Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced its AI video generator Sora. Select artists have dropped their first experiments with the tool, and now we have the very first music video, too. August Kamp composed a song named Worldweight, and he complemented it with an AI-generated video created entirely with Sora.
“I feel like this piece of art is my absolute heart and soul,” August writes. “I remember the way I felt when these notes tumbled through my hands and onto the keys of my synthesizer almost two years ago.”
“I remember how it rained outside and how I felt so lucky to be able to pour these feelings into a song – something that could hold onto them so I didn’t have to anymore. I closed my eyes while I played – something rare for me as I don’t know my keys all too well – but I closed my eyes and I saw pictures in my mind.”
So, August decided to turn these pictures into a video for his song. He says that he believes this is what Sora is best for. He took the pictures that he’d held onto for two years and told himself, “August – we can share these with folks.”
“That’s what I think is special about this tool. I get to share what was once locked behind my shut eyes – all alone. Which is to say – this is how the song has always ‘looked’, it’s just that now I get to show you.”
One user described the video as “Those [kinds] of dreams you have when you tell yourself I’ll just take a nap and then end up sleeping for 300 years.” I think that describes it best. Another commented that they’d give anything to be able to access Sora, and that’s how I feel as well. I’ve experimented with every AI image generator there is, just for fun- and I’d love to get my hands on this video generator, too. I’m really curious to test it out. And while it’s still being guarded from us, regular folks, it looks like Sora is on its way to Hollywood, at least judging by some reports.
AI music videos before Sora
Interestingly enough, creative folks used generative AI for music videos before Sora was announced. I immediately thought of this 2022 horror, where images were created from song lyrics. That same year, Joris Bax used Midjourney to create illustrations for Goodnight Moon. By adding a super-creepy voice and music to it, he turned it into pure nightmare material — and I love it.
In 2023, Christopher Smallfield created a music video using Midjourney’s Zoom out feature. In this article, he explained his process and the idea behind the video. That’s another example of one I really like.
If you’re a The Beatles fan, you’ve probably seen the AI music video for Now and Then. Dubbed “digital necromancy”, this abomination caused a stir between both critics and fans. To make things worse, it was created by Peter Jackson himself, using a software system he developed with his team.
AI-generated music videos aren’t entirely new. However, Sora will likely bring a major change — a revolution, I dare say — to the video industry. Now, will it be a good one? I leave that to you to judge.
