David Murakami Projection Designer

As an artist working within a fundamentally collaborative medium, I believe transparency and active communication are essential - particularly regarding an innovation as disruptive as Generative AI. As one of the first projection designers to fully integrate Generative AI into opera as early as 2022, including directing the first feature-length concert film generated by AI, I have advocated for the monumental opportunities this technology offers.

However, while Generative AI shares similarities with revolutionary innovations such as the printing press, assembly line, and even electronic computing itself, it demands a unique level of caution and scrutiny due to its emergent potential for misinformation, job displacement, and exploitation. In my practice, I cautiously employ AI as an extension of existing hiring and content creation processes - a powerful new tool in the hands of experienced artists, never a replacement for them. To address ethical concerns, we proactively train our own models to mitigate biases and verify that all generated imagery and video originate primarily from public domain sources or from individuals who have explicitly consented to their likeness or data being used.

Whenever AI is involved in a project, I insist upon a frank and extensive discussion among all parties to ensure the machine does not infringe upon what is, and must remain, fundamentally human, and I encourage anyone interested in discussing the opportunities and threats posed by AI to reach out to discuss further.

A scene from Portland Opera's Falstaff, created by carefully compositing outputs from SDXL, SD 1.5, Midjourney 7, Runway 4, and Firefly.

Christine Lahti's The Smile of You, using ControlNet MLSD to perfectly blend physical doors and windows with AI generated scenery.

Samples created using a custom trained LoRA AI Model, ensuring the provenance of content generated originated from Heian Period public domain sources, allowing us to create explore consistent variations in seconds...

...the final product: From the Towers of the Moon at Chapman University

Here, we utilized a 3-step process to create the organic bowels of the iconic Overlook Hotel. First, a 3D Artist created a pipe environment which matched the geometry of our scenery. Then, using Stable Diffusion 1.5 and ControlNet, we were able to leverage AI to morph our pipes into organic shapes. Finally, we hired a traditional photo editor to isolate elements and an animator to make the organic pipes come alive, pulsing and dilating...

...the final Product: The Shining at Atlanta Opera