Thread by @Stephen_Parker

Family

Today I would like to share this series of #dalle2 AI-generated images. (thread for detail and process)

The series uses an initial prompt:

"Brilliant 8K portraiture from the film [film title], featuring people wrapped in faded blue linen, standing in the desert, directed by Annie Leibovitz"

to generate starter portraits in Leibovitz style.

The prompt is not a secret incantation or anything, it's just a rough guess at a good starting point (after generating tens of thousands of images with Dalle).

I know that "Brilliant 8K" will somewhat inform the type of image I'll get back in terms of color detail, composition, etc. I know that I want the setup to be a film. I know that I want portraits.

I know that linen is one of Annie's superpowers. I know that if I describe the color and fade of the material something better will start to happen. I know that there will be lots of data of her shooting in similar desert environs.

Images are then generated en masse. I just keep pressing the "generate" button. Yes, I'm spending a lot to facilitate this process.

Once I have a large bank of images, I curate them (as you would in any directed scenario). Many are great or have lots of potential.

Next, is the step of "outpainting" selected images. This is the process where the square 1024x1024 image is extended on either side using Dalle's edit function. It's all about experimentation. At times I reprompt here with "right side of a portrait", etc.

As the process continues, I erase those elements from the composition that I dislike, and request additional generations ("inpainting") for those areas.

Eventually we have a wide composition that will work as a cinematic frame.

By this point, the face is long gone. I'm looking for faces that work together as a family (casting). No prompts at this point, I just see what Dalle wants to do.

After several generations I find her.

I make any needed changes to the overall composition (like the removal of two women in the background that popped into frame during an attempt to reshape some of the silhouette of the fabric).

Finally, the image is taken into Photoshop, where uniform cropping, additional color, and watermark removal occurs. I'm not trying to retouch the image to death. I like the imperfections and character of Dalle created images.

Eventually I find a family of five. Some more painterly. Some more photographic. I love them all.

These images allow me to experience a film that used to live only in my mind. I go there to watch new stories, to confront past traumas, to experience art. I make no claim to these images, these prompts, or this technology.

I hope that these images will inspire you to learn more about Annie Leibovitz, to think of family and friends, and look toward the visualization of your own dreams.