For a Rome AI Festival entry, name every AI tool you used and explain what you used it for. Pair the list with a 100–300 word process statement that describes how the tools shaped the film. A reader should be able to connect each tool to a stage of production and understand the creative decisions the team made. See the RAIF entry rules for the current requirements.
Make a tool log while you work
Start with four columns: tool and model if known, production stage, what it generated or changed, and where the result appears in the finished film. For a tool used in research or discarded tests, mark that clearly so the reviewer can distinguish experiments from final material.
Ask each collaborator for their tools before you submit. A film might pass through a writer’s outline, a compositor’s plate cleanup and a sound editor’s vocal restoration. The director may only have seen the middle step. Record versions where available and keep your own notes about any permissions or source material.
Example: one shot, three different roles
Imagine a fictional hybrid short in which a character waits in a flooded train station. An honest tool list could look like this. Replace the placeholders with the actual product and model names you used.
- [Image tool and model] · Art direction: Generated concept studies for the flooded station. The studies informed the colour palette, and the crew built and filmed the foreground set.
- [Video tool and model] · Effects: Animated distant reflections for two wide shots. The compositor masked the generated material behind the live-action performer and matched the grain and exposure.
- [Audio tool] · Dialogue edit: Reduced background hum in the location recording. The actor performed the dialogue, and the sound editor kept the pauses and breaths from the selected take.
Use the statement to explain your choices
Organise your process statement around a problem the film needed to solve. In this example, the crew wanted the station to feel physically real where the actor touched the set. They used practical water and lighting in the foreground, then generated distant movement to extend the location. Explaining why the crew drew that line tells a reviewer more about the production than a list of model names alone.
Before sending, read the statement next to your credits and the finished cut. Use concrete verbs such as generated, animated, composited, restored and edited. If AI helped create a voice, likeness, image or piece of music, say how it was used and verify you have the necessary clearances for the material you submit.
See how AI can enter different stages of filmmaking, or follow the free RAIF entry checklist once your tool list is ready.