New Zealand – odd.global https://odd.global Different. By Design. Fri, 25 Jul 2025 23:14:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://odd.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-odd-icon-32x32.jpg New Zealand – odd.global https://odd.global 32 32 Dancing With Shadows /The Transits https://odd.global/portfolio-item/dancing-with-shadows-the-transits/ Fri, 25 Jul 2025 19:15:30 +0000 https://odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2911 The Challenge

The Transits are an indie band working remotely between New Zealand and South Africa. With a growing global fan base, especially in Brazil, they see music videos not just as a way to reach their fans but as emotional extensions of their songs. For their new track Dancing With Shadows, they wanted a visual narrative that could express the depth and metaphor of the lyrics: a journey through darkness, emotional collapse, and the return of hope.

But producing high-end, metaphorical visuals across continents and with limited resources is a creative challenge.

The Approach

Directed by Arthur Machado (Paranoid BR), the video was built entirely using generative AI. It enabled the team to design impossible visuals: liquid shadows consuming entire environments, metaphorical spaces collapsing under emotional weight, and characters navigating surreal transitions.

The process was collaborative from the start. The band gave Arthur full creative freedom, and with Dom Antelme (frontman and ECD at Bastion Shine) involved in shaping the narrative, the project became a fusion of music, storytelling, and technology.

The Brazilian fan connection added another layer. With over 70 percent of The Transits’ engagement coming from Brazil, teaming up with a Brazilian director based in Aotearoa and backed by Paranoid BR, one of the leading production companies in Brazil, felt culturally and creatively aligned.

The Result

The final video is a poetic, visually rich film that expands the song’s emotional message through metaphor and mood. It showcases how AI, when used responsibly, can empower artists to tell bigger, bolder stories, regardless of geography or budget.

The video was featured in international music and creative media and was the subject of an interview on CNN Brazil.

 

]]> That Bitch Is Crazy /EmmaDillemma https://odd.global/portfolio-item/that-bitch-is-crazy-emmadillemma/ Fri, 18 Apr 2025 09:55:13 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2642 For Emma Dilemma’s stealth-release single “That Bitch Is Crazy,” we created a punchy short video that landed online the same day as the track. A custom-trained model captured Emma’s look, while performance-transfer lip-sync locked every word to her recorded vocals, all produced in collaboration with the artist in record time.

 

]]> Dreams Travel Further https://odd.global/portfolio-item/dreams-travel-further/ Thu, 16 Jan 2025 05:34:35 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2601 “A boy’s imagination takes flight as his handmade rocket carries a heartfelt message to the stars”

 

Created, Produced and Directed by Arthur Machado.

Project Odyssey Top 50 Finalist in the Spec Ad category.

]]> Santa’s Bucket List https://odd.global/portfolio-item/santas-bucket-list/ Mon, 16 Dec 2024 03:52:41 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2582 A playful short shows Santa hunting for a post-holiday adventure only to realize every bucket-list item is waiting in Christchurch. AI-generated transitions with Santa getting ready for the many adventures that awaits wrapped the city as the perfect one-stop getaway.

Working solo, Arthur Machado scripted, storyboarded and produced the entire piece with generative tools. Crafted prompts created stylized transitions that whisk Santa between activities while keeping a coherent look and cheerful tone. 

Released on December 10, 2024, the film earned coverage from Campaign Brief and regional media, spreading seasonal goodwill while positioning Christchurch as a world-class destination. 

 

Credits:

Concept, Direction and Production: Arthur Machado
Distribution support: Christchurch Attractions, Paranoid Brasil, Resonate.

 

 

]]> Potion of Pandemonium https://odd.global/portfolio-item/potion-of-pandemonium/ Wed, 30 Oct 2024 05:12:40 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2592 Potion of Pandemonium is a  60-second Halloween short that follows a mischievous witch as she brews the legendary potion and accidentally lets chaos loose in an unexpected burst. Created entirely with generative AI, the film pairs ornate digital set pieces with playful timing to deliver cinematic punch. Produced in a few days from script to finish, its quick rollout on social platforms a week before Halloween showed how we can transform a simple seasonal idea into content ready to share in a blink.

 

Credits:

Concept, Producer, Director: Arthur Machado

 

 

 

 

 

]]> Soulmates https://odd.global/portfolio-item/soulmates/ Mon, 16 Sep 2024 05:29:34 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2598 Soulmates is a short romance that asks whether two spirits can stay connected when one slips into a parallel realm. Written with Ian Sweeney and produced in a forty-eight-hour sprint for the Runway Gen:48 Competition 2024. The result is a visually poetic short that demonstrates how AI pipelines let intimate stories cross cosmic distances and compressed schedules.

 

A film by Arthur Machado & Ian Sweeney.

]]> A Perfect Match /CulturePop Soda https://odd.global/portfolio-item/culturepop-soda-a-perfect-match/ Fri, 16 Aug 2024 03:32:06 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2577  

Curious Refuge issued a real client brief complete with brand guidelines and product photography for CulturePop Soda, a probiotic sparkling drink that pairs fruit with culinary spices. Working solo, Arthur Machado wrote the script, designed the entire production workflow and delivered a 30-second spot titled A Perfect Match, celebrating the brand’s unexpected flavour combinations.

 

 

The film earned public shout-outs from Curious Refuge organisers and CulturePop brand managers for its faithful yet imaginative take on the brief. It also became a calling card that led People’s Television to engage Arthur for the Pack4Good Sweetfella consultancy, citing the CulturePop project as proof of concept.

 

Credits:

Brand: CulturePop Soda

Writer, AI Director and Producer: Arthur Machado

Client Brief Provider: Curious Refuge

]]> LLM – Modello Linguistico Divino https://odd.global/portfolio-item/llm-modello-linguistico-divino/ Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:38:03 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2496 An experimental music video that combines the worlds of high fashion and avant-garde art through the lens of AI, exploring the double meaning of “LLM” in Latin Languages.

 

Concept: Arthur Machado

Images: Midjourney

Animation: Runway Gen-2, Luma Dream Machine, PixVerse, Pika Labs

Original Music: UDIO

Lyrics: ChatGPT

 

Festival & Award Highlights
  1. Best Musical Film (Short) – IMVA (Nominee)
  2. Best AI-Gen Film – FFTG Awards, Grand Jury Choice 2024 (Nominee)
  3. Special Mention, Concept – FFTG Awards, Grand Jury Choice 2024 (Winner)
  4. Best New Media – Lonely Wolf Int’l Film Festival 2024 (Winner)
  5. Best New Media &/or Episodic Series – Areas 1 Underground Film Contest (Winner)
  6. Best Original Score – Areas 1 Underground Film Contest (Nominee)
  7. Best Original Song & Music Video – Areas 1 Underground Film Contest (Nominee)
  8. Award of Excellence (Creativity/Originality) – Best Shorts Competition (Winner)
  9. Award of Excellence, Special Mention (Experimental) – Best Shorts Competition
  10. Best Music Score – Berlin Shorts Award 2025
  11. Best Art Film – AI International Film Festival 2024
  12. Best Original Song – AI International Film Festival 2024
  13. Best Production – AI International Film Festival 2024
  14. Official Selection – AI Short Film Festival “Larissa Lumina” 2024
  15. Official Selection – BAIFF Burano Artificial Intelligence Film Festival 2024
  16. Semi-Finalist – New Wave AI Film Festival 2024
  17. Shiny List Selection

 

]]> Satoshi. The Creation of Bitcoin. https://odd.global/portfolio-item/satoshi-the-creation-of-bitcoin/ Tue, 16 Apr 2024 04:07:54 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2587 The proof-of-concept trailer Satoshi, The Creation of Bitcoin presents a coming-of-age story that spans decades and continents from 1990s São Paulo into 2008’s London cypher-punk underground.

When the trailer dropped it caught fire across the Bitcoin community, surpassing one million views and more than three thousand reposts on X/Twitter within days. The momentum carried to the Bitcoin Film Festival 2025 in Warsaw where the project claimed the Golden Rabbit award for Best Short, the first fully AI film to take the festival’s top honour.

The reaction proved that audience hunger for the Satoshi myth, combined with the reach of AI filmmaking, can turn an independent trailer into a global cultural moment. Produced entirely with AI by Arthur Machado, the piece demonstrates how generative tools can free stories that might never reach the screen. 

 

Credits:

Concept, Producer, Director: Arthur Machado

 

 

]]> ONE. For All. https://odd.global/portfolio-item/one-for-all/ Sat, 16 Mar 2024 05:40:46 +0000 https://staging.odd.global/?post_type=portfolio-item&p=2604 ONE. For All. is a 60-second spec car spot produced in 2022, when photoreal AI imagery still felt like science fiction. We used generative tools to render a full-CG performance sequence with studio-grade lighting, fluid camera moves and realistic surface reflections, proving that an AI pipeline could eventually match traditional VFX workflows.

The film was screened and awarded at festivals and circulated among global creative leads and production companies, igniting early talks about making AI an everyday part of high-end commercial production.

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