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Neil Patrick Harris has refuted the claims that his family’s marvelous Halloween costumes are a product of AI by sharing a thorough account of their creativity behind the scenes. With the help of the classic costume design, photography, and a graphic designer, the actor and his husband David Burtka converted their family into the characters of an Indiana Jones movie. This disclosure comes just when there is an increasing concern over the negative impact of AI on the creative industry and the issue of artistic authenticity.
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Neil Patrick Harris took to his social media to clarify the issue related to the year’s most awaited Halloween family portrait. He reveals that instead of AI, they have been working with designer Foster, a poster artist professionally, to create the Indiana Jones-themed picture. The comprehensive video breakdown shows everything from costume making to photo editing, thus highlighting the great amount of human effort that went into the final product.
“We didn’t do with AI dudes at all,” Harris states unequivocally in the video, directly addressing the rumors. He walks the audience through their creative journey beginning with his first exposure to classic Indiana Jones movie posters. Besides, the process involved David Burtka working mostly on the costumes, such as changing a fake beard and creating a melted-face effect for one character. Harris even bought a sword on Amazon to complement that character, which is indicative of their preference for physical props over digital creation.
They converted a bedroom into a green studio that was equipped to handle various elements being merged together. The children, Gideon and Harper, were really into it, with Gideon flexing his muscles and Harper ‘always being beautiful’ according to her proud father. The family’s pets – Bianca, Chunk, Gidget, and Spike – also partook of the fun, being given treats in exchange for their polite posing in front of the camera.
Harris first turned his poster concept into a pencil-on-paper sketch using his Remarkable Pro tablet and later collaborated with designer Foster to develop the film still out of the sketch. Over 48 hours, the designer transformed Harris’s initial draft into a completely finished movie-style poster with Harris’s continuous input at every stage. The end resut of all family members is that they have beautifully incorporated into a classic Indiana Jones adventure poster.
The public response to Harris’s transparency has been overwhelming, and many are saying it is a huge plus for the family’s dedication to conventional creativity. ‘The non-involvement of AI makes this even more impressive. But the David-Burtka household always outdoes Halloween,’ one person remarked, thus also acknowledging the manual work as a further attraction of the project alongside giving kudos to the effort.
Another wsher mentioned a more general concern about the ethical dimension of the current art situation and wrote, ‘More of the population should be guided by your magnificent example and PAY the artists to do real artwork for or with them and not just go for AI! Your guys’ Halloween photo is STELLAR!’ This sentiment mirrors the worry that has spread through the art world that AI will displace human artists by taking away their jobs.
The debate reached a rather philosophical level about the very definition of art and went far beyond mere appreciation. ‘AI is robbing artists of the very creativity and hard work,’ another voiced. ‘Sometimes the process is more fulfilling than the outcome. Well done!’ This opinion points to the frequency with which it is not the final product that matters most but the path taken to arrive at it, especially if it involves the whole family working hand in hand and the employing of skilled craftsmanship.
Some comments were quite technical as they made a distinction between AI generation and traditional photo enhancement. ‘Photo editing and AI are 2 completely different things people…’ one user commented, implying that many of the viewers might not understand that making digital enhancement is different from AI generation.
The Halloween celebrations of the Harris family which include the customary costumes have turned into annual events of great interest to a large number of their followers. A long-time fan commented, ‘I wait every year for your costume party and they are always great!’ Another one said: ‘Your family is always a source of inspiration for us. For fans, the Halloween picture is what we look forward to. What a great childhood your kids will have 40 years later!’
Harris’s calm and reasoned response to the AI rumors was also highly appreciated. ‘I really like your way of speaking,’ one person commented. ‘Most people would sound very upset but you are calm and explain it very nicely with a lovely video. Love it a lot.’ This communication style was very effective and thus contributed in turning a potential controversy into a teaching moment about the creator’s processes.
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Everyone in the family was part of the project and the dogs were even included, making this a very powerful bond with the audiences. ‘Omg!!!! This is such a magical perfection!!! all the fur babies in there too!!! I can’t get enough of it!!’ The family recently celebrated another milestone when David Burtka announced an intimate NYC book event.
This story originally appeared on Celebrityinsider
