David Lynch is known for his surreal, dreamlike films that take viewers into strange and mysterious worlds. As an avid Lynch fan, I wanted to try capturing his in this MidJourney test. With the help of AI art generation and some creative editing, I was able to make a Lynchian animated video using just still images.
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with MidJourney, an AI system that creates stunning artwork and images using text prompts. I gave MidJourney prompts inspired by Lynch films like “Eraserhead” and “Mulholland Drive” and it generated eerie, atmospheric portraits and landscapes. I used MidJourney’s new zoom out feature to begin the blending process.
The next step was bringing these images to life. Using MidJourney’s new zoom and rotation animation feature, I zoomed and rotated the AI art to create the illusion of camera movements. I imported the short video clips into After Effects and edited them together into a surreal animated sequence.
To complete the David Lynch ambience, I added in the unsettling soundtrack from “Eraserhead” as well as some reversed police scanner audio I found online. Together, these elements create an ominous, dreamlike mood evocative of Lynch’s work.
The final video maintains the mystery and uneasy feeling of a Lynch film, transporting viewers into a strange world conjured by AI. Even working just with still images, the animation and audio come together to build an immersive, Kafkaesque experience.
From generating eerie portraits to animating them, MidJourney opened up Lynchian creative possibilities I never could have achieved on my own. Experimenting with new AI tools like MidJourney allows artists to bring their unique visions to life in fascinating ways.
Christopher lives in Vermont with his wife, twin boys, border collie and corgi. He has owned a film production company, sold slot machines, and worked for Tony Robbins. He writes in his magical tiny house and sometimes writes in his blog at chrisrodgers.blog
Visit his author’s page.