How AI gives birth to a new team of prompt engineers in Indian cinema

Prasanth Varma

It's clear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay. On Friday, ChatGPT creator Sam Altman met PM Narendra Modi during the Digital India Dialogues in Delhi to discuss the potential of the revolutionary technology for India. Around the same time, Prasanth Varma, wrapped up work on his Telugu super-hero film, Hanu-Man, which could be the first Indian film to have flirted with AI tools using a techie they call prompt engineer. Varma tells mid-day that he first realised the power of AI and what it could do to help the film's team when he was designing the poster.

Now considered one of the most coveted tech jobs, prompt engineering refers to the task of training or talking to a generative AI tool like ChatGPT, Midjourney or Google Bard to get a result closest to what we envision. This, at the moment, is not always correct or appropriate, and until programmes get better at anticipating what users need, it's likely that prompt engineers will prove to be a vital link.

These posters for the Telugu super-hero film Hanu-Man were created when prompt engineers communicated with AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney

Varma and his team at the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe in Hyderabad used Midjourney, which generates images from natural language descriptions called "prompts", to design Hanu-Man's poster. The creative shows a man standing on a rock high up in the mountains, surrounded by a surreal yellow light. This precise and spectacular implementation prompted Varma to incorporate AI prompt engineers into his team to harness the power of AI technology.

Varma is no stranger to larger-than-life creations. He gained recognition in 2018 with his debut film Awe, a science fiction multi-genre film that received accolades, including National Awards for outstanding visual effects and make-up. He has since released the zombie comedy, Zombie Reddy, and sci-fi romance Adbhutham, both in 2021. But with Hanu-Man, Varma wants to credit AI and those working with it. "I have worked as a ghost writer on too many films. I was neither paid, nor credited," he says. "I want to create a talent pool that allows us to collaborate on AI."

The AI prompt engineer team at work at Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe in Hyderabad

Through an Instagram post, Varma had announced that he is hiring AI prompt engineers for his production team. "I started using Chat GPT and Midjourney when hardly anyone was here," he claims, "I remember chatting with Ram Gopal Varma about how scripting modules could change. Generative AI is the next big thing. There is no fighting it, so we might as well align with it. People are unhappy about the possibility of AI taking over their jobs and making them redundant. Instead, producers, creators and writers should see how it can aid our creative process."

After Hanu-Man, he has moved onto the second installment in the series, this one based on Lord Ram. A team has been formed headed by prompt engineer Rama Krishna, aka RK. RK, along with Varma, engages with advanced software applications including Midjourney, Dalle and ChatGPT4 to fine-tune the prompts, enabling them to generate superior content in exact line with their vision, and one that supports the work of writers and artistes.

For the film's poster, which depicts Hanu-man with an image of Ram and Sita in his heart, the prompts given were: "Imagine Hanuman-Indian Monkey God, kneeling with left leg lunging ahead, tearing open his chest; create a sepia toned palace courtyard; followed by an animated picture of Ram, Lakshman and Sita." These were then assembled on Adobe Firefly.

The role of a prompt engineer is then to act as a link between the illustrator or writer and the AI system involved. The collaborative process involves three teams: prompt engineers, writers, and the design team. The writer provides the content, the design team shares their work and requests adjustments or enhancements; and the prompt engineer team acts as intermediaries to communicate with the AI systems. RK quotes his idol, AI pioneer Eliezer Yudkowsky, when he says, "Anything that could give rise to smarter-than-human intelligence - in the form of Artificial Intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, or neuroscience-based human intelligence enhancement - wins hands down beyond contest as doing the most to change the world. Nothing else is even in the same league."

Varma is clear though, that the overall creative output will be enhanced not at the expense of writers and designers. "As creators, we should know how to talk to AI as well," says RK. This team will keep us updated about the latest trends in generative AI and how we can utilise them to improve the creative side of our work." Varma adds that the work of the AI team is not restricted to storytelling. "It starts there, but AI can aid almost every aspect of filmmaking. We are already using it extensively in animation, music, and writing. In fact, we created a character entirely using AI for Hanu-Man and then used 3D modelling to round off the final look. We are a traditional movie-making country. Despite the melodrama and dance numbers [in our films], I see technology aiding the process of crafting the narrative. AI will adapt faster to us than we will adapt to AI."

In fact, he wonders if a day will come when "you ask AI to play a movie with your favourite actor, in your favourite genre, directed by your favourite director, with your favourite music composer's score and… tada!"