Deepheist (Sci-Fi Short Film)

Описание: When a powerful corporation appoints an Artificial Intelligence as its CEO, audacious group of techno-activists band together to assassinate the digital executive and put on a newsworthy act of protest. But humanity’s future is about to reach a new breaking point...

Deepheist is a sci-fi action short film (low-budget parody/satire short made possible by a lot of friends, favors, and Costco food) we started 2023, and worked on during our free time. I even ended up making a lot of the props and miniatures myself. We’ve come a long way since our VFX tests. Deepheist was partially inspired by the story of Barthélemy Thimonnier, whose sewing machine invention led to his workshop being burned down by angry tailors, and the bold, theatrical visuals of 'Stop Oil' protests, which influenced the masks and yellow themes in the film. I shared the concept with friends and colleagues, and they were generous enough to lend their talents to help bring it to life. I even ended up making a lot of the props and miniatures myself. I believe certain ideas are inevitable ideas and we’re just stewards of them. (A deepfake Point Break-esque heist was definitely inevitable) I’m just glad we got to be the ones to present this iteration of it. You'll enjoy this short film if you're into Omeleto and Dust. We talked a lot about the role of “inevitable ideas” and how people choose to wield them. As we worked through the production process, it naturally sparked thoughts about technology and its risks. (more notes from my production journal under the credits)

Written & Directed by
Glen Vivaris - @glenmakes

Produced by
Mark Jerome Cruz - @arcticmark182
Michael Villucci - @v4villucci

Executive Producers
Shaun vivaris - @shaunestshaun
MJ Dorian @mjdorian
Jonathon Locasto


Barry & Donny face effects by deepware.ai
AGI creature by @realericrich
Cinematography / VFX / Props by glen vivaris @glenmakes

Set Design by Johnaton Locasto
Music by Noah Horowitz @noah__horowitz

additional material by
MJ Jorian @mjdorian

End Credits Theme by
Yeakun Yoo
Yohan Shin
Vocals- Diwoo Lee

Donny - Robert Steacy
Barry - Reggie Washington @rwash26
Killary - Colette Cherry @colettecherry__
Bang - Conder Shou @condershou
Julius - Max Pheifer @maxpheifer

Additional Cast
(in order of appearance)

Justin Mcdavitt
Shazil Choudhry
Justine Manalac
Paris Ambush
Holly Lazo
Manasi Deshpande


Crew
First Assistant Director - David Tschan
Script Supervisor - Hassan Shah
Sound Mixer - Steve Young
First Assistant Camera - Sergio Rangel @electric.serg
Gaffer - Louis Shah
Key Makeup Artist - Steven Garrett
Set Coordinator / Photographer - Kaitlyn Khoe
Casting by Olga Molina & Isabelle Deguzman
Post Production Sound Services by Sergei Eric
Lattice Computer Design - Tom Kamin
Lattice Computer Miniature- Matthew Bigham
Miniatures - Glen Vivaris

Production Assistants
Daniel Beher
Faisal Khan
Production Consultant - Francesca Segre

(production notes continued)
The Vivarium Thought Experiment- Picture creatures in a primitive society placed in a very strong glass vivarium underwater, built by advanced beings to last for millennia. In the beginning, the creatures make tools out of sticks. Occasionally, someone taps the glass, maybe one of them even decides they want to hit it as hard as they can. but it doesn’t go anywhere—society discourages it, and their tools just aren’t strong enough anyway.
As they progress, these tools evolve from stone to metal, and eventually to materials that are as strong as their enclosure. With each step forward, the minimum buy-in for destroying everything decreases. In our reality, the probability is that the proverbial crack in the glass wall will be enabled by a corporate boardroom meeting.

Today, our relationship with technology, like social media, smartphones, and even the adoption of vertical video, gives us a glimpse of how we might adjust to AI (and eventually AGI) in the future. If we can’t even align our values, how can we expect AGI to stay aligned with us?
For now, AI has become like a self-sustaining creative reactor—we feed it energy and ideas, and it starts to need less and less creative input from us. Many artists unfortunately never asked to be part of this machine. But Ai is here to stay and AI artists will carve out a space akin to the types of photographers and DJs that like to work with pre-existing materials, manipulating, discovering, and coaxing art out of a space that makes room for pastiche and happy accidents.

Deepheist is the culmination of some existential fears I’ve had around the fast-growing space while experimenting with using AI to support traditional filmmaking. As an artist, I feel like we’ve reached an inflection point in how we express ourselves creatively and I wanted to leave my mark on that trail. Whether it stands as a guidepost or a gravestone, only time will tell.