Don't wake the troll

Inspiration

We wanted to build something rooted in Seattle’s eerie charm. The inspiration came from the city’s famous Underground Tours — dark tunnels, forgotten passageways, old bricks, and stories that feel both historical and supernatural. The Halloween theme pushed us toward something spooky but playful. Music became the center of the idea: instead of screams and dialogue, we wanted a sound-driven, atmospheric micro-trailer where tension builds through rhythm, not speech.

What it does

“Don’t Wake the Trolls” blends music, motion, and folklore into a fast, punchy visual experience. It follows a man descending into Seattle’s underground — unaware that ancient trolls sleep just beneath the city. His innocent curiosity turns into a surreal chase scene powered entirely by sound and visuals. The film creates a compact feeling of mystery, humor, and cinematic creepiness without a single spoken word.

How we built it

Created during the Machine Cinema Gen Jam under a tight deadline, our team of four handled everything collaboratively:

AI visual generation (Midjourney, Runway)

Concept development & story beats as a group

AI motion sequences using Runway Gen-2

Sound-driven editing & pacing

Color, atmosphere, and transitions coordinated across tools

Each of us took part in shaping the mood, building the troll world, and crafting a cohesive final cut in a very short timeframe.

Challenges we ran into

Generative models struggled with:

Keeping trolls visually consistent

Maintaining the underground environment across shots

Matching motion to the beat of the soundtrack

Creating monster-like expressions without distortion

As a team project, the biggest challenge was aligning four creative visions while iterating fast but the pressure made the film more energetic and fun.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that we created a complete, cohesive piece in such a short time something atmospheric, spooky, and distinctly “Seattle.” We’re also proud of how well the visuals and music work together. Even without dialogue or narrative exposition, the story feels intuitive and alive.

What we learned

The project taught us how powerful GenAI can be in collaborative environments especially when everyone brings a different strength to the table. We learned to iterate quickly, trust the process, lean into imperfection, and let the models surprise us. Most of all, we discovered how much atmosphere you can create when sound becomes the primary storyteller.

What’s next for Don’t Wake the Trolls

We’d love to expand it into a longer, atmospheric mini-series about Seattle’s hidden folklore: trolls, tunnels, ghost stories, and all the strange magic beneath the city. Future iterations could include dialogue, live-action elements, and more complex troll personalities blending humor and horror in a distinct Machine Cinema style.

Built With

• capcut
• griptapeai
• lumalabs
• suno