MUMBAI SECRETS - A LOOK AT How AI Is RE-INVENTING CONTENT THROUGH VERTICALS & Changing Film Production Workflows (Copy)

Depicting an engaging first shot of this busy and colourful Mumbai street scene in a custom AI workflow was a challenge

The Goal

Vertical dramas are growing in popularity. In this first episode of an emerging love story, set in Mumbai, I wanted to see if the vertical format gave me a different set of problems compared to creating something in the usual 16:9 format. Personally, the 9:16 vertical format is a challenge, I find that I always want to know what is outside of the frame. Would the format cause more headaches than anticipated? There was only one way to find out! There is no denying that this format is taking off hugely and it will be exciting to see how the space develops.

The Process

I started with the first shot, the aerial shot of the Mumbai street. It was surprisingly difficult. TukTuks were going backwards, people were morphing and disappearing. I tried Runway, Kling and VEO, multiple times before getting the result that I wanted.

The girl on the bed was challenging in respect to keeping her looking consistent. I was happy enough with the composition, the lighting and the mood of the scene, content appearance and movement was proving to be challenging. Mid 2025 was when I created this piece and the multi-modal references that we now have in Kling Omni, for example, just didn’t exist at the time. 

One shot that I did quite easily was the close-up of the phone as the girl is typing. I did a screen capture of my own phone as I typed the message, then comped it in using Fusion. Some things are just easier to the old-fashioned way and it’s always great to be able to dive back into my old tool-set!

The Takeaway

The most challenging aspects of the shots was getting the camera positioned exactly where it needed to be in such a small room. There was a couple of shots that required an old-school comping approach to get that first frame. If I did those same shots now it would be a whole lot easier to get the camera precisely where I wanted it. The result? .. I am super excited about the possibilities and creative freedom that this formnat gives, so many more storytellers and creatives will be able to be part of the process and it will be exciting to watch the work develop.