Young Washington Augments 100 Shots With AI, Cutting Risk and Cost
Updated
Updated · Variety · Jul 2
Young Washington Augments 100 Shots With AI, Cutting Risk and Cost
2 articles · Updated · Variety · Jul 2
Summary
About 100 shots in “Young Washington” were augmented with generative AI, director Jon Erwin said, including a near-drowning river sequence built from a 50-foot pool in Ireland, actor close-ups and AI-generated wider shots.
Erwin said the tools let the production avoid exposing actors or stunt doubles to icy water while expanding a small filmed area into a larger frontier setting, making the scene safer and cheaper without leaving Ireland.
Five AI artists and an AI producer worked on uses including establishing shots, cannon-fire imagery and turning two employees into British soldiers in a scene missed during principal photography; crowd duplication still used traditional VFX.
The approach has drawn online criticism and comes as the film holds a 63% Rotten Tomatoes score, but Erwin argues some viewers are confusing conventional visual effects with AI and says cast buy-in depends on transparent communication.
Erwin, 44, frames AI as an extension of traditional filmmaking rather than a replacement, comparing it to the shift from film to digital cameras and arguing it could democratize scale and increase the number of projects Hollywood makes.