Vietnamese movies using AI: Breakthrough or trick, 'firefighting'?

Thought to be "put on hold" after the scandal of Nguyen Thuc Thuy Tien, the movie Chot Don announced its return with a solution to replace the female lead Hoang Linh with AI. This is the first time a Vietnamese film has applied AI to create a main character.

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Sharing about this decision, director Bao Nhan - Namcito said that the idea of replacing the character with AI was a case of "in danger there is opportunity". Initially, the director himself was hesitant because he thought that using AI would make the character soulless and emotionless. However, after receiving the test version, both were surprised because: "AI technology retains the full emotion and naturalness. That is also an important criterion for us when telling a cinematic story. From there, we decided to implement this solution for Chot Don ".

Sharing her opinion regarding the incident of the movie Chot Don replacing Thuy Tien with AI, artist Viet Huong said that this is a big breakthrough in thinking. However, this is also a risky direction for the producer when faced with 2 options, either cancel the movie and suffer the loss of all production costs, or edit and release the work in theaters. According to the female artist, this is a way to exchange for the opportunity to earn money back from the project, above all, to fulfill the responsibility to the film investor. Expressing her opinion, artist Viet Huong said: "If I were a normal audience, I would probably also be curious to buy tickets to see how the AI female lead would be replaced. We may not be completely satisfied with the results on the screen, but at least we can witness a turning point in our country's cinema".

However, the producer's efforts to use AI to replace Thuy Tien still could not help Chot Don achieve good revenue at the box office. According to data from Box Office Vietnam, after more than 3 days of screening, the work by director Bao Nhan - Namcito only brought in more than 2.8 billion VND. Many viewers sympathized with the producer for the unexpected incident. However, many people think that the character created from AI still has many similar features to Miss Grand International 2021, but the expressions are still awkward and stiff, making it difficult to create genuine emotions when watching the movie.

What do you see from applying AI to cinema?

From an insider’s perspective, director Ba Cuong said that AI is supporting from pre-production to shooting and even post-production when making a film. Specifically, AI can analyze films and scripts based on factors such as theme, characters, story structure or the history of success of similar works. According to him, this helps producers make more informed investment decisions.

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The male director added that AI can plan production, help optimize schedules, and allocate resources reasonably. In addition, director Ba Cuong assessed that AI is also a powerful tool to help filmmakers develop ideas, casting (analyzing databases based on specific criteria to suggest suitable actors), special effects, and managing studio data. In the post-production stage, AI is a powerful assistant to filmmakers in editing, sound processing, color correction, subtitling, dubbing, etc.

"In my opinion, AI can also support the distribution and marketing process. Specifically, AI can analyze viewer data to better understand audience preferences and behaviors, thereby helping distributors target advertising more effectively. AI can analyze movie content and automatically create attractive trailers and advertisements, suitable for each audience segment," director Ba Cuong assessed.

Mr. Dang Tran Cuong, Director of the Department of Cinema, said that the application of AI in film production is no longer strange, but gradually becoming a new standard in the global film industry. In that context, it is very encouraging that Vietnamese filmmakers boldly experiment, apply and gradually pioneer in the region.

The benefits of applying AI to the film production industry include: Bringing unlimited creativity (being able to recreate actor images, design complex scenes, simulate spaces that were previously not allowed by costs or technical conditions); Helping to reduce costs, shorten production time, optimize resources for filmmakers, especially independent or medium-sized projects; Opening up access to high technology for domestic production units, contributing to improving the quality of cinema and competitiveness with the international market.

From that perspective, the Director of the Department of Cinema believes that the use of AI-created actors like the case of Chot Don does not set a "precedent" in the legal or management sense, but opens up a new and encouraging opportunity for the development of the Vietnamese film industry in the context of global technology integration. Mr. Dang Tran Cuong gave an example of highly difficult scenes that previously required stuntmen or special filming techniques, but now, AI technology allows directors to proactively design images, create frames that go beyond physical limits, contributing to enhancing the artistic value and technical quality of the work.

"It should be further affirmed that AI is not something too new in the world film industry, but is an inevitable trend. The fact that Vietnam has started to apply this technology is a positive signal, showing that our film industry is ready to adapt to digital transformation, innovation and catch up with global development trends, in line with the spirit of Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo on the development of science, technology, innovation and national digital transformation", the Director of the Department of Cinema stated his opinion.

In fact, it is undeniable that applying AI to cinema opens up many advantages for filmmakers in the process of making a work. But what challenges come with the opportunities and how to apply them in a controlled and legal manner? (continued)