writer · director · engineer usc film mfa | ex-blackrock films & frontier tech. sometimes both.
Los Angeles
Joined July 2020
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AI filmmaking is too cinematic.
Dramatic lighting. Epic camera movements. Perfect compositions.
We can generate shots that look like they belong in a $100 million blockbuster, but it still feels like something is missing.
If every shot is spectacular, none of them are.
The most important thing I learned in film school wasn't how to make a beautiful shot.
It was visual structure.
Why one shot follows another. Why you hold on a face. Why you choose not to move the camera.
The deliberate choices a director makes with their collaborators to make an audience feel something.
As AI makes creating beautiful images frictionless, understanding these choices becomes more important than ever.
So for the next 30 days, I'm breaking down the principles of visual storytelling and exploring how they apply to AI filmmaking.
One concept. One visual experiment. Every day.
THE WAR ON "CINEMATIC."
Day 1 drops today: Affinity vs. Contrast.
Follow along for all 30.
“Do you trust me?”
She looks at you, waiting for your answer.
Same woman. Same chair. The light moved from one side of her face to the other.
Which one makes you hesitate?
DAY 11/30: THE SHADOW SIDE
Left: light falls on the cheek facing us. More of her face is illuminated. It appears broader and flatter.
Right: light catches the far cheek. Shadow spreads from her nose across the cheek, emphasizing the contours of her face.
The setup on the right creates a sense of depth by shooting into the shadow side.
Light on one side of the actor’s eyeline, the camera on the other. A familiar shortcut to looking “cinematic.”
But a sculpted face doesn’t automatically tell a better story.
She’s asking for our trust. The lighting shapes how willing we are to give it.
Day 12 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
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Day 9: Hitchcock's Bomb
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2120…
DAY 9/30: HITCHCOCK’S BOMB
Who knows more?
The characters, the audience, or both.
1: They’ve seen something. We haven’t. What made them turn?
2: We see the bus. They don’t. We want to shout at the screen.
3: We see it. They see it. Can they get out of the way?
Hitchcock chose the second one whenever he could. He explained it with a bomb under a table: if it goes off without warning, the audience gets fifteen seconds of shock. Show them the bomb first, and the same dull conversation holds them for fifteen minutes.
The bus is the bomb. Their conversation becomes a delay. We want them to stop talking and turn around.
Tension lives in the gap between what we know and what they know.
Sequences are "cinematic" when each frame controls what the audience knows, and when.
Try this:
- Pause a scene. Do you know more than the character, the same, or less?
- Keep watching. Find the shot that changes the answer.
- Notice how what you’re waiting for changes with it.
Day 10 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
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“Cinematic” is the new default.
- Center the face.
- Blur the background.
- Slow camera push-in.
- High-contrast lighting.
A Director starts with questions instead:
- Whose scene is it?
- What's the conflict?
- Is the audience a participant or a witness?
- How should they feel about the character?
The defaults make a frame look expensive. A bunch of expensive frames next to each other lose meaning.
The story questions make it mean something.
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I'm exploring these directorial choices in The War on “Cinematic” -- 30 days of visual storytelling ideas.
Start here:
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2117…
AI filmmaking is too cinematic.
Dramatic lighting. Epic camera movements. Perfect compositions.
We can generate shots that look like they belong in a $100 million blockbuster, but it still feels like something is missing.
If every shot is spectacular, none of them are.
The most important thing I learned in film school wasn't how to make a beautiful shot.
It was visual structure.
Why one shot follows another. Why you hold on a face. Why you choose not to move the camera.
The deliberate choices a director makes with their collaborators to make an audience feel something.
As AI makes creating beautiful images frictionless, understanding these choices becomes more important than ever.
So for the next 30 days, I'm breaking down the principles of visual storytelling and exploring how they apply to AI filmmaking.
One concept. One visual experiment. Every day.
THE WAR ON "CINEMATIC."
Day 1 drops today: Affinity vs. Contrast.
Follow along for all 30.
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145
He’s the same distance behind her in both frames.
DAY 10/30: AMBIGUOUS SPACE
An empty road. A man behind.
Depth helps the audience judge where things are in relation to each other.
Top: the road narrows, the fence posts shrink. We can place him in the landscape.
Bottom: fog hides the road, the fence, and the ground beneath his feet. His silhouette remains. The distance becomes harder to judge.
Same road. Same two people. Only the air changes.
The converging edges, shrinking fence posts, and his contact with the ground are depth cues.
On a 2D screen they create the illusion of depth and allow the audience to understand the space, distance and size.
The fog takes away those cues. We can still see him. We’ve lost our bearings around him.
The uncertainty adds tension before he does anything.
Keep the threat visible. Take away the audience’s ability to place it.
Try this:
- Next time you want to raise tension in a scene, look at the space.
- Obscure a depth cue through something happening in the scene: fog rolling in, a light going out, smoke filling a room.
Day 11 tomorrow. Follow along for a daily note on visual structure through 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
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I shot this music video alone in 6 hours.
$200 in locations. Four lights. Seven seconds of AI transitions.
I directed, shot, lit, and edited everything myself.
Here’s the hybrid production workflow behind it, plus an old-school music video trick worth stealing.
1. Start with the story, not the tools.
Same Old Things, satirizes the desire to be cool.
So I built the video around two worlds: his mundane day job and the glamorous life he imagines.
Every transition takes us between them.
2. Plan the transitions BEFORE shooting.
I opened Kling before I picked up a camera.
I studied the transitions it could create, chose the start and end frames, then designed my shots around those frames.
Rather than asking AI to shoot for me or fix what I'd shot, I shot for what I knew it could do well.
3. Spend money on what's in front of the camera.
Two LA locations: a garage for his day job and a multi-set photo studio for his fantasy. 3 hours each.
Total location cost: $200.
The studio gave me several distinct looks without traveling between locations.
4. Make the lighting and camera work for you.
I controlled four Amaran RGB tube lights from my phone, changing color and intensity without running between stands.
Not quite a gaffer, but close enough when you’re alone.
The FX3’s higher base ISO helped in the darker setups.
5. Lean into the post tools.
Final Cut Pro for the edit.
@Kling_ai for transitions beginning at 00:42.
Nano Banana for the ending.
Each Kling transition connects two real frames I shot. Planning those endpoints gave me something specific to build in post.
6. BONUS: The slow-motion lip-sync trick.
Ever wonder how musicians sing perfectly in sync while everything moves in slow motion?
Here's one way it's done:
- Play the song at 2x speed on set.
- Have the performer lip-sync to that faster playback.
- Shoot at 48 fps.
- Play the footage back at 24 fps against the original song.
The lips sync at normal speed, while the movement has that dreamy, slowed-down quality.
This is what excites me about hybrid production.
The shoot is still the foundation.
The tools expand what one filmmaker can pull off.
Music: Same Old Things by Sid Kara.
instagram.com/sidkara.music/
Rishi Kara retweeted
DAY 7/30: EYELINE
Lie to me.
The eyeline decides whether the audience is a witness or a participant.
Top: she looks at him. We watch her sell it.
Middle: just beside the lens. We’re almost him.
Bottom: into the lens. Now she’s selling it to us.
Same face. Same smile. Same moment. Only her eyeline moved.
In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter speaks almost directly into the camera. He’s talking to the FBI agent across from him, but we feel like we’re the ones being examined.
A close-up shows us a face. The eyeline makes us feel what it’s like to face that person.
Try this:
- Establish the listener in a wide or over-the-shoulder.
- On the line that matters, cut close. Bring the speaker’s eyeline toward the lens.
- We know who they’re talking to. Now we’re in that person’s place.
Day 8 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
Media people overestimate how complex technology is.
Tech people underestimate how complex story is.
Discussing new media talent with @tdoggyholhol:
Is it easier to take a technical person and teach them new media, or take a new media person and teach them technology?
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DAY 9/30: HITCHCOCK’S BOMB
Who knows more?
The characters, the audience, or both.
1: They’ve seen something. We haven’t. What made them turn?
2: We see the bus. They don’t. We want to shout at the screen.
3: We see it. They see it. Can they get out of the way?
Hitchcock chose the second one whenever he could. He explained it with a bomb under a table: if it goes off without warning, the audience gets fifteen seconds of shock. Show them the bomb first, and the same dull conversation holds them for fifteen minutes.
The bus is the bomb. Their conversation becomes a delay. We want them to stop talking and turn around.
Tension lives in the gap between what we know and what they know.
Sequences are "cinematic" when each frame controls what the audience knows, and when.
Try this:
- Pause a scene. Do you know more than the character, the same, or less?
- Keep watching. Find the shot that changes the answer.
- Notice how what you’re waiting for changes with it.
Day 10 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
Day 8: Foreground
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2119…
DAY 8/30: FOREGROUND
A late-night call. Who’s that smile for?
The foreground decides whether we’re invited into a scene.
Same phone call. Same smile. We go from sharing the call to eavesdropping.
Top: a clear view. We’re with her.
Middle: a counter between us. We’re watching.
Bottom: a doorway around her. Now we’re peeking in.
Wong Kar-wai shot In the Mood for Love through doorframes, window bars, curtains, the edge of a wall. The audience is close enough to see the couple, but never invited in.
A “cinematic” frame puts something in the foreground for depth.
A director puts it there to tell the audience if their presence is invited.
Try this:
- Start a conversation with something between us and the characters.
- On the first honest line, cut to a clean view.
- Let the audience in when the character lets someone in.
Day 9 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
20
DAY 8/30: FOREGROUND
A late-night call. Who’s that smile for?
The foreground decides whether we’re invited into a scene.
Same phone call. Same smile. We go from sharing the call to eavesdropping.
Top: a clear view. We’re with her.
Middle: a counter between us. We’re watching.
Bottom: a doorway around her. Now we’re peeking in.
Wong Kar-wai shot In the Mood for Love through doorframes, window bars, curtains, the edge of a wall. The audience is close enough to see the couple, but never invited in.
A “cinematic” frame puts something in the foreground for depth.
A director puts it there to tell the audience if their presence is invited.
Try this:
- Start a conversation with something between us and the characters.
- On the first honest line, cut to a clean view.
- Let the audience in when the character lets someone in.
Day 9 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
Day 7: Eyeline
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2119…
DAY 7/30: EYELINE
Lie to me.
The eyeline decides whether the audience is a witness or a participant.
Top: she looks at him. We watch her sell it.
Middle: just beside the lens. We’re almost him.
Bottom: into the lens. Now she’s selling it to us.
Same face. Same smile. Same moment. Only her eyeline moved.
In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter speaks almost directly into the camera. He’s talking to the FBI agent across from him, but we feel like we’re the ones being examined.
A close-up shows us a face. The eyeline makes us feel what it’s like to face that person.
Try this:
- Establish the listener in a wide or over-the-shoulder.
- On the line that matters, cut close. Bring the speaker’s eyeline toward the lens.
- We know who they’re talking to. Now we’re in that person’s place.
Day 8 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
23
DAY 7/30: EYELINE
Lie to me.
The eyeline decides whether the audience is a witness or a participant.
Top: she looks at him. We watch her sell it.
Middle: just beside the lens. We’re almost him.
Bottom: into the lens. Now she’s selling it to us.
Same face. Same smile. Same moment. Only her eyeline moved.
In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter speaks almost directly into the camera. He’s talking to the FBI agent across from him, but we feel like we’re the ones being examined.
A close-up shows us a face. The eyeline makes us feel what it’s like to face that person.
Try this:
- Establish the listener in a wide or over-the-shoulder.
- On the line that matters, cut close. Bring the speaker’s eyeline toward the lens.
- We know who they’re talking to. Now we’re in that person’s place.
Day 8 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30 days of The War On “Cinematic.”
DAY 6/30: HITCHCOCK’S RULE: SIZE
Thanksgiving dinner. An empty chair.
The biggest thing in the frame is what the scene is about.
Small chair: it sits at the far end of the table. We follow the conversation, the faces, the passing food. The chair is a detail. Maybe someone’s just late.
Large chair: the chair fills the foreground. We look through it to reach the family. Now the whole dinner is happening around someone who isn’t there.
Hitchcock’s rule: the size of something in the frame reflects its importance to the story at that moment.
This tells us where to put the camera.
An object can sit quietly in the background for several shots, then dominate the frame when its meaning becomes important.
“Cinematic” starts with knowing what matters in the story, and when.
Try this:
- Pause a scene next time you’re watching a movie.
- Notice the size of faces and objects. What is the frame telling you matters most?
- Now watch the next shot. What changes?
Day 7 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30.
New to The War on "Cinematic"?
Start here:
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2117…
AI filmmaking is too cinematic.
Dramatic lighting. Epic camera movements. Perfect compositions.
We can generate shots that look like they belong in a $100 million blockbuster, but it still feels like something is missing.
If every shot is spectacular, none of them are.
The most important thing I learned in film school wasn't how to make a beautiful shot.
It was visual structure.
Why one shot follows another. Why you hold on a face. Why you choose not to move the camera.
The deliberate choices a director makes with their collaborators to make an audience feel something.
As AI makes creating beautiful images frictionless, understanding these choices becomes more important than ever.
So for the next 30 days, I'm breaking down the principles of visual storytelling and exploring how they apply to AI filmmaking.
One concept. One visual experiment. Every day.
THE WAR ON "CINEMATIC."
Day 1 drops today: Affinity vs. Contrast.
Follow along for all 30.
1
1
349
Day 6/30: Hitchcock's Rule - Size
teapawt.org/rishikara_/status/2119…
DAY 6/30: HITCHCOCK’S RULE: SIZE
Thanksgiving dinner. An empty chair.
The biggest thing in the frame is what the scene is about.
Small chair: it sits at the far end of the table. We follow the conversation, the faces, the passing food. The chair is a detail. Maybe someone’s just late.
Large chair: the chair fills the foreground. We look through it to reach the family. Now the whole dinner is happening around someone who isn’t there.
Hitchcock’s rule: the size of something in the frame reflects its importance to the story at that moment.
This tells us where to put the camera.
An object can sit quietly in the background for several shots, then dominate the frame when its meaning becomes important.
“Cinematic” starts with knowing what matters in the story, and when.
Try this:
- Pause a scene next time you’re watching a movie.
- Notice the size of faces and objects. What is the frame telling you matters most?
- Now watch the next shot. What changes?
Day 7 tomorrow. Follow along for all 30.
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Quitting my job wasn't the scary part.
I left a secure career at BlackRock in my 30s to go to film school and tell stories.
Walking away from the golden handcuffs was surprisingly easy. I was high on adrenaline and everyone telling me how “brave” I was.
The scary part came later.
The constant uncertainty. Not knowing where the next paycheck would come from. Missing the dinners, the travel, the freedom to buy things without thinking twice.
I desperately wanted that comfort back.
Then I remember the Sunday scaries I'd have. The existential dread that no fancy dinner on the Upper East Side, no summer trip to Europe could cure.
And slowly, I started to enjoy being scared.
I used to be afraid I would spend my life doing something I didn't love.
Now I'm afraid I won't succeed at the thing I do.
I'm scared as hell.
But at least now I'm scared of failing at something I actually want.
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