Michael Conti Productions

Category: Documentary

  • Looking for AI Tools for Filmmakers?

    Looking for AI Tools for Filmmakers?

    Harness the Power of AI Tools for Enhanced Creativity and Efficiency

    While ChatGPT is getting a lot of attention and generating a high level of interest, AI has been quietly supporting filmmakers with familiar AI tools for filmmakers like Adobe Creative Cloud Products. These tools, specifically the Essential Tools in Premiere Pro, help with color correction, audio editing, and transcription work. Artificial Intelligence is bringing a revolutionary change to the film industry by introducing advanced technology in various aspects of filmmaking.

    Comprehensive selection of AI tools for Filmmakers

    The primary reason to use this list of AI tools for filmmakers is to provide filmmakers and video content creators with a comprehensive selection of tools that utilize artificial intelligence technology. These tools can enhance various aspects of the filmmaking process, such as video editing, audio post-production, color correction, image enhancement, audience insights, and more. By leveraging AI tools, filmmakers can streamline their workflows, improve the quality of their content, and save time and effort in the production process. Ultimately, the goal is to empower filmmakers with cutting-edge AI technology to unleash their creativity and achieve their artistic vision.

    How did filmmakers get here?

    AI tools for filmmakers
    AI Tools for Filmmakers – What is coming for production?

    ChatGPT, the cutting-edge AI by OpenAI, has attracted significant attention and captivated audiences worldwide. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that AI has quietly been shaping the industry for quite some time. Adobe Creative Cloud Products, which include essential tools in Premiere Pro, have been adopting AI techniques to enhance color grading, audio editing, and transcription tasks. Filmmakers now have access to a wide range of AI-powered functionalities that streamline their workflow and elevate the quality of their productions. The film industry continues to embrace AI innovations and leveraging them to create captivating visual experiences for audiences.

    I have also been using Descript since July 2020 as a tool to write a script, and then listen to how it sounds before committing to an actual voice-over. This form of audio overdubbing has been incredibly helpful for projects where there is a technically training involved and script keeps changing. It was also great for creating machine transcriptions and captions before Adobe Premiere added that same feature.

    What is coming next as AI tools for filmmakers?

    Imagine my happy surprise to see an even greater list being compiled with even more resources. I’m not recommending any of these services by listing them here, just cataloging them as a share from another resource.

    Per The D-Word on YouTube video, I found the following list which is constantly evolving. I highly recommend taking the time to watch this video as it offers valuable insights and a fresh take on the subject.

    Boost Your Creativity and Efficiency with These AI-Powered Solutions

    Here’s the list of AI tools for filmmakers along with their names, URLs, and descriptions:

    1. Recraft
    2. PolyCam
    3. Auphonic
    4. Altered
    5. Eleven Labs
    6. Adobe Premiere
    7. Cascadeur
    8. Morphcast
    9. Timebolt
    10. Neutron
    11. Trint
    12. Kive
    13. BlenderGPT
    14. Blender Chat Companion
    15. Colour Lab
    16. Fylm
    17. Wonder Dynamics
    18. Adobe After Effects
    19. Cinelytic
    20. Runway
    21. Topaz Labs
    22. Luminar
    23. MidJourney
    24. Stable Diffusion
    25. Dall-E
    26. Adobe Firefly
    27. Lexica
    28. Largo
    29. QLOO
    30. Vault AI
    31. Flawless

    Please feel free to leave your valuable recommendations and suggestions in the comments section located right below this text. Your input is highly appreciated and will be taken into consideration. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

  • The Unruly Mystic

    The Unruly Mystic

    The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard von Bingen ~ An inspirational documentary of how the filmmaker reaffirms his life’s work when he fell in love with a 12th century Saint.

    Poster of The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard
    Poster of The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard

    Discover why Saint Hildegard von Bingen is considered to be the patron saint of creativity, and about her continued impact today. This 12th-century abbess became famous as a Christian Mystic and visionary, as well as a musical composer and writer, and whose natural medicine is still practiced in Europe today

    People ask me how I came to make a documentary about Saint Hildegard of Bingen. It all started two years ago when I decided to take my first ever pilgrimage to the Rhineland. I took a 10 day retreat which was billed as a Birthing Vision, coinciding with spring equinox in the Rhineland, and the opportunity to immerse into the Light and Greening Power of Hildegard. The result of that retreat was for me the start of a film entitled The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard which is a prescriptive documentary of how I as the filmmaker reaffirms my life’s work when I fell in love with a 12th century Saint.  It is a journey that has now taken me to Germany several more times, and given me to the opportunity to meet artists, writers, musicians, theologians and doctors around the world that have found their life changed by Saint Hildegard.

    Included are other insightful interviews with Benedictine Sr. Lydia from the Abbey of St. Hildegard, Germany; Professor Beverly Mayne Kienzle at the Harvard Divinity School; Lynn Maxwell, a world-class mezzo soprano on her one-woman Hildegard show; Doctor Wighard Strelow’s healing work at the Hildegard Center in Allen Bach, Germany; and American Episcopal priest and theologian Matthew Fox.

    For me, Saint Hildegard of Bingen evokes a calling, that sweet spot of creativity that we all yearn to play in, which is also spiritual in nature. The film reveals how she is still venerated for her widely recognized impact on today’s theologians, artists, musicians, doctors and educators.

    She is indeed the unruly mystic. Her story, invites us all to embrace the connection between God, Nature and Art. This is the story of a powerful muse who invites us to create magic in our own lives by letting the ordinary touch the divine.

    It has been an amazing birthing process these past two years when I first took that pilgrimage, and now with the film’s birth, there is another journey about to begin for me in screening and promoting the film’s message.

    https://youtu.be/8AVNBelF5Pg

    Available on Amazon:
    The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard of Bingen

  • Colorado Pollinator Highway gets buzzing!

    Colorado Pollinator Highway gets buzzing!

    Colorado’s Pollinator Highway

    An unanimous Joint House Resolution named Interstate 76 from Denver to the Nebraska state line the Colorado Pollinator Highway. Now, the Colorado Department of Transportation is starting the work to get the highway to live up to all that buzz.

    Obtain the education you need to know about Colorado’s Pollinator Highway.

    A Michael Conti Video Productions was contracted to initiate filming activities associated with the establishment of the pollinator highway. This process took over six months in order to cover two planting seasons, one in the spring and the other in the fall. After which, the editing process commenced in order to have three CDOT approved videos to share with the public.

    pollinator highway
    CDOT Pollinator Highway Discussion

    New CDOT Pollinator Videos and Plan

    The CDOT Headquarters Landscape Architecture Section (CDOT HQ LA Section) is pleased to provide three new Pollinator Program elements. The CDOT HQ LA Section exists within the CDOT Environmental Programs Branch to provide technical training and landscape architectural expertise for a variety of project and program needs including roadside restoration and native revegetation, stormwater management, visual impact analysis, specifications, erosion control, and statewide regional environmental design and planning support.  

    Please visit for more at: CDOT

    How it All Started with the Pollinator Highway

    All of this started with a 2014 presidential memorandum encouraging departments of transportation to “identify opportunities to increase pollinator habitat along roadways and implement improvements, as appropriate.”

    I-76 was chosen because it is a federal highway that runs through environmentally sensitive areas like the eastern plains, where agriculture is one of the primary economic drivers. It is also a key area for migratory butterflies.

    “Pollinators are vital to our ecology, our economy and our industry,” said Carol Parr, regional environmental manager for CDOT. “It just takes a small shift in how we regularly do our work to help provide an environment where they can thrive.”

    One of those shifts involves mowing. Crews will still mow the grass 15 feet from the roadway, but during the main pollinator months (April to September), the other grassy areas will not be mowed.

    Managing noxious weeds will also be more specialized along the corridor. In fact, CDOT will have a roadside manager for the corridor, who will also oversee the statewide vegetation management program. That program will promote genetically appropriate plants that support self-sustaining dynamic ecosystems, which are resistant to invasion by non-native or invasive species.

    “While I-76 is our designated corridor, we fully expect to take lessons learned here to other areas of the state where we can assist with pollinators,” Parr said.

    CDOT is also partnering with several other groups, like the Butterfly Pavilion, Colorado Pollinator Network and People Pollinators Action Network, to assist with mapping of existing roadside habitat, and helping to restore and improve those habitats.

    https://www.codot.gov/news/2018/july/i-76-is-buzzing-about-new-pollinator-highway-designation-1

    Here are some pollinators in Colorado:

    • Bees: Colorado has 946 species of native bees
    • Butterflies: Colorado has 250 species of butterflies
    • Moths: Colorado has over 1000 species of moths
    • Hummingbirds: Colorado has 11 species of migrating hummingbirds that arrive in April and usually leave in September
    • Beetles: Beetles are among the pollinators keeping nature vibrant
    • Bats: Bats are important pollinators
    • Flies: Flies are important pollinators
    • Ants: Ants are important pollinators
    • Birds: Birds are important pollinators
    • Plants: Some great pollinator plants for Colorado include indigo bush, antelope-horns milkweed, purple poppy mallow, white prairie clover, narrow-leaf coneflower, and Indian blanket

    To make a beneficial pollinator garden, To make a beneficial pollinator garden, you need a water source, a sunny area with windbreaks, and a garden that offers year-round blooms for pollinators to visit. Native Colorado flowers are great for native bees, and non-native flowers like sage will be smothered in bees come midsummer.

    Pollinator Highway
    Backyard pollinators