Local talent, writer/filmmaker John McCarty, has published many film books and a few mystery novels over the years. He also has made competent, exciting films, many through his studio Leering Buzzard Pictures. Several are available online on Amazon’s Prime Video and YouTube.
Ten to fifteen years ago, John and I made a few films as a team. He wrote, directed, edited and provided the final word, while I produced. We used wonderful local actors and hard-working crews of UAlbany students. If you like, go to Prime Video and check out THIRST: A CIVIL WAR STORY, CONFINEMENT, and FIRST LADY OF THE CONFEDERACY for our combined efforts.
Time has passed; things have changed, especially for John. A decade ago, John was out and about, even following a horse around a huge field to try to direct its moves. His energy was impressive. Here’s what John has to say about his current situation:
“I’m 80 now. About five years ago I was diagnosed with hereditary spinocerebellar ataxia which affects walking and balance. So, directing my films was no longer an option as directing involves being on your feet and hustling about the entire day during a shoot. Frankly, I thought filmmaking was over for me entirely. But then I started hearing about something called Artificial Intelligence and its application in video generation. Specifically, I saw announcements on YouTube for an upcoming AI platform called LTX Studio that promised to “revolutionize cinematic storytelling forever.” Filmmakers were invited to sign up to use the Beta version for free and to make recommendations for improvements before the platform went public. For a filmmaker in my position, LTX Studio seemed too good to be true. If it worked, I could continue making my movies – larger scale ones even – without getting up from a chair. So, as a qualified filmmaker I signed up and about a month and a half later, the company, which I believe is German, gave me access to its platform with all its tools.”
In addition to LTX, John worked with other apps—Hedra AI, Kling AI, Minimax AI, and Luma Dream Machine.
The result is his new ½-hour-long Western, A FEW BOTTLES OF WHISKY, now available online at https://youtu.be/0A4OFtGsvCY. It’s quite an exciting example of what can be done with very new computer programs of AI—a technique in its infancy.
“I always wanted to make a western. But as I was head-quartered in New York State, the prospect was unrealistic. So I dusted off a script I’d written 50 or more years ago for a syndicated series called DEATH VALLEY DAYS, hosted at the time by actor Robert Taylor. Purportedly, each episode was based on fact. So I headed to the library in Santa Monica, where I lived at the time, to begin research. Eventually I found the incident that formed the basis of my script. It dealt with a trio of white Westerners and a trio of Navajo warriors, who have escaped from their reservation to begin a new life in Mexico, that find common ground over a few bottles of whisky and help each other out. … Alas, the script, although liked, was not produced due to its boozy theme and title – the South, you see, was the program’s biggest market, and most Southern states were then dry! But for my purposes now, A FEW BOTTLES OF WHISKY seemed ideal. It had a small number of characters, just three locations, which was no longer a casting or logistical concern but a technical one as my actors and locales had to be created digitally. This didn’t strike me as that huge of challenge for me or AI. Boy was I wrong!”
As he worked, the AI video world was advancing almost faster than he could keep up. He worked for six months, four hours a day, seven days a week to create A FEW BOTTLES OF WHISKY. When I watch the film, it seems a marvel that no actors are real. Actor performance and reaction shots are not yet possible with AI. The characters, the sets, the horses, even the whisky bottles, are computer generated!
John’s Ataxia is incurable. So is his strong desire to continue making films. With the ever-developing AI technology, he will continue his creative work.
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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