Proof of Burden - Drones

Inspiration

This all started when my friend Kristopher asked me to make a video for his song Drones. He told me the idea came from noticing how people are always on their phones. I already had a short film idea about the same subject, so it just flowed together, his music and my idea.

It’s also personal. I get caught in my phone too, wasting time scrolling, watching instead of living. Like when people go to concerts and spend the whole time recording instead of enjoying it. That feeling inspired me the most, how we choose screens over real life.

What it does

The video shows how we went from the first phone call to today, where we can’t even look up anymore. While people are glued to their screens, life is happening all around them, family, nature, chaos, beauty, but they don’t notice.

How we built it

I started with the short film idea I already had. Normally, I write a shotlist before filming, but this time I built everything by writing prompts in JSON with ChatGPT. It felt totally different, almost like a music jam where you can improvise and play around. In a real production you can’t just do that, because every change costs money. Here, I could just flow with it.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was making sure the images didn’t look too CGI. Another was keeping continuity across different eras, since the story jumps through time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Whenever I’ve shown the video, people go quiet. It feels like they see themselves in it. I’m proud of that silence, because it means the video hit something real.

What we learned

I learned a whole new way to create. Normally I’m on set with a crew and a budget, but this time it was just me at home with an idea. I never thought I could make something this big from my room, but it worked.

What's next for Proof of Burden

Proof of Burden is Kris’s project, and this is only the beginning. We want to keep building more ideas for his music and keep experimenting with visuals that make people stop and think.

Built With

• chatgpt
• veo3