Killer Bijin-ga

Inspiration

The initial character inspiration stems from the Ukiyo-e beauties in Ichiro Kurita's style. I imagined one of these women navigating a near-futuristic cyberpunk metropolis, fighting crime and tackling tricky data-related issues for her female clients—a fascinating concept that sparked this story. The title Killer Bijin-ga refers to the traditional Japanese art of "beautiful woman" paintings. While these portraits idealized feminine beauty, the women were ultimately objectified and subjected to the male gaze. My story uses this art form to explore themes of women reclaiming agency and resisting systemic objectification. I've employed a story-within-a-story structure, hoping the ending leaves a lasting, thought-provoking impression.

What it does

Through the awakening of digital identities within game NPCs, we deconstruct the stereotypical symbol of the “beauty killer,” achieving a silent counterattack against systemic male gaze.

How we built it

The majority of image and video generation was produced with Dreamina AI, with partial video generation handled by Keling AI. The voice-over work was completed using Hailuo AI, while editing, some sound effects, and AI-generated subtitles were done with the Capcut tool.

Challenges we ran into

The motion segments in the video proved particularly challenging to handle, and we made numerous attempts using different images and tools.The script and character design also presented some challenges. While the script and storyboards were 100% original creations, the optimization process was lengthy. We gradually refined and perfected them during production through collaborative work with AI.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're thrilled to have found the visual style we were looking for and blended it seamlessly. I absolutely love the fusion of ukiyo-e and cyberpunk aesthetics. It's also a pleasant surprise that the Dreamina delivered exactly what I envisioned.

What we learned

During the creative process, I first used Dreamina AI to generate reference images of characters and art styles. These visuals then sparked further inspiration for the story. While developing the shots, I refined my script—a collaborative effort with the AI. Sometimes, even when my prompts weren't precise, the AI's generated images delivered unexpected delights, sparking creativity in unexpected ways.

What's next for Killer Bijin-ga

I hope to develop this into a series of stories. Currently, it's more like a concept short film for an IP, but I want to explore more interesting settings and world-building within this game universe. I'm currently working on creating content in this direction.

Built With

• capcut
• dreamina
• hailuo
• keling