Uzair Merchant releases the 8th sin with AI collaboration

There is no denying that interactive AI has taken the world by storm and is slowly creeping into every aspect of our lives. However, the creative fields were the first to adopt it. Popular music producer and founder of bKreativ Productions and The Kreativ Lab in Vancouver, Uzair Merchant, or ‘Uzi,” as he is better known, has now produced the world’s first AI music video for the collaborative single ‘The 8th Sin’.
“This is a multi-dimensional project that explores the uncharted world of immortality through music and AI,” he says in an exclusive chat with the Sunday Guardian. “I used AI not as a replacement for human creativity but as a tool to enhance and build upon my original concept.”
He fed the footage he had filmed and directed for the music video into the AI system along with his script, storyline, and artwork. The system then refined this content to near-perfection, accomplishing a task that would have taken weeks in a matter of minutes.
The song itself contains elements of Arabic and Bollywood music fused with contemporary hip-hop beats and has been made by a collective of artists from around the world and produced in Vancouver, Canada, by bKreativ Productions and KRi8LABS. The list includes illustrious names like Qatari rapper Saad Al-Suwaidi, celebrity host/actor Abood Afro, Waleed Maisery, Qatar-based producer and manager Shannon K, who is a famed Indian-American actor/musician and daughter of the veteran playback singer Kumar Sanu, and Uzair Merchant, a filmmaker and renowned production designer in Hollywood.
Talking about the video, Merchant says, “As the music video unfolds and the visuals come to life, audiences are transported to a stunning futuristic realm unlike any other. It also pioneers the use of web3 platforms and creates communities for people using multiple art forms such as music videos, books, fashion, etc. in creating an eco-conscious space that allows artists to keep creating and sharing art within a community.
The video is a blend of reality and an alternate universe; it’s styled to look like a prequel opening to the game world.”
The filming was done in Doha and Los Angeles, and the video is therefore a fusion of East and West aimed at celebrating the beauty of diversity. According to Merchant, “It is a powerful reminder that art can inspire a world that is more inclusive, compassionate, and connected. The characters in the story will resonate with audiences from all walks of life. The filming was also done with sustainability in mind. We used solar energy for charging and put all our data into cloud services so we could limit the use of cables or externals plugged in during the shoot.”
An alumnus of Nottingham Trent and the New York Film Academy, Merchant has lived between Dubai, London, and New York and currently resides in Vancouver, Canada. He has over 14 years of experience in the film business, with projects that include Superman & Lois, The Misfits, Deadpool 2, Star Trek Beyond, Fast and Furious 7, Skyfall, and a number of TV series and commercials. His multi-franchise universe, the ‘Kri8verse,” is a culturally diverse platform that creates original content IPs that bridge traditional cinema with Web3, allowing the Middle East to merge the worlds of Hollywood and Bollywood.
“The song The 8th Sin has the same title as my next book. It is set in a retro-future world where a veteran scientist and operative, Mia, is forced to come out of hiding as she attempts to rescue her daughter Alex from an extremist group known as ‘The Family.” The eighth sin comes after the seven deadly sins, and it is the quest for immortality,” he says, narrating the story. Merchant is working on creating his own ‘Kreativ Universe,” quite like a Marvel universe, as part of which he launches content in phases. The books are usually combined with music videos. The 8th Sin is the second book in the series, accompanied by an Arabic and Bollywood hip-hop song.
“The concept for the video was taken from the script itself, blending culture with character. However, my process has been to reinvent how AI and VFX can add value to independent filmmakers. This is a whole new way of using AI to generate art. This is the future; it’s the best way to enhance our storytelling methods. I believe this is only the beginning of how artists will visualise their ideas without the lengthy and expensive process of animation and visual effects. The concept of the 8th Sin also fits well with the current dilemmas of using technology for change and keeping an ethical mind set for generations to come. We are spiritual beings having a human experience, and immortality breaks that chain. That’s what I hope to convey with this project,” says Merchant, signing off.
 
Noor Anand Chawla pens lifestyle articles for various publications and her blog, www.nooranandchawla.com.