Memory lane
My mother passed away this year. With my AI agent I turned her old photos, the places she loved and her voice into a short film. Eight versions, what changed each time and why, and what you can reuse for someone you love.
My mother passed away this year
My mother passed away this year. I found some old photos of her and of places she loved, along with recordings of her voice. AI can help us bring memories back to life, so I made a short film for her.
Start with something simple
I did not ask for a finished film. I asked my agent to help me bring together old photos, voice recordings and the right tools, to start with a storyboard, and to see how far we could go.
Test the tools on the same photo
Before the film, my agent made test clips from two of her photos with four video models: Kling, Veo, Seedance and Wan. Same photo, side by side, so the only difference was the tool.
One photo, four seasons
The first version came from one photo. The AI kept her face and put her in Szentendre, by the Danube, through the four seasons: eight moments, from the spring promenade to a winter goodbye.
Six photos for a true face
One photo shows a face from one angle. In version two, every moment used six photos from her later years as references, so her face stayed true from every angle.
Keep the moments short
In version three every moment is only three seconds, because the end of a clip is where her face drifts. Short moments keep her looking like herself.
The real places of her life
Version four used the real places of her life, from photos of those places, like the little bridge over the stream. The colours stayed natural, like an unedited photo.
Age the colour, not the face
Version six kept the same seven moments and changed only the colour. Each film starts as a warm, yellow photo in spring and grows older until winter.
Her voice
For the ending she speaks to the family, in her own voice, recreated from a three-minute recording of her telling the family story.
Her real photos
In the final version, her real photos carry the memories, two for each season, with a slow zoom and her voice over them. She does not speak on camera.
She becomes light
At the end she closes her eyes and smiles, and golden light comes from her. The light becomes a hummingbird, the snowy Danube becomes a rainforest, and the hummingbird flies away into the light.
The only limit is your imagination
Sometimes the only limit is your imagination. You need a few photos of them and the places they loved, and maybe a recording of their voice.
