Steven Soderbergh has used AI for his new John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary
Steven Soderbergh has admitted to using generative AI for his new documentary on John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The director’s upcoming documentary will focus on the final interview given by Lennon and Yoko Ono on December 8th, 1980, to RKO Radio in New York, just hours before he was murdered that same evening.
In a new interview with Filmmaker, Soderbergh provided his thoughts on AI, explaining why he does believe it can be a force for good, if used correctly.
“It’s worth talking about what that technology might be good at. I’ve been working with AI lately on the John Lennon and Yoko Ono documentary that we’re almost done with,” Soderbergh said.
He then explained how it will be used in the film, sharing, “AI has been helpful in creating thematically surreal images that occupy a dream space rather than a literal space. And that’s been really fun because you need a Ph.D. in literature to tell it what to do.”
However, the director warned that AI must be used safely in the right hands, adding, “But like every other piece of technology, it desperately requires very close human supervision.”
Additionally, in the same interview, Soderbergh provided a further insight into his aims for the film, revealing that he’d spoken to Sean Ono Lennon, who “was worried that young people have no idea what John stood for and he’s hopeful that our film will let them know what he did outside of making music”.
He added, “I’m excited for people just to hear it because of how open they both are about art and love, and politics, and how relevant everything they say remains.”
Soderbergh then clarified that only a small portion of the film contains AI-generated imagery, insisting, “Ninety percent of the visuals are archival stills, and 10 minutes, spread out over the 90-minute film, are these little pockets of images we created whenever they start talking philosophically.”
The Erin Brockovich director also claimed of his thought-process for using AI, “When there’s no literal component to what they’re saying, then I create these images that are kind of a surreal version of what their words try to transmit.”
The documentary is yet to receive a release date, but Soderbergh confirmed that he hopes to have it finished by May.
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