WHOOP says listen to your body

With extremely limited window with Sabalenka, the production was designed around capturing her live performance while using an actress to play opposite her on set. That performance was then translated into Sabalenka’s digital counterpart through a combination of proprietary, generative AI character modelling, VFX and traditional post production.

The approach allowed the director Joe Ventura and co-director Eva Flodstrom to create scenes in which Sabalenka convincingly interacts with herself while preserving the timing and spontaneity needed to deliver a human and comedic performance. Rather than treating AI as a replacement for production, the team guided by VEEVI built the technology into the filmmaking process from the outset.

Rob Godbold, Founder of Bold and partner in Lovely Animals Studio, said: “Having Aryna available for only a few hours meant the methodology had to be designed around performance first. We wanted her to have someone real to react to rather than asking her to perform against a lighting stand.

VEEVI’s technology took that input performance to create the second Aryna, while our job was to build the production process around it. From the shoot and performance methodology through to the AI pipeline, VFX, QC and finishing.

The interesting part for us was not simply creating a digital likeness. It was finding ways of integrating these new tools into established filmmaking so the technology ultimately becomes invisible and you are left with a human performance with comedic timing and the agency’s concept intact.”