Stink Studios creates sci-fi inspired campaign for Synthesia
Director BLOK contrast sci-fi clone armies with the more practical possibilities of AI avatars in the video platform’s first global campaign.
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A sci-fi take on cloning forms the basis of a new global campaign for AI video platform Synthesia, created by Stink Studios and launching with a 60-second brand film alongside an out-of-home campaign across New York.
Synthesia allows businesses to create interactive AI video avatars of employees, designed to help with tasks including training, onboarding and interactive role plays.
The campaign plays with cloning’s less-than-successful history in science fiction, from galactic armies to resurrected dinosaurs, contrasting those scenarios with AI avatars designed to help people with their work.
“What we loved about the campaign was the idea of giving the word ‘cloning’ a second chance, and showing how Synthesia takes this tech out of the realm of sci-fi and uses it to solve everyday work challenges” says Dan-Vlad Cobasneanu, VP of Brand and Product Marketing, Synthesia.
The accompanying OOH campaign uses a series of comparisons, placing a playful example of fictional cloning alongside a practical use case for Synthesia’s AI avatars.
Credits
View on- Agency Production Company In-House
- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director BLOK
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Credits
View on- Agency Production Company In-House
- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director BLOK
- Executive Creative Director Rick Dodds
- Executive Creative Director Cameron Temple
- Senior Creative Eytan Smith
- Creative Benjamin Howell
- Head of Design Viv Greywoode
- Senior Producer Tara O'Sullivan
- Producer Meg Everett
- Executive Producer/President Daniel Bergmann
- Executive Producer Blake Powell
- Executive Producer Andrew Levene
- Executive Producer Kate Sharpe
- Producer Mikey Levelle
- Production Designer James Hatt
- DP Ziga Zupancic
- Head of VFX Tim Gardiner
- A.I Creative Zahid Anwar
Explore full credits, grab hi-res stills and more on shots Vault
Credits
powered by- Agency Production Company In-House
- Production Company Stink/UK
- Director BLOK
- Executive Creative Director Rick Dodds
- Executive Creative Director Cameron Temple
- Senior Creative Eytan Smith
- Creative Benjamin Howell
- Head of Design Viv Greywoode
- Senior Producer Tara O'Sullivan
- Producer Meg Everett
- Executive Producer/President Daniel Bergmann
- Executive Producer Blake Powell
- Executive Producer Andrew Levene
- Executive Producer Kate Sharpe
- Producer Mikey Levelle
- Production Designer James Hatt
- DP Ziga Zupancic
- Head of VFX Tim Gardiner
- A.I Creative Zahid Anwar
Directed by BLOK and produced by Stink, the film opens on an alien world, where the tyrannical Marvin the Villain arrives to inspect an army of his own clones. It then cuts to a more relatable Marvin in an office, laughing with an AI avatar of himself as his colleagues begin to see its potential.
“BLOK was the perfect choice for us. We needed big visual chops for the front half of the film, and then a relatable comedy performance for the back half. One thing we loved; BLOK brought some comedy into the front half of the film too, and that really elevated things” says Eytan Smith, Creative Lead at Stink Studios.
The alien world was created through AI-assisted production, with performances shot on green screen and rotoscoped before being combined with AI-generated environments rather than environments created entirely through traditional CGI.
“We loved the script: absurdist comedy set in a far-flung sci-fi world, complete with a clone army and an evil villain! It felt like a chance to experiment and have fun with genre. For us, it was about finding the right balance between the new and the familiar. We built a world with real characters, and pushed technology. AI gave us some exciting possibilities for world-building (woven into a traditional VFX workflow and led by our much-beloved, regular post-partner), and given the brand, it felt like an opportunity to push new tech and help elevate the story.
"It was a great testing ground to better understand a new and ever-changing VFX landscape. The heart of the film is rooted in narrative and performance, from the hair and make-up to the costumes and all the details that make a world feel real. But the process gave us space to experiment with how those tangible, human elements combine with this new hybrid VFX-AI workflow.” - BLOK, Director, Stink
Across the campaign, fictional scenarios are juxtaposed with practical uses of Synthesia’s avatars, using the contrast to address some of the tensions surrounding AI while focusing on personal choice and agency.
