Week 3: Making the Final Artefact
My speculative design project is driven by the question:
What if our dreams could be streamed on OTT platforms—would this become a form of creative freedom or another form of entertainment capitalism?
In Week 3, I focused on producing the final artefact, a two-minute short film set in the year 2062. In this speculative future, people stream their dreams to OTT platforms in exchange for fame and money. However, if a dream receives no viewers for thirty days, the dreamer becomes permanently trapped within that dream. The imagined audience within this world is primarily consumers, whose attention determines value, success, and survival.
I began by finalising the script, which was developed using my original concept with generative assistance from ChatGPT and Claude. I used these tools as collaborators to explore narrative possibilities, refine structure, and sharpen the speculative premise, while maintaining creative control over the final outcome. The script was intentionally minimal and suggestive, allowing the speculative idea to remain open-ended rather than fully resolved.
I then created a storyboard to translate abstract themes such as dreams, visibility, and neglect into visual sequences. This step was essential when working with AI-generated video, as it helped clarify composition, pacing, and emotional flow. The storyboard guided the prompt-writing process and ensured consistency across scenes.
The film was produced using Flow AI, generating video clips through prompt-based experimentation. This process involved significant iteration, as AI outputs were often unpredictable. Rather than seeing this as a limitation, I embraced it as part of the speculative process. The lack of full control over the visuals mirrors the film’s theme of platform-driven systems shaping personal expression and creative labour.
https://vimeo.com/1147231872?fl=ip&fe=ec
The final film is silent, supported only by sound design and background score. This choice was deliberate, allowing viewers to absorb the emotional atmosphere without dialogue. Sound functions to suggest intimacy, tension, and unease, encouraging the audience to reflect rather than be guided by explicit explanation.
https://vimeo.com/1146506040?fl=ip&fe=ec
Alongside the film, I also created a series of speculative posters that function as promotional material within the imagined world. These posters mimic OTT marketing aesthetics, reinforcing the idea of dreams as commodified content and extending the speculative narrative beyond the film itself.
