The Walking Dead reimagined as 1950s Panavision using AI and Photoshop
By Renee Hansen
Recently, I was introduced to a fabulous YouTube channel, Abandoned Films. This channel takes all your favorite movies and shows, like The Walking Dead, and reimagines them with Super Panavision 70. For those like me who are unaware of what this means, it was the marketing brand name used to identify movies photographed with Panavision 70 mm spherical optics between 1959 and 1983.
Familiar movies that have been filmed with Super Panavision 70 include West Side Story (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), My Fair Lady (1964), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), the SFX shots of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and many more.
Abandoned Films uses AI, Photoshop, and other programs to create amazing concept videos of what current movies and shows could have looked like in the 1950s. The results are amazing, showcasing fun things that can be done with AI.
Abandoned Films fake trailers
The Walking Dead Super Panavision 70 video is pretty gory for the 1950s and looks amazing as if it was made for the period. One viewer comments, "Can you imagine sitting in the theater in the 1950s and seeing this as an actual trailer?" That would have been quite a shock for moviegoers in that era.
The video features fan-favorite characters Rick Grimes, Michonne, Maggie Rhee, Daryl Dixon, Shane Walsh, Glenn Rhee, and more. The walkers in this fake trailer look more evil than those in the series, but I would be on board for watching this series!
The Walking Dead
Some of my other personal favorite videos by Abandoned Films include the following:
The Chronicles of Narnia
The first book of The Chronicles of Narnia series was released in the 1950s. In 2008, the first of three movies based on the books by C.S. Lewis was released. Recently, Netflix has announced they will produce three new movies, two of which will be written and directed by Greta Gerwig, of Barbie fame.
Check out this 1950s Narnia trailer.
The Pirates of the Caribbean
Jack Sparrow is many people's favorite pirate who was played by Johnny Depp in five Pirates of the aribbean films. The franchise has mixed information regarding a sixth installment which is in the works. Look below for what these films could look like with the 50s treatment.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's book series and the video below gives it much different look than the Peter Jackson directed series of films.
While AI gets a bad rap because people misuse it by take credit for work they didn't do, these type of reimaginings with full disclosure that they are AI generated and then edited are a lot of fun. Check out the entire list of videos on the Abandoned Films YouTube channel.
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