Fan-Made AKIRA Vertical Remaster Using AI Sparks Some Outrage
Want to know how to piss off some fans? Take it upon yourself to remaster an iconic anime movie like Akira using A.I. and then tell everyone how this is a win for creative individuals.
Illustrator Eric Groza recently used Adobe's Beta AI to remaster the film for vertical screens, then took to Instagram to share a few examples of what he did. My first question is who in the hell wants to watch an incredible movie like Akira, or any other movie for that matter, vertically?! Ridiculous.
The creator shared the following statement with the video:
“This is why real artists will learn to love AI. Akira is a Sci-Fi Japanese anime released over 30 years ago. At the time, it was the most expensive anime ever produced. Each frame was shot on 70mm film (that’s IMAX size) and hand-painted with a level of detail would make Disney blush. BUT – it was horizontal, which means on todays vertical screens you would miss out on the insane details.”
Ugh. This guy obviously doesn’t understand that the movie is meant to be watched the way it was intentionally made. He went on to explain his process, saying:
“Using Adobe’s Beta AI, I was able to extend the 16X9 backgrounds to a full-vertical shot. Complete in the art style of the original background paintings. Then I recomposed the scenes and edited it as an additional video layer. As a capable illustrator myself, it was wild to see how much faster it was to generate the extended areas piece-by-piece, rather than paint them in.”
He went on to say: “It’s a win for the creative individual who wants to do more with their own hands. Already today, an artist can invent worlds and expand on them with a couple of clicks (and a lot of trial and error). Please share this with other creatives, artists, and illustrators - especially those who are on the fence about the new tech.”
As you might expect, this caused some outrage with fans lashing out saying the following:
“The audacity to think you have the right to ‘fix’ someone else's work. Especially one that is considered one of the greatest animated films ever made.”
“So you removed every bit of artistic intent from the director, and framed everything like a 7 year old making a Tik Tok video. (Slow Clap)”
“You know you can just rotate your phone and see the movie how it was intended. I really don’t see the point in this, because you haven’t improved anything.”
“I hate this please never ‘make’ anything ever again thanks.”
“This just proves you are a bad creative director. Every layout has a meaning that you have failed to understand.”
“Looks like cultural vandalism to me.”
“This is such a disgusting slap in the face to Otomo and all the artists who painstakingly hand painted every frame lol. changing the aspect ratio to vertical just ruins every shot and composition. i hope an AI blows up your computer forever.”
“Absolutely revolting use of tech. You should be deeply ashamed.”
“There's a thing called composition in movies and art, film makers chose a certain composition according to the story they want to convey through the visuals. Interfering and changing that only means you're changing the meaning without much thought for the dorectors vision.”
And that’s only a few of the things fans are saying. You can watch the video for yourself below and weigh in with your thoughts.