Brent Bonacorso / MiseCreative · September 18, 2026
Brent Bonacorso Uses AI to Expand a Live-Action Shoot Instead of Replacing It
Little Black Book · Interview
What happened
Brent Bonacorso describes a recent automotive campaign whose concept required locations, extras and logistical scale the budget could not support. Rather than redesign the film around those limits, the production photographed the driving sequences, stunt work and human material, then used AI to create a small number of shots that supplied the missing scale and world-building. Bonacorso argues that knowledge of lenses, lighting, composition, optics, editing and storytelling matters more to good AI imagery than prompt tricks. He says he is already working on projects that combine conventionally photographed and generated material, and expects this hybrid model to become increasingly common.
Why it matters
This is a practical version of the hybrid workflow: concentrate production money where physical photography, stunt work and human performance matter most, then use AI selectively for shots that might otherwise disappear from the script because of economics. It preserves the qualities that gain from reality while opening up carefully chosen moments of scale, without pretending every image benefits from the same production method.
Antique Robots take
This is probably closer to the durable model than “generate the movie.” Shoot what gains something from reality: performances, cars, stunt work, physical light and actual interaction. Use AI where scale or logistics would otherwise kill the shot. Then judge the generated material by the same standard as everything else: does it survive the cut next to photography? If it doesn’t, it isn’t finished.