The NDA

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  The NDA

Inspiration

We started this project because we're worried. We see fascism on the rise and the stripping away of people's rights. As music video makers, we know the traditional record industry is part of the system and would be unlikely to greenlight something this politically direct. So we turned to AI to create the kind of urgent, activist art we felt the world needed, on our own terms.

What it does

"The New Dark Ages" looks like a slick fashion ad for a new fragrance, but it's actually an allegory about state power. It follows a government sting operation—disguised as a casting call—that targets a non conforming and defiant group of people. When the session turns violent, the auditioners fight back, and the fragrance itself becomes a weapon that turns on the oppressors.

How we built it

We built this from the ground up using AI, but with our filmmaker hats firmly on.

• Visuals: We used our knowledge of lenses, lighting, and framing to write detailed prompts, generating hundreds of images until we curated the perfect diverse cast and cohesive look.
• Audio: We created the soundtrack by feeding our own voices into AI and blending genres to get a track that triggers references to the resistance era of the 60s.
• Concept: We deliberately used the glossy language of pop culture and "beautiful people" to lure the viewer.

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge was learning to "fish" with AI. You have to be specific with your prompts, but also be ready to be surprised and follow a happy accident. It meant letting go of some control and collaborating with the machine, which was a new muscle for us as directors.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud to make a piece of protest art that the traditional system would never commission. AI is here to stay but we wanted to show that this tech can be used to reflect itself and as a tool for meaningful storytelling, not just imitation.

What we learned

We learned to love the unique rhythm of working with AI and find flow. Sometimes, older models gave us more interesting and weird results that we'd mix into the newer versions. Most of all, we learned that the heart of the process is still human—we're just using a new set of brushes.

What's next for The NDA

We're putting the video out into the world as a piece of digital activism. For the future, we're excited to figure out how to blend AI seamlessly with traditional filmmaking, and how to make the whole process more environmentally friendly. For us, it's all about keeping the human at the center—AI should be our collaborator, not our replacement.

Built With

• 2.1
• diffusion
• hailou
• kling
• midjourney
• photoshop
• runway
• stable
• suno