Making "Thoughts and Prayers" AI

WYHM: We're with Bennett Weiss of Loxodonta Media, a young content creator who used AI to generate Will You Hear Me Now’s most recent AI High story, “Thoughts and Prayers.” In light of the tragic school shooting in Minnesota and the overall lack of effective action from political leaders, we feel compelled to examine our own response.

Bennett, what sets you apart from other AI content creators?

Bennett: I've figured out how to adapt the best of the open source tools and the ones behind paywalls while still retaining a human aspect of creativity. I came to AI already an animator and see AI as basically an artists’ palette. I’m into combining many different forms of AI and animations techniques as well as voice modulation software. These have given me the ability to create much faster with density of attention to detail.

WYHM: Can you give us a sense of your workflow with our “Thoughts and Prayers—An AI High Story?

Bennett:· · First I build the B-roll
· Then generate images of the faces
· A bit of building in Photoshop
· Then the voice acting comes with voice modulation as necessary
· Then I combine the voice and imagery of the faces
· Then comes post and cutting everything together

WYHM: What would you say your biggest challenge was in creating this piece? How many iterations did it take?

Bennett: It's making realistic-looking faces and getting the audio to sound convincing for each character. Having an adaptable workflow is important because you can't anticipate these algorithms will build everything right for you the first time. I lost count. Six or seven?

WYHM: How can a young person looking to create sophisticated content, work with AI, create realistic-looking visuals and scenes and not break the bank doing so?

Bennett: Utilize all of Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. All their programs have fully integrated Ai tools and more. Also Grok Imagine is free as of right now. Adobe Firefly I believe also has a free model for some of its tools.

WYHM: Explain the AI credits system and give us a sense of how much money you spent creating “Thoughts and Prayers”

Bennett: I spent a little under 100 dollars. A big chunk was spent towards generating b-roll but the largest portion was spent on creating the facial animation syncing to the voice acting that's been sent through a voice modulator.

The credits are used toward rendering the generated footage.

Think of credits in generative AI like tokens in a video arcade—they're your way to play the game without everything grinding to a halt. They're a fair way to share powerful tech among everyone, creators, hobbyists, and pros alike without overwhelming the system, much like a render farm in movie production or game design. There are these huge clusters of computers (often GPUs) churning through complex calculations to "render" your AI outputs. Running them isn't free: they guzzle electricity, require cooling, maintenance, and constant upgrades, racking up real-world costs for the providers. Credits cover those expenses, prevent server overloads (which could crash the system for all users, and encourage thoughtful requests. Without them, making high-quality AI would be a luxury for the few rather than a tool for the many.

WYHM: What are the most exciting things happening to the tools in your toolbox?

Bennett: I enjoy the fact that now techniques and tweaking parameters are now much more seamless and user-friendly. Adobe has fully integrated AI into Photoshop and all of their other software. The generative features being the most useful. Everything from manipulating backgrounds and adding objects instantly to building three-D rigs in Blender and Unreal Engine. You can create entire cities within seconds.

WYHM: Thank you Bennett. We’re publishing this interview to encourage and empower other young creators to speak out and take a stand by using AI as a tool to create ethical and compelling content.

To join our team of student activists or learn more about engagement at “Will You Hear Me Now?” email us at info@willyouhearmenow.com. To contribute funds to help us with post-production and distribution of our film projects, please visit our GoFundMe and give what you can. To stay on top of our projects in real time, check back here often.