Crypto’s First AI Video Caused CZ to React: Interview with the Author

AI video storyteller talks to DailyCoin about his documentary on Binance’s founder CZ and what happened after the publishing.

AI video about Changpeng Zhao (CZ) who looks from 3 different tv screens

After six years of running e-commerce businesses, the creative soul under the pseudonym Framer followed a gut feeling and opened a new chapter of his life, which now involves digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI).

The former political student recently attracted the attention of Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao by sharing a documentary video on CZ’s past, which he created together with AI.

Framer talked to DailyCoin about how he came up with the documentary idea, what he has learned over the process, and the reaction his video caused. 

Followed Instinct, Found New Passion Through NFTs 

Familiar with digital currencies since the 2017 bull rally, Framer fully jumped into the crypto space four years later when non-fungible tokens (NFTs) grabbed his attention.

"I discovered NFTs as a very interesting technology that I have seen the applications of. It has also been very interesting to observe where the value comes from in a bull market environment and why people are so crazy about the tokenized pictures. I soon realized there was a way to earn from NFTs by only using my creativity and not risking my capital," says Framer. 

Until then, he spent six years founding and running successful e-commerce businesses and leading teams of up to 30 people. However, Framer eventually realized that e-commerce was not what he wanted to do. So he sold his company and opened a new chapter of his life. 

Sponsored

The guy soon discovered that marketplaces like OpenSea are used to purchase NFTs from resellers, who charge higher prices than the original creators. The only way to buy from the creator is to get onto the whitelist, the list of wallets with priority access to certain collections before publication.

“I understood I could get a place on a whitelist by creating a video or image about a specific project,” Framer said. 

Sponsored

He started with a short video for “Invisible Friends” NFTs. The creators noticed the video and opened the door to their whitelist for him.  

“It took me a day to make a video. When on the whitelist, I bought the NFT for 0.25 ETH, which traded at 12 ETH on OpenSea after public listing.” 

Soon after, he understood that video creation was what he loved doing. Framer merged this new hobby with his passion for crypto, began covering crypto stories on YouTube, and started experimenting with AI-generated art. 

Making the First AI Video in the Crypto Space  

He quickly identified the niche for cryptocurrency videos that had not been filled. Besides, AI art generators opened the possibility to tell stories in a new and unique way, which was not yet overcrowded on YouTube. 

Framer developed “The Fascinating Story Of Binance’s Founder,” made with Midjourney AI.

"I wanted to tell a story of CZ. He is the crypto market authority to me, with the right values ​​and a great leader to be at the top of the crypto industry," says the video creator. "Another goal: to explore AI because it is exciting, random, and also a huge challenge for myself."

Digital creator spent up to five weeks writing the script, mastering the AI art generator, and animating with Adobe After Effects to create a 12-minute documentary on Binance’s founder, which he split into two parts. 

“There is a scene in the video where CZ sits at a poker table. I formed a task for the AI to picture a 35-year-old Chinese guy with glasses who sits at the poker table and looks straight into the camera. 

Then I gave Midjourney two photos of CZ and a reference photo of the poker room I wanted to see in the frame. AI paints the scene.”

This creative process offered plenty of challenges. The AI could not always understand nuance and often created illustrations that did not match the initial task. In the best-case scenario, a single scene took 20 minutes to create. Sometimes, the process lasted up to two hours.

However, the biggest challenge was to make CZ look like himself, the way he looks in reality, and ensuring that his age was correct, says the video maker. 

“If you are talking about what CZ did ten years ago, he must look ten years younger. When you show his future, he must look old. I had to make sure the hero did not look crooked, and his emotions had to be realistic. Because with AI, you may ask for a smiling face and get one screaming with joy.

The scenes where CZ was absent required ten to 15 edits when formulating the task for AI. The ones with CZ needed from 20 to 30 corrections. It is quick: you update a word in the description, a referral visual, and wait for what AI will bring you.”  

“I had a feeling that there is something here that people have not seen. This is not only my first AI video but also the first one on YouTube made by a single person. I am happy it even made it to CZ, who named it one of the best today.”

CZ’s Attention Opened More Doors 

Changpeng Zhao not only sent a message to Framer naming his video one of the best but also shared the “Fascinating Story of Binance’s Founder” with his 8.2 million Twitter followers.  

Within a few days, a chain reaction started. “Things are happening. I already got an interview with some solid people for creative work. Around ten companies messaged me offering freelance tasks. Dozens of people ask me to create tutorial videos on how to make AI videos. The demand is huge,” says the video storyteller.

CZ’s retweet nearly doubled the number of Framer’s Twitter followers. However, the YouTube algorithm has not pushed his AI documentary to the top positions. The video was viewed more than 9,400 times since upload, most of which came from social media.

“I don’t really care about these numbers. More importantly, I have been noticed, and people who got interested contacted me,” Framer adds.

The video creator says he treats his AI documentary as a nice start to his long and exciting future path. 

“When I started to follow my gut feeling and do what I really wanted, then miracles started to happen,” reveals the creator.

AI to Change the Way of Storytelling

After changing his career path from an e-commerce entrepreneur to video storytelling, Framer keeps exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence tools.

According to him, the AI boom will not disappear as fast as the NFT craze. “With NFTs, there was a lot of hype, and more value needed to be created. Thus the hype passed. As for AI, everything people expect happens two or three times better and blows people’s minds.

To the extent of money flowing into the AI market and the concentration of the greatest minds there – I mean the world’s most talented developers and engineers – there will be massive changes here. It’s all just beginning, and our brains can’t grasp how it will change our lives yet,” claims Framer. 

He believes that artificial intelligence will open a new era of storytelling. “Individual people will be able to create high-quality content with minimal resources.

We will see AIs who can create videos themselves, only following very well-written instructions.” The documentary maker adds that significant changes await written and visual content creators.

“The script of my next humorous video will be written with AI. I see that artificial intelligence can come up with good jokes, sometimes even better than mine,” he admits.

Until then, Framer adds the final touches for the second part of his “Fascinating Story of Binance’s Founder,” planned for release soon. 

After a month of intense work, he learned to communicate effectively with AI. However, the creator admits that his most precious lesson was to follow his gut feeling, make choices, and believe that you can do what you enjoy.

Read more about: 

ChatGPT and Crypto: Blockchain Booster or Artificial Intelligence Nightmare?

Have Bitcoin ATMs Become Money Laundering Tools?

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Simona Ram

Simona Ram is a senior journalist at DailyCoin, based in Lithuania, who covers the forces and people shaping the Web3 industry and the areas where decentralized crypto assets meet the centralized world. She has experience in business communication within the financial sphere and has a degree in Foreign Languages, which helps her interact effectively with sources from diverse backgrounds. In her free time, Simona enjoys exploring new cultures.