‘Without storyboards, I feel like I’m in Grand Central station in my underwear’: film’s fightback against AI

A film industry dominated by AI remains a dystopian prospect, but the technology's real-world impact is already affecting jobs behind the scenes. Hollywood's biggest film-makers begin adopting AI, with James Cameron on the board of a generative AI firm, Steven Soderbergh using Meta-powered tech for his John Lennon documentary, and Christopher Nolan dismissing AI replacing humans as "nonsense" while acknowledging useful "imaging tools".

Storyboard Artists at Risk

The current canary in the coalmine is the storyboard artist, whose work generative AI appears to have directly in its sights. These illustrators draw panels with notes and diagrams that map out scenes before filming, serving as blueprints to communicate a director's vision to cast and crew. Now they face replacement by programmes using text prompts to create illustrations instead.

Collaborative Process

Storyboard creation is typically a collaborative effort between directors, artists, and crew members responsible for visual storytelling. "I find it very fulfilling to make art in such a collaborative way," says Alex Clark, whose recent films include Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17. "It's about people sitting down to discuss each other's ideas. You might act things out, make sound effects, read dialogue. You develop a creative relationship with one another."

For Clark, the process matters as much as the finished product. "A common misconception is that storyboarding is about making nice drawings. But it's more than that – it's about relating to how the director is thinking, and conceiving the most appropriate ways to tell the story of a scene," he explains. Dune director Denis Villeneuve views it as "a new way of writing" and "a way to dream" as the film begins to come to life on the page.