Film Competition out of thousands of entries.

Not long after, we approached Mingdi about a potential collaboration. The idea of working with another AI artist who also happened to live in Toronto was exciting on a lot of levels. Mingdi soon brought the idea of Aria: Memories of a Distant Present to us and we fell in love with the idea of two contrasting worlds and a young man grappling with letting go. We couldn't be more proud of how the story turned out and how Mingdi brought it to life with the latest generative AI tools.

We spoke with director Mingdi Li about the emotional core of Aria, the technical challenges of AI-driven anime, and what AI means for the future of personal filmmaking:

What emotional truth were you most focused on capturing in a story about grief and connection inside a virtual world?

I wanted to capture a feeling that a lot of us could relate to. Whether through death or breakup of a loved one, I notice as humans it's very natural to find ways to escape or cling onto the past without processing it fully. The VR world represents the internal struggle of staying comfortable in the past and escaping into it while neglecting the real world, but also a potential gateway for us to process our grief if we were unable to get closure. I also wanted to address the question: If we can recreate love in the virtual world, why does the real world still matter so much to us?

From a technical or creative standpoint, what was the biggest challenge in bringing an AI-driven anime aesthetic to such an intimate, character-focused story?

The biggest challenge for me was finding a way to effectively portray the emotion and vision of the film I had in mind. I spent a lot of time experimenting with framing, pacing, and tone of music to match what I envisioned and felt initially when I had the idea in mind.

How do you see AI changing the way filmmakers tell deeply personal stories, and where do you think the balance should be between human intent and machine assistance?

I see AI being a powerful tool that filmmakers can use to bring their stories to life

more easily than before. I believe, though, that there is a balance when it comes to how much machine assistance is used. For me, the balance is about authorship. The core ideas, themes, and emotional direction should be defined first by you. AI works best when it’s supporting a clear vision, not generating one on your behalf. Staying true to your own decisions and ideas, even if you ask AI for ways to improve or enhance it, will preserve your final film to be more human and authentic to your original vision. I mostly rely on AI for the visual aesthetics and videos, as that is where I believe it can do most of the heavy lifting without sacrificing your initial vision.

Check out more of Mingdi Li's work at Enrapt Studios.