The very utterance of the word Palakkad brings to mind images of verdant fields set against the backdrop of the majestic Western Ghats. Now, adding a fantastical spin to this otherwise quaint setting is a recent video doing rounds on the internet — of Dinomukku, an imaginary village in Palakkad where people co-exist harmoniously with dinosaurs.
Just a few seconds into the nearly 1.25-minute video, we see an aerial shot of a large horde of dinosaurs slowly making their way across a large field. Next to them are humans, wandering about without a care in the world, highlighting the harmony.
The video explains that dinosaurs “were among the first creatures to be domesticated by humans.” They are mostly gentle and are reared for their eggs and meat, we soon learn as subsequent shots reveal a woman fixing fodder for a young dinosaur in her backyard, a man clad in a lungi carrying a giant dinosaur egg on his head, and shops selling dinosaur items.
The entire video is shot in the format of Doordarshan’s classic show Krishi Darshan, which, in ways of its own, lends some familiarity to what is otherwise a very far-fetched idea. Keeping true to the format, we have an AI-made character, Manoharan, narrating his experience of dinosaur farming.
“It is an easy and highly profitable form of agriculture,” he is seen saying, adding, “In a year, we yield around 300 eggs from dinosaurs.” This shot is followed by that of a large pan set up in a marketplace wherein a dinosaur egg omelette is sizzling to perfection.
One more AI-made character shows up — Madhavan. He tells us that “we must provide enough feed and water to dinosaurs. Or else, they will make loud grunts and show signs of stress.” But this warning is, if you will, overwhelmed by shots of candid interactions between people and these creatues, most notably of a dinosaur playing football with kids, and a boy kissing a dinosaur.
The now-lauded video is the brainchild of The Storytellers Union, a group of six aspiring filmmakers hoping to make it big in cinema. Their journey, which began with short films, has since expanded to advertisements, music videos and similar entertainment content. AI is the latest on their anvil.
“We are friends or friends of friends, and we all harboured a dream of working in cinema since our college days. That is how we got into video production. We initially started out as freelancers. Now, we have banded together to form this collective,” says Shine Noushad, one of the co-founders of The Storytellers Union.
The group has had prior experience working with AI tools and this really shows in their latest work. “Dinomukku was a mockumentary initially planned as part of our portfolio-building exercise. It was an experimental project made entirely using AI tools. What likely made it go viral is its documentary style,” points out Sanjay Siby Thomas, a team member.
It was Sanjay who first proposed the idea of Dinomukku. “We had been exploring the scope of generative AI for a while, and when Sanjay proposed the idea, we took it up. Siddharth Sobhan, who’s part of our team, penned the script,” says Gokul S Pillai, who directed the now-viral video.
Bipin T S and Anandhu Suresh make up the rest of The Storytellers Union.
Following the overwhelming response to ‘Dinomukku,’ The Storytellers Union has gained widespread recognition. “We are getting a lot of offers to collaborate after the success of this video, including offers from international clients,” reveals Gokul.
Presently, the team is working on another AI-generated video and exploring how best AI could be used in filmmaking. “We are also on the lookout for new talent and ideas,” concludes Shine.