'No taste': Malaysian VFX pros warn against an AI rush that cuts story first
Two artists behind global hits are sounding the alarm. Firdaus Hashim, a Malaysian VFX veteran who worked on Life of Pi, and Azhar "Harzach" Zakeriah, with credits on Squid Game and Stranger Things, say AI can speed tasks-but it can't replace taste, judgment, or story.
The message is simple: if you chase cost over craft, your film will look cheap. Viewers are already calling it out.
What sparked the debate
A new prequel, Duyung: Legenda Aurora, used AI to "improve" production. Audiences pushed back, saying the images felt flat and the integrity was compromised.
On the other end, Pirate Queen: Zheng Yi Sao was billed as Malaysia's first "fully AI-generated" feature. It saved money on battle scenes and extras, but many creatives questioned whether that trade-off served the story-or just the budget.
The pro's take: speed helps, taste decides
Firdaus has spent nearly two decades crafting shots frame by frame, including stereoscopic work on the CGI tiger Richard Parker in Life of Pi. His view on AI is blunt: lots of people can press the button, very few can make it feel alive. "Is there something machines still can't replace, you ask? My answer is 'taste'."
Azhar agrees. He breaks production down into pre-production, production, and post. AI can assist with references, quick visual tests, or object removal. But the final look still relies on experienced eyes, on set and in compositing, to land the emotion and the intent.
The cost trap
Producers are under pressure to deliver more for less. That's real. But treating AI as a substitute for craft shifts the focus from story to throughput-and audiences feel it immediately.
As one filmmaker warned, remove constraints and you remove the friction that sharpens ideas. The risk isn't only lost jobs-it's producing artists who stop thinking for themselves and projects that skip collaboration, the heart of filmmaking.
Where AI actually helps (and where it doesn't)
- Useful now: look dev references, quick previz beats, cleanup and object removal, upscaling tests, rough rotoscoping assists.
- Needs supervision: character consistency, lighting continuity, scale and physics, anything tied to performance and emotion.
- Not a shortcut: production design, shot intent, pacing, and the final composite that sells reality and story.
A practical playbook for creatives
- Anchor on story: define intent for every shot. If AI helps you test faster, use it. If it muddies the intent, cut it.
- Set guardrails: agree on where AI is acceptable (e.g., background cleanup) and where it isn't (faces, hero assets) unless approved.
- Keep a human review loop: director + VFX lead sign-off at each pass. Quality dies when feedback disappears.
- Protect taste: keep doing look studies, lighting breakdowns, and real-world reference hunts. That's how you keep the eye sharp.
- Educate clients: show A/B comps that reveal why "faster" can still look fake. Make the cost of bad taste visible.
- Clarify rights and data: lock down training sources, model licenses, and usage terms in your contracts.
Pipeline tips that won't break your flow
- Use AI to pitch three visual options early, then switch to traditional tools once a direction sticks.
- Isolate AI work in separate layers/passes for easy replacement if artifacts show up.
- Track versions and prompts like you track plates and comps. Reproducibility matters.
- Set a "human override" rule: if the AI output takes longer to fix than to build properly, revert.
Quality bar before you ship
- Skin, hair, and eyes pass the uncanny test at frame-by-frame review.
- Lighting direction matches practicals; scale and parallax feel right.
- Motion holds up at 100% and 200% playback speeds.
- Color sits in the grade without extra banding or noise.
Why this matters in Malaysia
Local film is lean: in 2024, 61 features earned roughly RM165 million. The broader creative sector employed about 763,100 people. Government funding is pushing AI hard, with billions allocated for R&D and commercial use.
That means two things. There will be more AI in your pipeline. And the edge goes to creatives who can blend new tools with strong taste and disciplined workflows.
For reference and further learning
- Academy Awards 2013: Life of Pi recognition
- Practical AI courses by job (for creatives and production teams)
The bottom line
Use AI as a tool, not a taste substitute. Let it buy back time, not make your film soulless.
If it serves the story, keep it. If it serves the spreadsheet but breaks the shot, cut it.
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