Discovering Art through AI: An Alphabetical Journey with DALL·E 3

elemenopi October 28, 2023

In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, the fusion of art and artificial intelligence offers boundless opportunities. As I delved deeper into the realms of AI and machine learning, I recognized a crucial intersection between technology and artistry. An awareness, or rather, an intimate understanding of various art styles became pivotal in refining my AI-driven creations.

This realization sparked a collaborative venture with DALL·E 3, an advanced AI model. Together, we embarked on an exploratory journey to decode and visually represent a myriad of artistic styles, from the classics to the contemporary. The guiding prompt for our exploration was straightforward yet evocative: "image of a dachshund playing poker with a cigar on its mouth in a casino in a (blank) style".

The results were both enlightening and exhilarating. Each image crafted by DALL·E 3 was a testament to its ability to interpret and reimagine these styles, offering a fresh lens through which we could appreciate their essence. From Baroque to Vienna Secession, the range was vast and the interpretations, profound.

With the culmination of this project, I present to you 'AI-Powered Artistry: An Alphabetical Journey, Vol. I'. More than just a collection, this endeavor serves as a tribute to the diversity of art and a compass for fellow artists and enthusiasts. My hope is that this guide will inspire others — be it artists seeking a fresh perspective or the general public eager to embark on their own artistic journeys.

In the age of AI, where algorithms and aesthetics intertwine, understanding the nuances of art becomes paramount. This project has been a cornerstone in my artistic voyage, and I am eager to share it with the world.

Join me in celebrating the confluence of technology and art, and let's envision a future where they coexist in harmony, pushing the boundaries of creativity.

Demo Reel

elemenopi May 18, 2018

Reel Breakdown

00:02 - "Get Closer" (Bose/Facebook)- editing, motion graphics
00:09 - "Hamburg" (Sprinklr)- vfx, camera tracking, 3D production, compositing
00:10 - "San Francisco" (Sprinklr) - vfx, particle animation, compositing, color grading
00:13 - "Paris" (Sprinklr) - camera tracking, 3d production, compositing, color grading
00:16 - "Great Balls of Fire" (WWE) - camera animation, lighting, rendering
00:18 - "Mae Young Classic" (WWE) - camera animation, lighting, rendering, compositing
00:20 - "LIVALO" (Sentient) - 3d production
00:23 - "Hell in a Cell" (WWE) - animation, camera animation, lighting, rendering, compositing
00:27 - "Running out of Tomorrows" (Music Video) - animation, particles, compositing, editing, color grading
00:30 - "Flashback Friday Intro" (WWE) - concept, 3d production, logo design
00:36 - "Trailer for Danielle" (Kurzweil Technologies) - animation, motion graphics
00:38 - "Merck Pitch" (Cranin) - motion graphics, editing
00:43 - "My Vegas" (PlayStudios/Facebook) - concept, animation, motion graphics, editing
00:50 - "Summer Slam Transition" (WWE) - animation, camera animation, compositing
00:52 - "The Watch" (NatGeo/The Studio) - animation, compositing
00:54 - "JPM Principles" (JP Morgan/Ready Set Rocket) - motion graphics
00:57 - "Working Harder" (ConnectiCare)- vfx, plant animation, compositing, backplate cleanup
00:59 - "Goldfish Pitch" (Pepperidge Farm) - character animation
01:02 - "Tokyo" (Sprinklr) - vfx, particle animation, compositing, color grading

Running out of Tomorrows (ROOT) Music Video

elemenopi March 28, 2018

My brother MadSkrews reached out to me one evening with a song he had written in dedication to the victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. Nearly in tears, he expressed that something had to change. Through music he needed to vent and put a message of change out to the world.

This song is dedicated to all the lives that were affected and forever changed during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting in February 14, 2018.

"We cannot give up the fight, it's our God given right, to stand up always for what is right."

Song co-written by: Christie Vega-Alonzo with support from her 4 beautiful children, Cassidy Diaz 17, Kayla Diaz 15, Maegan Diaz 13, Adam Diaz 11.
Song written by: Andy "Mad Skrews" Diaz
Produced by: Andy "Mad Skrews" Diaz
Performed by: Andy "Mad Skrews" Diaz
Mixed by: Hazardis Soundz
Visuals: Jorge Diaz

Source: https://vimeo.com/259559788

National Museum of African American History & Culture

elemenopi October 31, 2016

This is a short introduction to the National Museum of African American History & Culture, in Washington DC. We interviewed Wanda Hope, Chief Diversity Officer for Johnson & Johnson, who shared with us her personal story visiting the museum.

Working closely with Jeffrey Eisner, who served as producer, and MSLGROUP, I was responsible for editing, coloring, and motion graphics in this story.

Museum website: https://nmaahc.si.edu/

Nars 360 Degree Makeup Tutorial

elemenopi April 10, 2016

NARS Cosmetics and Facebook teamed up to create the very first 360 video makeup tutorial and it needs to be experienced to be truly understood.

While watching the video, use your mouse (or finger in the YouTube App) to look around the entire room of mirrors, each featuring a different part of the face for how to apply the look. There's no more waiting around to see the segment you want to see - all the segments for the tutorial are displayed at the same time, and you can choose what you want to see and when you want to see it!

This project was awesome, to say the least. As pioneers in a medium, there was quite a bit of experimentation to get the desired effect. There were countless people involved in making sure that the tutorial was shot properly, and I was brought in to assist in 360 production as well as editing and color correction. Certainly one of my favorite projects to have been a part of, and one example of what this amazing new medium can bring to audiences.

Facebook video link: Nars 360-Degree Makeup Tutorial.
Project featured in: Refinery29 & Forbes.

Baby Express

elemenopi September 24, 2015

Baby Express started as an experiment that turned into a short film.

During a stint of free time between projects (common for a freelancer), I was curious to animate one of my son's trains using stop-motion technique. When I shot the first test, I became hooked on how fun and exciting it was to use live models, instead of virtual ones. I kept adding more and more scenes, until I ran into an unexpected turn of events. The experiments and event are captured here for your enjoyment.

Ready Set Rocket "Case Studies"

elemenopi August 10, 2015

Ready Set Rocket was looking to produce videos showcasing their connected experience case studies for Kenneth Cole, Rihanna, Michael Kors, Ann Taylor, and Univision.

Since each experience is radically different in approach and goal, they required individual attention to share their stories. Working directly with Ready Set Rocket's creative team, I had the privilege to witness their creative process for elevating these brands, and then helping them create a meaningful narrative to share online.

Taking their pixel perfect storyboards and narrative, I began by quickly building an animatic to determine our timing and to help us make smart choices for editing the content. With each version of polish, the case studies took on a life of their own until we arrived at the final versions on this site as well as their site, readysetrocket.com.

In these videos, I was responsible for editing, motion graphics work, color correction, & audio.

Sprinklr "9 City Video Postcard"

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Jan Zlotnick of Sprinklr had this awesome idea of having video postcards for each of the cities/locales where Sprinklr has an office. The goal, and his vision, was to decorate meaningful imagery representing each locale with a hidden Sprinklr logo. Whimsical, magical, and timeless were some of the adjectives we threw around in our creative meetings while coming up with a beautiful way to welcome each office to their home.

Red Hydrant hired me to assist them with the visuals. I was responsible for executing each of the hidden logos in the postcards and it took thousands of 2D/3D particles, camera tracking points, nulls, rigs, 3D objects and a little bit of trial and error to bring the magic to each of the postcards.

Ashton Pina Logo Design

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Ashton Pina, a director, actor, and producer from New York City, was looking for a way to brand himself and hired me to help him develop a logo for his brand. He sought everywhere for a logo and nothing seemed to stick, and I was curious to see if I could help him.

Conversing with Ashton over the phone, he said something that caught my attention: he said that for as a long as he could remember, he had used the same emblem for his signature. Casually I asked him if he would sign it on a piece of paper and allow me to see it. He signed a napkin, took a photo with his iPhone and emailed it to me. Lo and behold, after so much searching for other shapes, the scribble he had drawn for so long was the most meaningful and elegant way to highlight his brand, and it's what made it to the final piece.

Sprinklr "The Most"

elemenopi July 29, 2015

These are two videos I worked on for Sprinklr helping them announce the opening of their new offices in Japan!

Sprinklr "Birthday, Baby, Anni" video cards

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Sprinklr wanted to celebrate their employees' special occasions with something more than just a thank you. Collaborating with Red Hydrant, I was able to take illustrations they created in-house and add flair and humor to their message.

Motion GFX Reel 2014

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Reel Breakdown:

Tecnis - Modeling, lighting, design, animation
Weekly Insights - Animation
Cornelia Connelly - Design, animation
Insights App - Modeling, lighting, animation
Cupcakes by Jane - Concept, design, modeling, lighting, animation
Sprinklr - Animation, VFX

Holiday Video Cards, 2014

elemenopi July 29, 2015

As a thank you to all my friends, family, clients, and business associates I created these holiday video cards to express my gratitude for their support. This was also an awesome opportunity to involve my oldest daughter, Sofia, in creating illustrations to decorate each of the holidays celebrated. Funny story in this piece was trying to explain Festivus to an 8 year old. Enjoy!

All drawings done on a cheap Android tablet + $5 stylus.

Connecticare "Working Harder"

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Working together with Red Hydrant and Standard Directors, I had the pleasure to assist them with the rig removal and animated flowers. Check out the stills to see what I was able to bring to their pipeline in detail, and then watch the spot to see it in action!

Field Glass Films "The Viagra Monologues" Opening Title

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Field Glass Films was in need a budget friendly opening title for their movie "The Viagra Monologues", and I was glad to help them. My mission was to take the title they had previously designed and add some flair and mild humor.

Adrian's Cool Cat: A "Cool School" Short

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Adrian's Cool Cat: A "Cool School" Short is an animated piece created for the Xposure Foundation. This organization exists to expose children and adolescents in underserved communities to the worlds of Science, Technology, Finance, Work Ethic, Nutrition, Community Service and stronger Parent/Child Partnerships.

Xposure Foundation was looking for a fun and engaging music video for a song they had prerecorded in-house. Raymond Thomas, their executive director, had an ambitious goal of creating a new set of characters and bring them them life. The music video served as a fun introduction to Adrian, as well as her adorable and mischievous companion, Cool Cat.

After a brief meeting with Mr. Thomas, I understood that he needed the project brought to life from concept to completion, using the ideas and vision he had as a base for the look and feel of the characters. Collaborating with Julie Anderson, an NYC-based illustrator, we quickly developed many loose iterations of the characters to see which one popped and felt right. Once the client chose favorites, we created character sheets to build them in 3D as well as an animatic, and a styleframe. After a few iterations of polish and finesse, and lots of elbow grease, we arrived at the final piece.

In this project I was responsible from concept to completion and that included editorial, compositing, and 3D production.

Design Your Own Jewelry: A Love Story

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Diamond Envy, a boutique in New York City specializing in custom jewelry and colored diamonds, was looking for a way to explain their custom jewelry-making process to the public, and showcase their ability to make changes down to the last detail. Understanding that their competition had produced videos with a similar goal, they wanted to produce a video to stand out and appeal to a younger, trendier, audience.

Design Your Own Jewelry: A Love Story, is a silent film about two people falling in love, and the groom's quest in finding the perfect, custom-made ring for his bride to be.

In this piece I was responsible for every detail from concept to completion. To help me along for the adventure, I brought in Julie Anderson, a talented NYC-based illustrator. We developed a working animatic using live video, and she illustrated the characters to match the actor's poses. On my end, I took her drawings and timed them out, and made the final composites. In addition I was responsible for executing the editorial and 3D production.

Platinum 7X Product Displays

elemenopi July 29, 2015

I worked with Turbo Dog Productions to help them pre-visualize product displays for Platinum7X Vodka. The idea was to maximize the amount of product in minimal square footage while retaining appeal faithful to the brand.

The top image was the client's selection, and the extras were alternate designs I pursued to see how far we could push the design and visual impact. Everything on display was created by me.

Klondike "Nurse Candy" Previs

Turbo Dog Productions "Klondike - Nurse Candy" Previs

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Klondike "Nurse Candy" Full Up

Turbo Dog Productions was working with The VIA Agency in bringing Klondike "Nurse Candy" to life. The first step was to create a "previs", a rough draft of the commercial to test with audiences. That's where I was able to assist.

As a hire for Turbo Dog Productions, I had the privilege of assisting them as lead animator and director for the previs spot. My duties included leading a small team of animators in meeting goals, cinematography, rigging, and light technical director duties.

The "Full Up" version is the final version of the spot, as shown on TV. Outside of laying down the groundwork and creating the previs, I had no involvement with the full up.

Ready Set Rocket "JP Morgan Visual Podcast" Pitch

elemenopi July 29, 2015

Readyset Rocket hired me to add visual appeal to one of JP Morgan's podcasts for a concept pitch. In this short, I was responsible for taking designs from Readyset Rocket and bring them to life to the pace of the narration.