Under Different Skies

Inspiration

This story was inspired by my own life and my son’s journey. He was born in a big city, surrounded by traffic and noise, until we moved to the seaside and he finally experienced freedom. I started thinking about how people live under the same sky, yet see entirely different worlds. My goal wasn’t to say one life is better than another, but to show two parallel realities both beautiful in their own way, both true to life.

What it does

Under Different Skies is an AI-animated short film that tells the parallel stories of two boys — one growing up in the city, the other by the sea. Through a series of visual moments, we see their childhood, youth, and adult lives unfold: the city boy surrounded by concrete and structure, and the sea boy guided by nature and open horizons. In the end, both watch the same sunset — a symbol of unity within difference. The film explores perspective, choice, and the beauty of diverse life paths.

How we built it

The film was created using a combination of AI and creative tools:

• Midjourney AI for concept art, backgrounds, and character development.
• Kling AI for animating sequences and bringing the characters to life.
• Suno AI for composing the original soundtrack that follows the emotional rhythm of the story.
• CapCut for final editing, transitions, and cinematic color grading.

Each frame was carefully designed to keep visual consistency as the boys age, showing the passage of time while preserving the emotional tone of both worlds.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was achieving consistency across the characters as they grew up ensuring that the same boy could be recognized in every stage of life.

It was also crucial to carefully plan the story structure and pacing: deciding which scenes would best reflect the boys’ journeys without making the film feel too slow or fragmented. Each moment from childhood to adulthood needed to reveal something essential about their worlds while keeping the viewer emotionally engaged.

Another challenge came with the ending. Early versions felt either too dramatic or too staged, and it was difficult to find the right emotional tone. After many experiments, the final decision to end the film with a sunset scene brought balance and meaning a quiet, symbolic connection between the two lives under one sky.

Finding harmony between the two storylines visually and emotionally required many iterations. The transitions between city and sea had to feel natural, yet symbolically connected.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud that this film tells a meaningful story without judgment it invites reflection rather than comparison. It shows how life can take different forms, yet share the same light. I’m also proud of combining AI tools to create a complete narrative with emotional depth, cinematic pacing, and original music. This project proved that it’s possible to tell human, poetic stories with technology stories that stay true to feeling and experience.

What we learned

For many years, I worked as a 3D artist, part of teams creating animated films. When I began exploring AI, I set myself a clear goal- not to generate quick content, but to find meaningful ways to apply these tools in storytelling and animation. To reimagine a process that once required a full team and weeks of production time.

Under Different Skies became the first animated film I created entirely on my own using AI from the initial idea to full visual realization, editing, and music. It was a completely new experience and an important step in my professional growth as a CG artist, showing how technology can empower individual creators to bring complete cinematic stories to life.

What's next for Under Different Skies

I plan to continue developing stories that explore human experience through simple, relatable visuals. This project showed that AI can be a practical tool for independent creators, not just for experimentation but for complete storytelling.

Next, I want to refine my workflow, focus more on narrative depth, and test how these methods can be applied to educational or commercial projects. Under Different Skies is a step toward building a consistent style and production process for future AI-based films.

Built With

• capcup
• klingai
• midjourney
• sunoai