top of page
Search

RISING FROM RED TO GOLD: MY AI-POWERED ASCENT THROUGH THE CASTE OF CREATION

  • Writer: candyandgrim
    candyandgrim
  • Nov 14, 2025
  • 4 min read


Why this rebel is rebelling against AI slop–and how Red Rising is the perfect proving ground

I’ve been in the trenches of media production for 15+ years, and since 2018, when Synthesia first whispered synthetic smiles and Adobe Neural Filters turned “impossible” into “one-click,” the way we work and tackle creative challenges has changed at an ever-accelerated pace. Yet every year the same sludge floods the feeds: AI-generated “content” that’s fast, cheap, and utterly soulless – what I call AI slop.

Enough!!!

This project is my Red rebellion: a public, step-by-step cage match of tools, platforms, and pipelines to prove democratised creativity can still dazzle. No more lazy loops or copy-paste clones. I’m forging a 15–30-second cinematic teaser that captures the savage sparkle of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising–a passion/R&D project with live updates after every stage.

Full disclosure: this is not my usual wheelhouse. I typically craft corporate polish and sassy startup SaaS socials. But GENAI democratises–so time for some fun, I’m stepping outside the comfort zone, trading pitch decks, 3D design, and vox pop edits for blood-red battles.

It’s not just a demo. It’s a manifesto, imagine a small boutique studio creating something reaching for the quality of Netflix's Arcane:


  • Human + AI hybrid team (8–10 strong)

  • Shoestring budget (£900k–1.4m per year/per season - 100x cheaper than Arcane)

  • Full transparency (EU AI Act-compliant logs, disclosures, consent)

  • Open invitation: if you’ve battled the same bots, drop your data below. Let’s crowdsource the ultimate AI animation arsenal.


WHY RED RISING–THE PERFECT PROVING GROUND FOR A LOWBORN UPRISING

In Brown’s brutal universe, Reds mine helium-3 in the marrow of Mars, crushed beneath a colour-coded caste that crowns Golds as gods. Darrow–a Red carved into a Gold–rises not by birth, but by fire, fury, and forbidden tech.

Sound familiar?

I’m the Red of generative media: armed with off-the-shelf AI, no studio backing, no nine-figure budget. This project is my Carving: enhancing raw prompts into Gold-tier visuals, proving lowborn creators can infiltrate the elite echelons of cinematic craft.

Every frame will pulse with the saga’s DNA:


  • Rust-red ravines rippling with rebellion

  • Gold's gleaming like fallen stars

  • Darrow’s scars staying scarred, Sevro’s snark staying sharp


A note to @PierceBrown, @DelReyBooks (US), and @HachetteUK: there has been no zero IP theft–this is fan-forged fire tribute. I will not even use an extract of the books for narrative or voice-over. Nor will I be selling or profiting from this experiment. That said, if you wish that I cease and desist, I will, of course, comply. 

BUT...if it sparks official interest in an animated graphic novel series? I’m ready to rise.

THE FIVE-STAGE CAGE MATCH – UPDATES DROP AFTER EACH ROUND

Stage 1 Mission: Mood board & rough storyboard 

Tools in Combat: 



Stage 2 Mission: Character & style consistency 



Stage 3 Mission: Storyboard refresh with new refs 


  • Tools in Combat: Weavy vs Flora Result: Coming soon


Stage 4a Mission: 15–30s animated sequence 


  • Tools in Combat: Kling ● Luma ● Pollo ● Pika Result: Coming soon


Stage 4b Mission: 15–30s animated sequence


  • Tools in Combat: Some scenes may need more creative control: Fossa Thether ● Mago.studio ● runway Result: Coming soon


Stage 5 Mission: Edit, VO, music, SFX polish 


  • Tools in Combat: Descript ● CapCut ● Suno ● Epidemic Result: Coming soon


STAGE 1 DEEP DIVE I put Adobe Firefly Boards up against Runway ML – and Adobe crushed it.


  • Speed: Adobe = 30 mins ideation + 1hrs for editing and generating storyboard. Runway = using ideation images and prompts from Adobe, 2+ hours of build board and generating tweaks.

  • Quality: Firefly nailed lore-accurate Martian reds, Darrow’s defiance, and Gold gleam in one prompt. Runway, despite the Gemini Flash 2.5 prompt enhancer, generated images missed the mark, some of which were total AI fails, like it is 2024

  • Cost: Adobe’s beta access = free...for now! Runway’s credits = £££.


Full transparency: All prompts, layers, and edits logged. “⚠️ AI-enhanced” metadata embedded.

Want the full evolution of storyboarding? Check my post: STORYBOARDS: BORN IN 1930, REBORN IN 2025–from Disney’s pinboards to AI-powered infinite canvases.

THE PLAN, THE TEAM, THE PRICE TAG–FEASIBILITY IN FULL COLOUR

Scope 15–30s cinematic teaser → potential blueprint for longer-form graphic-novel-style animation (8–16 eps/book)

Team 8–10 hybrid rebels: 1 scriptwriter (author liaison), 2–4 AI specialists, sound artist, producer, creative director

Timeline Stage-by-stage sprints; updates after each round

Payroll (UK 2025) ~£600k base (avg £70k/AI specialist, £60k–80k others)

AI Credits £20k–50k/year (multi-tool stack: Kling, Luma, Leonardo, etc.)

Total Base £620k–650k → £900k–1.4m/year per season (rounded, with 40%+ uncertainty buffer)

Benchmark Arcane Season 1: £60–80m for 9 eps. We’re <2% the cost, >10× the agility.

LEGAL GUARDRAILS – BECAUSE EVEN REBELS NEED RULES


  • EU AI Act 2025: “⚠️ AI-enhanced” labels, full prompt/edit logs, C2PA metadata

  • IP Proof: Human authorship via layered exports; no “style of Brown” prompts

  • Consent + Pay: Written approval for any VO/likeness (ElevenLabs, etc.)

  • Contracts: DACS/SACD templates – no training on client IP, mandatory disclosure

  • Global Safe Harbour: EU compliance = US/UK shield (one share triggers full rules)


 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page