In a statement to Xtra, the film’s distributor, Bleecker Street, elaborated further: “AI tools were used by the VFX team to assist in three moments: to adjust the angle of the live action footage outside the windows to match the angle of the camera in one shot; and to format the CGI-crafted train onto 2 frames of live action footage exteriors. Traditional CGI was used, including for the train and the stormaganza, and hundreds of VFX artists were hired and paid for their work on the film.”
The magazine notes that Shankman spoke to them about AI usage before Shankman released his statement that “there are a sum total of ZERO shots conceived by AI in the movie,” which his most prominent critics called “intentionally vague.” Shankman and Bleeker Street’s comments confirm those critics’ points: In an unforced error, VFX shots used in the trailer featured inconsistencies in the train’s windows. Last week, post-production professional Gloria Cook pointed to the number of windows on the train as an example of AI usage, as well as the number of VFX compositors credited on the film (26), against how many CG artists (zero).
Even the most generous reads of this situation—that AI was a specific artistic choice used to heighten the comedy—don’t fit here. Shankman, at best, lied by omission to his followers about a production decision to cut costs and time. The director says that the film was shot in 19 days. “I did this sort of Orient Express-meets-Wes Anderson kind of vibe. For 10 dollars,” Shankman says. “It was just supposed to look super over the top and weird, but on a shoestring budget. We were working with string cheese, not brie.” The only way to get that “string cheese” vibe? AI-generated windows.
The problem, as Cook points out, is that genAI replaced a job that could’ve been filled by a queer artist, which, one would think, a queer film looking to attract queer audiences would be interested in doing. As a result, Shankman’s claim that he hopes the film “let off a little steam in this moment where we’re really having the shit beat out of us” comes off a little disingenuous, especially after he tried to skirt the issue. “For me, long-term success would look like years and years of people acknowledging this as queer canon, as a piece of queer comedy that we can feel good about,” he continues. He’s already on the wrong track.
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