I have always been fascinated by the moment when a ridiculous idea crosses the border into reality.
Not a good idea.
Not a sensible idea.
A wonderfully weird idea.
The kind of idea that makes you say, “This is either going to be brilliant or completely stupid.”
Sometimes those are the same thing.
This project started with a simple conversation:
“Why are we here?”
“This is my laboratory.”
“That doesn’t look like any laboratory I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re correct. It’s actually an alchemy den.”
And from there, everything went sideways.
The story became a goofy little comedy sketch about an eccentric scientist, a suspicious woman, a lock of hair, cloning technology, and the most questionable scientific achievement in history:
Creating an all-girl rock band called “The Smashing Pumpkins.”
Unfortunately, someone already took that name.
Back to the laboratory.
2/9
Step 1: Building the world of the mad scientist
The first challenge was creating the setting.
I didn’t want a dark horror laboratory.
No lightning bolts.
No creepy Frankenstein vibes.
This scientist wasn’t evil.
He was just… enthusiastic.
The kind of person who says, “Don’t worry, it’s all for science,” while everyone else slowly backs toward the exit.
I wanted an alchemy den.
A place somewhere between:
- a Victorian science workshop
- an artist’s studio
- an inventor’s garage
- a wizard’s library
Basically, a place where a person might invent something amazing…
or accidentally create four versions of the same singer.
Lab note:
The trick with AI environments is that the details matter less than the feeling.
The room needed to communicate:
“Something strange is happening here, but you are safe.”
Warm light.
Wood.
Brass.
Glass.
Curiosity.
Not horror.
3/9
Step 2: Creating the scientist and the visitor
For the characters, I created reference headshots first.
This is one of those places where AI filmmaking starts to feel less like typing prompts and more like casting actors.
The scientist needed to be:
- intelligent
- slightly eccentric
- harmless
- completely sincere
The funniest version of this character is not a villain.
He’s a nice guy who has absolutely no idea why everyone is concerned.
His voice is basically:
“Hello. I have a perfectly reasonable scientific request.
I need your hair.
For cloning.”
Nothing alarming about that.
Right?
The female character needed the opposite energy.
She is the audience.
She asks the questions we would ask.
“You’re kidding.”
“Are you mad?”
“Tell me the truth.”
She keeps trying to pull reality back into the room.
He keeps floating away.
That contrast creates the comedy.
4/9
Step 3: The cloning problem
This was the fun part.
How do you show an all-girl rock band where every member is the same person?
The obvious answer:
Create separate images of each musician.
Singer.
Guitarist.
Bassist.
Drummer.
Keyboard player.
But I tried something different.
I wanted one image.
One impossible moment.
The reveal.
The audience should immediately understand:
“Oh.
He actually did it.”
The Midjourney prompt that worked was surprisingly simple:
All girl indie rock band, on stage,
drummer, bassist, keyboards,
lead vocal, guitarist,
four girls,
dark brunette and wearing black skirts
That’s it.
No giant essay.
No 400-word description.
No attempt to micromanage every pixel.
Lab note:
One of the biggest lessons I keep learning with AI:
Sometimes the best prompt is the one where I stop trying to be the boss of every molecule.
The AI is not just a paintbrush.
Sometimes it’s a collaborator with strange ideas.
5/9
Step 4: Turning the still image into a performance
The Midjourney image created the setup.
But a rock band is not supposed to stand still.
They need movement.
Energy.
Chaos.
Life.
So I took the still image into Grok Imagine and asked it to animate the band.
The result:
Four versions of the same woman singing and dancing on stage.
A clone-powered indie rock explosion.
It was exactly the kind of ridiculous visual comedy I wanted.
The AI didn’t just animate the picture.
It added a sense of personality.
The clones weren’t just copies.
They became performers.
And that was the magical moment.
The image stopped being a joke.
It became a scene.
6/9
Step 5: The creative stack
Here was the production pipeline:
Visual development:
- Midjourney
Character reference:
- Midjourney reference images
Image-to-video animation:
- Grok Imagine
Voice:
- ElevenLabs
Editing:
- Kdenlive
Final assembly:
- My slightly chaotic human brain sitting between all of these tools trying to keep everyone from arguing.
Lab note:
AI filmmaking is less like using one magic button.
It is more like conducting an orchestra where every musician is slightly unpredictable.
The violinist sometimes plays jazz.
The drummer occasionally invents a new rhythm.
The conductor (me) says:
“Okay… interesting. Let’s see where this goes.”
7/9
Step 6: The happy accidents
The best moments in AI creation are often the ones I didn’t plan.
I start with an idea.
The AI interprets it.
I react.
Then the project becomes something neither of us completely expected.
That is the strange beauty of this process.
Traditional filmmaking often begins with:
“Here is the exact plan.”
AI filmmaking often begins with:
“Here is the experiment.”
Then:
“Oh.
That’s interesting.”
Then:
“What happens if I push it further?”
The final result becomes a conversation between intention and surprise.
8/9
The real lesson
I started this project thinking I was making a silly comedy sketch.
And I was.
But underneath the silliness was something I keep discovering over and over:
Creativity is play.
The best ideas often arrive wearing a ridiculous costume.
A scientist asking for a lock of hair.
A woman discovering she has been cloned.
A rock band made entirely from one person.
None of this is practical.
None of this is necessary.
And that is exactly why it works.
We don’t create only because we need to.
We create because something inside us wants to explore.
To wonder.
To laugh.
To make something that didn’t exist yesterday.
9/9
TL;DR:
I made an AI comedy about a mad scientist who clones a woman to create an all-girl rock band.
The secret?
The fewer rules I gave the AI, the more interesting the collaboration became.
The video alchemist’s job is not to control every spark.
It is to notice which sparks catch fire.
I still don’t know if AI filmmaking is the future.
But I do know this:
It is the strangest creative playground I have ever found.
And I am having way too much fun in the laboratory.
Especially when the experiments involve cloning rock stars.
Steve Teare
video alchemist
TerminallyBored.Monster
Palouse, Washington USA