AI video · Spec commercial

AUREL

A 12-second TV ad for a sparkling water brand I invented. AI generated every shot. I planned it, directed it and finished it by hand.

My roleConcept, direction, AI generation, post-production

ToolsClaude · Runway · ChatGPT · After Effects · Photoshop

Length0:12

Year2026

The idea

A tired woman in a cold, rainy city reaches for a bottle. The moment she picks it up, the city cuts to a sunny Alpine village. One sip, and she’s at the source.

A hand reaches for the AUREL bottle on a rainy city street — 1. The rainy city

The woman drinks from the bottle in an Alpine village — 2. One sip, and she’s in the Alps

3. The bottle at its source

How I made it

Step 1
Plan
I wrote the story, Claude turned it into detailed shot prompts, and Runway drew the storyboards.
Claude · Runway
Step 2
Design
One realistic still per shot to lock the look, the bottle and the actor before anything moves.
Runway · Photoshop
Step 3
Generate
Runway turned each still into a few seconds of motion, with a reference image on every request.
Runway
Step 4
Finish
Motion tracking, label replacement, color correction, transitions and the end card.
After Effects

What went wrong, and how I fixed it

AI is fast, but it doesn’t follow directions well. These are the problems that came up and how I directed it back on track.

Product consistency

Four rounds to lock one bottle

Each regeneration fixed one thing and broke another: a beer-style cap, glass that was too blue, a gold collar nobody asked for. Fix: once the bottle was right, I locked it as the reference for every shot after.

Bottle version 1 with a crown cap — v1 · crown cap

Bottle version 2, too blue — v2 · too blue

Bottle version 3 with an extra collar — v3 · extra collar

Final bottle with gold screw cap — **Locked**

Storyboard to video

The sketch bled into the footage

Animating straight from the storyboard, Runway kept the pencil doodles on the table and turned the village into an illustration. Fix: a photoreal style frame for every board, then animate the style frame.

Runway output with pencil doodles drawn across the café table — AI outputPencil marks on the table

Clean photoreal frame of the same shot — FixedAnimated from a style frame

Following the plan

The video didn’t match the board

Without a reference image, Runway improvised the set and put a tree trunk across the frame. Fix: spell out camera, position, eyeline and background, and attach a reference every time.

Storyboard of the drinking shot with open mountains — Storyboard

Runway output with a tree trunk crossing the frame — AI outputTree across the frame

Final drinking shot matching the storyboard — FixedBack on board

Brand text

Runway couldn’t keep the logo readable

The label warped and faded from frame to frame. Fix: I motion-tracked the bottle in After Effects, replaced the label with clean artwork, and matched blur, grain and light so it sits in the shot.

Warped, faded AUREL label in the AI output — AI outputWarped, faded logo

Crisp tracked AUREL label — FixedTracked and replaced

Saving credits

ChatGPT was cheaper, but not real enough

Board edits were burning Runway credits, so I made them in ChatGPT. Up close, its photoreal frames had smeared, melted details. Fix: ChatGPT for sketches, Runway for anything photoreal.

Close-up of smeared bubbles and reflections in a ChatGPT image — ChatGPTMelted details up close

Runway frame of the spring scene with natural texture — RunwayReads as real

What I learned

Reference everything

Without a reference image on each request, the AI takes liberties.

Make it real before it moves

A photoreal style frame per shot keeps sketch texture out of the video.

Draw it when words fail

A rough Photoshop sketch directs a composition better than another paragraph of prompt.

Finish by hand

Labels, color and type are where craft shows, so they get done in After Effects.

Want an ad like this?

katiejones38@gmail.com See more work