Side by side
| AI production at dotMD | Traditional shoot | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-production | Brief, script, storyboard approved scene by scene | Brief, script, storyboard, casting, scouting, permits, call sheets |
| Production | Scenes generated to the storyboard; edit, colour, sound, voice | Shoot days with crew, talent, equipment and location; then post |
| Timeline | About nine working days from brief to delivery | Weeks, set by crew and location availability |
| Changes | On the storyboard, before anything is made | A reshoot, or a compromise in the edit |
| Locations | Any place, built for the film, no permit | Real places, with permits, travel and weather |
| People | Real people from their own photos and footage with consent, or AI actors | Real talent on set, with fees and availability |
| Products | Matched exactly from photographs | The real product, lit on set |
| Formats | 16:9, 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 and stills from one production | Depends on what was framed and shot |
| Cost lines | Creative and craft | Creative and craft plus crew, kit, location, travel, catering, insurance, contingency |
| Risk | Approved on paper before production | Weather, overtime, a missed shot |
What stays the same
Every decision that makes a film good is still made by people. dotMD writes, storyboards, directs the camera and the light, casts, edits, grades and designs the sound. The client approves the storyboard and the final cut, as they would on any production. The output is reviewed shot by shot against the storyboard. AI is the camera and the set; it is not the director.
What changes for the client
- You see the whole film before production, as a storyboard, and change it there.
- You get a film in about nine working days, and a second one next month without waiting for a crew.
- You get every format from one production, instead of choosing which platform gets the good version.
- You pay for creative and craft, not for the logistics of a shoot.
- You can film the impossible: a product the size of a building, a city with no traffic, a model in six countries in one afternoon.
When a camera is still the right choice
Live events and anything that must document a real moment: a conference, a match, an opening. Documentary work where the truth of a real place and real people is the point. A performance by a specific person who has not consented to be matched from their footage, or who wants to act the scene themselves. Long spoken dialogue scenes where an actor's exact delivery is the film. And legal or regulated claims where footage of the actual product in use is required. dotMD says so in the plan when a brief fits one of these better than AI.
The hybrid case
Many projects sit in between. A brand has a few seconds of real footage of the founder and needs a two-minute film; an artist has a performance clip and needs the world around it; a label has product shots and needs motion. dotMD works from what exists, with consent for any person, and builds the rest. The storyboard shows exactly which shots are yours and which are generated.
How to decide
Send the brief. The plan that comes back within one working day says what the film needs, how long it takes and what it costs, and whether any part of it should be filmed. See how it works and the pricing page for the detail, and the work for what the result looks like.
