Building Up Anytime and Always Studios
Studio Journal - Issue #1
Creative Brief - Voices in Transit - Portfolio Build
By A.A. Lopez
Ey, I Don't Have a Boss. Do I?
I'm not the biggest supporter of generative AI in the creative field. I don't see it as much more than something that takes away the hard work of other people and mashes it together to a marketable paste. Now do I think there is no market, or value to AI? No, I think it definitely has a space in certain areas, and for people who need certain help in avenues that they didn't realize they could use. After all I've had ChatGPT help me in learning how to code because I don't learn in the usual fashion.
When I was growing up I learned the Pythagorean theorem before I knew 1+1. Why? Because I had my brother and mom teach me them to me. I have always learned backwards. So using ChatGPT to tell me how to build a code let's me reverse engineer it and understand what the code means more than slowly building up from the annoying "hello, world" script that each language starts with. I'm not saying the traditional path isn't good, I'm saying it doesn't fit me.
Similarly, I tend to be more logical but I'm still a creative at the end of the day. I love to create, but I'm better at building up ideas or working off of them. Or I can give the idea, but I need help fleshing the ideas out more. For instance a few years ago I was working on putting together a horror anthology podcast, I had the format and idea, but I got some friends to be writers. I did my own script, but I was unable to maneuver it the same way as I was able to direct them.
So the hardest part is building a portfolio when you don't know what it is you want to do or how you want to go about it. This is where ChatGPT comes back into the conversation. After thinking on it for some time I decided to ask our little AI friend for the following prompt:
"Act as my creative director at a simulated job in a creative field (e.g., media production, advertising, content design). Assign me projects with realistic constraints: timelines ranging from a week to several months, varying stakeholder demands, and specific creative briefs.
For each assignment, provide:
The product or subject
The project goal
The target audience
The tone and style
The final deliverable format (e.g., video, blog, storyboard)
What assets are already available in-house (e.g., art, music, scripts)
The budget constraints (hypothetical, for planning)
Throughout the process, simulate real-world changes: stakeholder feedback, shifting priorities, scope creep, deadline moves, etc. At the end of each project, require me to package it as if submitting a real-world deliverable."
And it gave me an ad campaign for an anthology podcast focused on creepiness (so just up my alley). It did it best to give me a breakdown of what it was looking for and a schedule.
The goal was: a 60 second audio spot to tease the series and drive first week listens, with the ad also running on other fiction podcasts. Giving me the target audience, tone & style, as well as the expected deliverables. To be honest when I read through it it was just word soup, I didn't know how to really parse it. So I did what felt the most natural, utilize a new tool, Lucid.
My Own Crazy
Utilizing the textboxes and group mechanic of Lucid I put together this Creative Brief, a way for me to understand. Showing off the Product, the Target Audience, the Tone, the Budget, In House Resources; all in a way that was easy for my mind to comprehend. Then I was able to start asking questions.
Pictured at the bottom you can see them:
Option 1: A person goes to sit down on a bus and the person they sit next to what they're listening to and tells them about "Voices in Transit" and plays snippets a la The No Sleep S6 intro
Option 2: Two coworkers get ready to leave and one asks the other what they're listening to and talk about "Voices in Transit" but then ask "wait aren't we on route 88" with the bus driver coming up and cackling like the cryptkeeper
Option 3: Standard voice read of what the podcast is about
Each felt like a part of a story that could be told. Well 3 was just literally the boring safe version any stakeholder who just wants it done to have. Nonetheless, it did help me figure out which ideas to present back to my "boss" AI.
Arguing the Case
The stars show how they were received. Option 3 was in the top 2 originally, with option 2 being the best and considered to be better between them all. However, I did like option 1 the most and decided to fight for it. Citing reasons to go for it, such as, only requires one person so don't have to worry about scheduling, gives off an air of creepiness and directness, gives just enough of a free taste of what the show is about, and a bit of nostalgia for people who enjoyed the early days of podcasts.
It actually took 3 tries to get the AI to agree to it, but in the end I agreed to do two temp scripts for option 2 and 1 and let the one that felt more true to the series be the one with no ego to it.
From there once I finished both scripts and presented, 1 won out easily. Just had to refine it and now it is ready for the actual recording and will be put together...
What's Next
Well it would, but I'm actually going to be on vacation come this Friday. I won't be near my equipment that I would use to do any of this. I have a few ways around this. Use my brother's equipment when I'm home (depends on how he feels about it). Record on my phone and use very limited resources, like my low power laptop (which overheats playing youtube videos). Or old school route: tape cassette. Or the option I don't like, ask for an extension from robo-boss.
We'll just have to see what wins out, but I'm proud of how far I've gotten here. Honestly, I figured I'd just diddle around and pretend to work. Yet here's actual proof of what I'm capable of when I put even a pinky's worth of effort into something. Once I have this one done, I'll think I'll ask for another one to try out and build the portfolio more. After all who wouldn't want someone who can do this on only half a day's work?
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