Sora: First Impressions

We have gained valuable feedback from the creative community, helping us to improve our model.

Since we introduced Sora to the world last month, we’ve been working with visual artists, designers, creative directors and filmmakers to learn how Sora might aid in their creative process.

“Sora is at its most powerful when you’re not replicating the old but bringing to life new and impossible ideas we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to see.”

Paul Trillo, Director

While we have many improvements to make to Sora, we’re already getting a glimpse of how the model can help creatives bring ideas to reality.

“As great as Sora is at generating things that appear real - what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal.”

shy kids

Below are a few examples of the artists’ work, with early thoughts from them on how they see Sora fitting into their workflows and businesses.

shy kids – “Air Head”

Based in Toronto, shy kids are a multimedia production company who utilized Sora for their short film about a balloon man. “We now have the ability to expand on stories we once thought impossible,” shares the trio made up of Walter Woodman, Sidney Leeder and Patrick Cederberg. Walter, who directed Air Head, remarks that “as great as Sora is at generating things that appear real, what excites us is its ability to make things that are totally surreal. A new era of abstract expressionism.” Speaking to the wider industry, “people from all over the world with stories ready to burst out of their chests finally have the opportunity to show the world what’s inside.”

Paul Trillo, Director

Paul Trillo is a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, and director whose work has earned accolades from outlets like Rolling Stone and The New Yorker. Paul has garnered 19 Vimeo Staff Picks, an honor given to the best short films hosted on Vimeo. “Working with Sora is the first time I’ve felt unchained as a filmmaker,” he states. “Not restricted by time, money, other people’s permission, I can ideate and experiment in bold and exciting ways.” His experimental videos reflect this approach. “Sora is at its most powerful when you’re not replicating the old but bringing to life new and impossible ideas we would have otherwise never had the opportunity to see.”

Nik Kleverov, Creative Director / Native Foreign

Native Foreign is an Emmy-nominated creative agency from Los Angeles, California specializing in brand storytelling, motion and title design, and generative AI workflows. Co-Founder Nik Kleverov, who is using Sora “to visualize concepts and rapidly iterate on creative for brand partners,” suggests that budgetary restraints no longer have to entirely shape the narrative of creativity. “I’m one of those creatives that thinks in motion, so when I’m in Sora it really feels like I can bring any idea to life.”

August Kamp, Artist/Musician

August Kamp is a musician, researcher, creative activist and multidisciplinary artist. “Sora represents a real turning point for me as an artist whose scope has always been limited by imagination being at odds with means,” she explains. “Being able to build and iterate on cinematic visuals this intuitively has opened up categorically new lanes of artistry to me…I truly cannot wait to see what other forms of storytelling will come into reach with the future of these tools.”

Josephine Miller, Creative Director

Josephine Miller is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of London based Oraar Studio, specializing in the design of 3D visuals, augmented reality and digital fashion. “Sora has opened up the potential to bring to life ideas I’ve had for years, ideas that were previously technically impossible,” she states. “The ability to rapidly conceptualize at such a high level of quality is not only challenging my creative process but also helping me evolve in storytelling. It’s enabling me to translate my imagination with fewer technical constraints.”

Don Allen Stevenson III, Digital AR/XR Artist

Starting his career at DreamWorks Animation, Don Allen III is a multidisciplinary creator, speaker and consultant who collaborates with major tech and entertainment companies on mixed reality, virtual reality and AI applications. “For a long time I’ve been making augmented reality hybrid creatures that I think would be fun combinations in my head. Now I have a much easier way of prototyping the ideas before I fully build out the 3-D characters to place in spatial computers.” Don cites Sora’s “weirdness” as its greatest strength: “It’s not bound by traditional laws of physics or conventions of thought.” He says that working with Sora shifted his focus from “technical hurdles to pure creativity…unlocking a world of instant visualization and rapid prototyping.” At the same time, Don says “I feel like this allows me to focus more of my time and energy in the right places… and the emotional impact that I would like my characters to have.”

Alex Reben, Sculptor/Artist and OpenAI’s Artist In Residence

Alexander Reben is an artist who has spent the last decade creating work that explores the humor and absurdity of human nature in artificial intelligence. Alex has been creating sculptures that originate from AI-generated imagery, manually transforming those AI creations into 3D models materialized in the physical world. “My experience of using Sora was as a starting point to develop 3D sculpture. My thoughts drifted towards exploring the realm of photogrammetry and its potential applications to sculpture. The prospect of transforming video into 3D models intrigued me, as it hinted at propelling the AI system beyond its initial scope.”