Kévin Mendiboure Creates CATACOMBES With 3,229 AI Generations in 1 Month
Updated
Updated · Creative Bloq · Jun 9
Kévin Mendiboure Creates CATACOMBES With 3,229 AI Generations in 1 Month
1 articles · Updated · Creative Bloq · Jun 9
Summary
3,229 image and video generations over 242 hours let Kévin Mendiboure finish AI short film CATACOMBES in one month, turning a sci-fi horror concept he had shelved for a decade into a completed project.
April 10, 2026 became the pivot point: after seeing Higgsfield’s Zephyr made with Seedance 2, he rewrote the idea as a short, saying earlier AI video tools still looked too artificial.
Seedance 2, Kling 3 and Higgsfield Cinema Studio were used in a workflow that still relied on traditional filmmaking steps—script, character sheets, sets, props, shot lists and start frames—before repeated prompting refined each shot.
Dialogue scenes proved harder than action because AI often broke continuity rules, forcing Mendiboure to edit while generating in order to keep reverse angles and character consistency intact.
Mendiboure argues AI will expand, not replace, cinema—creating a parallel creative lane for lower-budget filmmakers and potentially making photorealistic AI films hard to distinguish from live action within months.
Will AI truly democratize cinema, or just create new tech gatekeepers who control the tools of creation?
As AI filmmaking becomes standard, what human skills will become more valuable than ever before?
Breaking Barriers: CATACOMBES, 3,229 AI Generations, and the Dawn of Accessible Cinematic Storytelling
Overview
Kévin Mendiboure's *CATACOMBES* stands out as a groundbreaking achievement in AI-assisted filmmaking, marking a major milestone in the creative industry. The film showcases the evolving power of generative AI, positioning Mendiboure at the forefront of a cinematic revolution. Its creation required 242 hours of work in just one month, using an extensive array of AI tools to generate over 3,200 visual elements. This intensive use of AI highlights its efficiency in accelerating creative workflows, allowing for rapid exploration of visual ideas and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in modern filmmaking.