Just in time for Halloween, Sora is getting spooky. Well, it was already spooky, just in a different, creepy and artificial intelligence-driven way.
OpenAI's latest update for its AI video-generation platform introduces character cameos and launches the feature with a seasonal twist. If you have the Sora social media app downloaded, you can now bring classic Halloween icons, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and more, into your videos.
Here's how you can make your own nightmarish character cameo.
Read also: OpenAI's Sora Is Getting Another Wave of New Features, Including Video Editing
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The Halloween collection
To kick off the feature, Sora is offering a collection of ready-made, classic Halloween characters:
- Frankenstein (@franklyfrankenstein)
- Dracula (@soradracula)
- Jack O'Lantern (@sorajackolantern)
- Witch (@sorawitch)
- Ghost (@ghostlyghost)
In the app, you can start typing one of the above handles in the prompt box, and the app will automatically insert the character into your clip.
How to create your own Halloween cameo
The update allows users to build, tag and reuse characters across projects. You can upload a video or create one directly within Sora, then transform it into a reusable "character" with a name, handle and privacy settings.
Each character can appear in multiple videos and be shared with followers, made private or opened to anyone on Sora.
Since I don't consider myself an AI video aficionado, I started out with one of Sora's ready-made characters. I opted for Frankenstein's monster as my first victim because Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is one of my favorite novels (I reread it every October), and I'm dying to see Guillermo del Toro's latest adaptation of the classic.
I opened the Sora app and clicked the "+" button located in the middle of the navigation bar at the bottom. In the text box, I typed, "Can I make a video of @franklyfrankenstein doing the iconic dance from the TV show Wednesday? I also want the Frankenstein monster in a fun outfit."
I hit the create button, and after a few minutes, I had the following video land in my drafts.
I'm not exactly sure what dance Frankenstein's monster is doing, but it's wholesome to picture the iconic creature at a high school prom dancing. I doubt that'll be in del Toro's film.
I also wanted to see if I could add two or more characters to a video.
I typed, "I would like @sorajackolantern, @sorawitch and @ghostlyghost dressed in Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating in a cozy neighborhood."
While you can't see the character's costumes or facial expressions, the end result is wholesome enough for my hands-on experiment a day from good ol' All Hallows' Eve.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
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