Inspiration
I’ve always been fascinated by Tengri mythology — it’s part of the land I grew up on. But what really pushed me into making this film was the challenge itself: I wanted to see if I could bring a full mythic world to life using only AI tools, without a big team, and still make it feel emotional and cinematic.
Behind the scenes, this project was my way of finally testing an idea I carried for years but never managed to write as a book — and seeing whether I could actually direct it visually with AI.
What it does
On the surface it looks like a short film, but behind the scenes it tested a whole pipeline: concept → storyboards → shotlists → character design → environment building → continuity prompts → editing → voiceover → final grading.
It taught me how far one person can push AI filmmaking when there’s no real camera crew, no actors, and no physical set — only imagination, prompts, and tools.
How we built it
This project had a very intense behind-the-scenes process:
Planning & Worldbuilding I broke the whole story into timed sequences and built a full script, emotional arc, and mythological logic. I refined character traits, shot angles, and monster designs until they all matched the world.
Visual Creation I used Freepik AI Suite for:
- character shots
- environment plates
- dramatic battle frames
- transformation scenes
- consistent clothing and cultural details All shots had to be matched to the same style and era, so I iterated prompts over and over until everything aligned visually.
Editing & Assembly I used CapCut to:
- structure the scenes by the exact timepads
- highted the resolutions of scenes
- maintain cinematic pacing
- align sound effects and atmospheric layers
Voiceover I used ElevenLabs to create a clean, dramatic narration by Ayna. Behind the scenes, I rewrote lines several times so the VO matched the emotional beats of each shot.
Iteration The biggest BTS work was cycling: script → prompt → output → revise → reprompt → re-edit, sometimes dozens of times per shot.
Challenges we ran into
The biggest behind-the-scenes obstacles were:
- Continuity AI often changed details — braids, clothing, facial shape, lighting — so I had to refine and lock down extremely detailed prompts so Ayna stayed the same across the whole film.
- Action shots Battle frames were the hardest. AI doesn’t naturally create consistent choreography or mid-motion shots, so I built each action beat manually and pieced them together in fast cuts.
- Myth accuracy vs. aesthetics Making the Zheztyrnaks, the rift, and the Tengrian realm look mythologically grounded but still cinematic took long prompt refinement.
- Color consistency Keeping a single color grade across many different AI outputs needed a lot of manual correction in editing.
- Emotional clarity Behind the scenes, I revised narration multiple times to make sure the audience understood the story without needing extra explanation.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
I’m proud that the world feels cohesive — visually, tonally, mythologically.
I’m also proud I managed to create a complete narrative pipeline as one person: from idea to script to storyboards to finished film.
The biggest behind-the-scenes accomplishment was figuring out how to make Ayna a consistent character across every shot, which is usually a whole team’s job in animation.
What we learned
I learned:
- how to keep a long sequence visually stable even when every frame is AI-generated
- how to design a character and maintain them across dozens of prompts
- how to build a mythic world with rules and continuity
- how to break a story into time-based shots and edit them together
- how to make AI tools work like a production pipeline I also learned that AI can support storytelling, but the story itself — pacing, emotion, world logic — still comes from the creator.
What's next for The Daughter of the Golden Steppe BTS
I already have more ideas:
- expanding Ayna’s journey into an AI-powered mini-series
- exploring more Tengrian myth creatures
- improving fight continuity with new AI tools
- posting making-of content showing how each scene was crafted
- creating a stronger cinematic universe around Central Asian mythology This project was just the first chapter — the BTS process taught me enough to build something much bigger.
Built With
- capcut
- elevenlabs
- freepik
- hailuoai
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