Jia Zhangke’s Seedance 2.0 Short Film

I’ve promised multiple times on this sub that the second I saw an AI short that I actually thought had any merit, I’d post it. Here it is. It’s odd because I’m someone most people on here would call an “anti”, I’m generally skeptical and I think even people who are in love with AI should be vigilant of its limitations and exploitations. I wouldn’t change most of what I have to say after seeing this short. One of the greatest living artists tried it and the fundamental limitations are still there. Here’s what makes me feel even weirder, though: this short hasn’t been posted here yet. It was released days ago. Jia is one of the greatest filmmakers working, and possibly the greatest mainland Chinese filmmaker ever. There are thousands of users here who will send me the most garish, uncanny “short films” in a bid to prove AI filmmaking’s legitimacy. Then an actually good AI short was released by a major filmmaker and they don’t even seem to know it exists. So that’s my victory lap I guess, this is definitive proof that I won’t just say something is bad because it’s AI. Somehow I actually did a better job seeking out good work than any of the “pros”. Perhaps they should reflect on why that is.