AI & Human Storytelling Case Study
Johnson & Johnson’s In Front of Cancer films needed to feel human, cinematic and truthful.
Filming across Belgium and the UK, including sanitised lab environments, meant some scenes needed to be captured with limited access, smaller crews, restricted lighting options and very little time in each location.
Rather than compromise the treatment for those scenes, we needed a solution that continued the lighting look our DOP had established across the films. To achieve this, we planned a targeted AI and VFX workflow for the restrictive scenes, augmenting what we captured on set with the latest relighting techniques.
We like to use AI to build on our own footage, not generate from scratch.
The tricky lab location still had to stay authentic. Generated lab imagery or invented details would not be acceptable in medical work. So the workflow began with our shot footage.
Access to the lab was extremely limited: one director, one DOP, one camera, one lens, no lights, and everything sanitised. So being able to relight those scenes, whilst preserving performance and everything else in our frame, became an incredibly useful creative tool.
Footage captured under real lab restrictions, with limited time, access and lighting control.
The same footage relit and shaped to bring it in line with the original visual intent.
We used a similar approach to solve several other practical problems.
Some shots needed light to move across walls, or time to pass in ways we could not capture in the schedule. We also had stock footage from Johnson & Johnson’s archive that needed to blend into the world of the film rather than feel like a separate source.
Using AI and VFX carefully, we could create those shifts in light and time, treat selected archive material, and keep the films feeling visually consistent throughout the edit.
The result is a set of films that keep the human story at the centre, while using new tools to remove production and creative limits. This was not about using AI to replace filming. It was about using it to help the filmed work reach the creative brief without losing its truth.
You can watch the final films below:
Real people, real places, smarter production.
We’re always looking at how new technologies can help us streamline production, solve creative problems and get better results. The tools are developing quickly, and the exciting part is finding the right ways to bring them into a real filmmaking workflow, making the work as strong as it can be.