Kling AI panel: directors say craft makes AI video cinematic

Korean director Kim Sung-soo told a Busan panel that human craft is what makes an AI film cinematic now that everyone has the same tools.

Kim, whose credits include Asura: The City of Madness and 12.12: The Day, presented a teaser for Worm Train, a short inspired by Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis and made with Kling AI tools, Deadline reported.

"Now everyone has similar tools and anyone can access Kling, but while some will make a masterpiece, others will make a film that is mediocre," Kim said. "Initially, I thought AI would destroy the industry, but I don't think so any more, because technology does not replace creativity. The value of images still comes from human intervention."

The session, "New Cinematic Possibilities: Reimagining Filmmaking with Kling AI," ran from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on October 11 in ACFM's InnoAsia track, according to the market's program. ACFM runs through October 13.

What is Kling AI?

Kling AI is the video and image generation service from China's Kuaishou, and the tool behind every project on the panel. Deadline reports Kling AI recently released its 4.0 image generation model.

Kim did not make Worm Train alone. Arts & Voices reports the short runs eight minutes and was built by a nine-person team that combined AI with conventional filmmaking, and that Kim is developing a seven-part drama whose nearly 15-minute expressway chase will be generated with AI first, then used to decide which shots need actors.

Chinese animation director Li Wei, who co-directed Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification, is making the animated feature Born of the Tide with Kling AI tools. Variety describes it as a 105-minute film about China's boat-dwelling Tanka community.

Harry Hyun, director and CEO of Korea's MooAm Co, made the AI films Crypto Man and Genfluencer. Hyun said AI production is not really that different from a traditional shoot, that "the difference is efficiency and simplicity," but that "if you don't have experienced filmmakers on set, everything can end up looking the same." Lee Sang-wook, of MBC C&I's AI Contents Lab, showed a teaser for Rendering Love, a series from MBC C&I and Barunson E&A that pairs traditionally filmed live action with AI-generated characters for a virtual K-pop group.

On rules, Kim said it is too early for industry standards in South Korea, and that filmmakers must think about whether they are infringing somebody's rights. He told Variety that "in the future, we won't call AI movies 'AI movies,' just as we no longer call films 'color movies.'"

Kling AI's tools are available at kling.ai; the panel ran October 11 at BEXCO in Busan, and InnoAsia sessions continue through October 13.