Case study · AI spec ad · 2025
Case study · AI spec ad · 2025
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SAMBA
SAMBA
SAMBA
A 48 second spec commercial, made with AI in three days. People asked if it was real. Here’s why that happened.
A 48 second spec commercial, made with AI in three days. People asked if it was real. Here’s why that happened.
Honorable Mention — Kling AI · Kreate Contest #47: Creative Ad Challenge
Honorable Mention — Kling AI · Kreate Contest #47: Creative Ad Challenge
Oct 14, 2026 · @Phyo Fox
Oct 14, 2026 · @Phyo Fox
Stranger Things × Samba
From the other side.
Upside Down / Spec, 2025
From the other side.
Upside Down / Spec, 2025
The finished film
Finished commercial · 48 seconds · Play with sound
Finished commercial · 48 seconds · Play with sound
3
3
days, concept to final master
days, concept to final master
48
48
seconds, finished commercial
seconds, finished commercial
40
40
stills in the cut, from 250+ generated
stills in the cut, from 250+ generated
32
32
clips in the cut, from 90+ generated
clips in the cut, from 90+ generated
Overview
Overview
When Stranger Things Season 5 dropped, I made a spec commercial for a limited Adidas Samba release. Will goes into the Upside Down to get the shoes. Eleven holds the portal open. The Sambas make it through.
When Stranger Things Season 5 dropped, I made a spec commercial for a limited Adidas Samba release. Will goes into the Upside Down to get the shoes. Eleven holds the portal open. The Sambas make it through.
It took three days, start to finish. Nano Banana Pro made the stills, Kling made the motion, and I did the edit, grade and sound by hand.
The best feedback came in Spanish, in the comments: “Es AI o es de verdad?” Is it AI or is it real? This page is about why that question came up. The short answer is that the AI got me to a rough cut. Craft got me the rest of the way.
It took three days, start to finish. Nano Banana Pro made the stills, Kling made the motion, and I did the edit, grade and sound by hand.
The best feedback came in Spanish, in the comments: “Es AI o es de verdad?” Is it AI or is it real? This page is about why that question came up. The short answer is that the AI got me to a rough cut. Craft got me the rest of the way.
01 · Baseline
01 · Baseline
Reference hunting is over
Reference hunting is over
Reference hunting is over
Art direction used to be the slowest part of a job like this. You’d collect references, upload them as style guides, generate, adjust and repeat. For one character in one location, that could take a day.
This time I typed “Will Byers riding a bike in the Upside Down, Stranger Things vibe.” No reference images. It came back right on the first or second try. That was the moment I knew the whole ad could be made in days, not weeks.
Art direction used to be the slowest part of a job like this. You’d collect references, upload them as style guides, generate, adjust and repeat. For one character in one location, that could take a day.
This time I typed “Will Byers riding a bike in the Upside Down, Stranger Things vibe.” No reference images. It came back right on the first or second try. That was the moment I knew the whole ad could be made in days, not weeks.
Before
Before
This project
This project
Getting the look
Getting the look
Hunt references, upload as style guides
Hunt references, upload as style guides
Describe it in a sentence
Describe it in a sentence
Tries per frame
Tries per frame
Many rounds of adjust and repeat
Many rounds of adjust and repeat
Usually one or two
Usually one or two
Where my hours went
Where my hours went
Setup and reference wrangling
Setup and reference wrangling
Story beats and shot composition
Story beats and shot composition
The tool got faster. The job didn’t get smaller. It moved, from making frames to choosing them.
The tool got faster. The job didn’t get smaller. It moved, from making frames to choosing them.
02 · Why it matters
02 · Why it matters
Who this is for
Who this is for
Who this is for
CMOs
A cultural moment no longer needs a production schedule. Season 5 dropped and a finished spot existed three days later. The question isn’t whether you can move fast. It’s whether you know what you want to say when the moment arrives.
A cultural moment no longer needs a production schedule. Season 5 dropped and a finished spot existed three days later. The question isn’t whether you can move fast. It’s whether you know what you want to say when the moment arrives.
Creative directors
Everyone has the same tools now, so raw output looks the same everywhere. You can spot it. What separates work that gets paid from work that gets scrolled past is the direction before you hit generate, and the finish after.
Everyone has the same tools now, so raw output looks the same everywhere. You can spot it. What separates work that gets paid from work that gets scrolled past is the direction before you hit generate, and the finish after.
AI creators
The generation is the easy half. Most AI video stops at the output and wonders why it doesn’t look professional. The edit, the grade and the sound are what make people ask if it’s real.
The generation is the easy half. Most AI video stops at the output and wonders why it doesn’t look professional. The edit, the grade and the sound are what make people ask if it’s real.
03 · The stack
03 · The stack
One director, a handful of specialists
One director, a handful of specialists
One director, a handful of specialists
Director · Me
The idea, art direction, every image and clip selection, the storyboard, the edit, the grade, motion blur and camera shake, sound design, the finish.
The idea, art direction, every image and clip selection, the storyboard, the edit, the grade, motion blur and camera shake, sound design, the finish.
Concept partner · Claude
Bouncing ideas to sharpen the concept, then turning it into a shot list.
Bouncing ideas to sharpen the concept, then turning it into a shot list.
Specialists
Nano Banana Pro on OpenArt for stills. Weavy for the storyboard and quick image fixes. Kling 2.5 Turbo for most motion, Kling O1 for the multi-element shot. ElevenLabs and Epidemic Sound for audio layers. Premiere Pro and After Effects for the finish.
Nano Banana Pro on OpenArt for stills. Weavy for the storyboard and quick image fixes. Kling 2.5 Turbo for most motion, Kling O1 for the multi-element shot. ElevenLabs and Epidemic Sound for audio layers. Premiere Pro and After Effects for the finish.
I tested Wan 2.5, MiniMax 2.3 and Seedance Pro on the opening shot too. None of them got there, and Seedance had no idea what a Demogorgon looks like. Kling 2.5 Turbo won on output, not loyalty.
I tested Wan 2.5, MiniMax 2.3 and Seedance Pro on the opening shot too. None of them got there, and Seedance had no idea what a Demogorgon looks like. Kling 2.5 Turbo won on output, not loyalty.
04 · The workflow
04 · The workflow
Five principles that transfer to brand work
Five principles that transfer to brand work
Five principles that transfer to brand work
1
1
Make the product the reason for the story
The Sambas aren’t placed in the scene. They’re why the scene exists. Will goes into the Upside Down to get them, Eleven bleeds to bring them home, and the final shot is them floating out of the bag. About two hours of concepting, then a shot list.
The Sambas aren’t placed in the scene. They’re why the scene exists. Will goes into the Upside Down to get them, Eleven bleeds to bring them home, and the final shot is them floating out of the bag. About two hours of concepting, then a shot list.
For brands: if you can cut the product and the story still works, it’s not an ad yet.
For brands: if you can cut the product and the story still works, it’s not an ad yet.
2
2
Build a visual library before you build a sequence
Eight hours in production mode: close-ups of the shoes, wide shots of the Upside Down, different angles, different lighting. 250+ stills, 40 used. A prompt that makes four views of one scene in a single generation saved credits and gave me cutaways for free. I cropped the best frame and upscaled it.
Eight hours in production mode: close-ups of the shoes, wide shots of the Upside Down, different angles, different lighting. 250+ stills, 40 used. A prompt that makes four views of one scene in a single generation saved credits and gave me cutaways for free. I cropped the best frame and upscaled it.
For brands: generate wide, choose narrow. Options are cheap now. Decisions aren’t.
For brands: generate wide, choose narrow. Options are cheap now. Decisions aren’t.
3
3
Check the story in colour before you animate
I laid the selects out as a storyboard in Weavy and the problem was obvious at a glance: too much blue at the front, too many close-ups, all Upside Down setup. I cut the blue section down and added more red and orange to balance the arc. Then I laid the music over it to check the pacing.
I laid the selects out as a storyboard in Weavy and the problem was obvious at a glance: too much blue at the front, too many close-ups, all Upside Down setup. I cut the blue section down and added more red and orange to balance the arc. Then I laid the music over it to check the pacing.
For brands: lock the board with the music bed before anyone spends money on motion.
For brands: lock the board with the music bed before anyone spends money on motion.
4
4
Solve the shot the model says it can’t do
Image to video can only animate what’s already in the frame. Eleven pulling the backpack in from off screen meant animating something that wasn’t there. I was stuck on it for a bit, then Kling O1 dropped with multi-element references. A few tries later I had the shot, at near image to video quality.
Image to video can only animate what’s already in the frame. Eleven pulling the backpack in from off screen meant animating something that wasn’t there. I was stuck on it for a bit, then Kling O1 dropped with multi-element references. A few tries later I had the shot, at near image to video quality.
For brands: when the tool says no, the idea should still win. Keep the shot, change the method.
For brands: when the tool says no, the idea should still win. Keep the shot, change the method.
5
5
Curate like it’s a shoot
90+ clips generated, 32 in the cut, about six hours of motion work. Most of the rest had something wrong with them. You don’t use every take on a real set either.
90+ clips generated, 32 in the cut, about six hours of motion work. Most of the rest had something wrong with them. You don’t use every take on a real set either.
For brands: budget for the takes you’ll throw away. That’s where the quality comes from.
For brands: budget for the takes you’ll throw away. That’s where the quality comes from.
Generated takes across the project. 90+ motion clips generated; 32 made the final cut.
Generated takes across the project. 90+ motion clips generated; 32 made the final cut.
The finish stays human
Straight out of Kling, the clips looked like AI. A day of post is what changed that.
1. Edit. Tightened in Premiere Pro. Most AI motion runs slow, so nearly every clip went to 150%.
2. Grade. In After Effects, AI Color Match against a frame from the Season 5 trailer, pulled back to 80%. You can get close by hand in Lumetri, but this saved hours.
3. Motion blur. Pixel motion blur to soften the over-sharp AI render, especially on close-ups like the shoe on the pedal.
4. Camera shake. A wiggle expression on a null, tuned per shot, so it feels handheld.
5. Sound. Back in Premiere, Kling’s generated audio as a base, layered with ElevenLabs and Epidemic Sound. A two second portal moment carries four layers.
6. Film grain. An overlay as the last pass, so the whole thing sits on one surface.
Sound did the most. Play the same clip silent, then with raw AI audio, then fully layered, and the jump from “looks like AI” to “wait, is this real?” happens mostly in your ears.
Straight out of Kling, the clips looked like AI. A day of post is what changed that.
1. Edit. Tightened in Premiere Pro. Most AI motion runs slow, so nearly every clip went to 150%.
2. Grade. In After Effects, AI Color Match against a frame from the Season 5 trailer, pulled back to 80%. You can get close by hand in Lumetri, but this saved hours.
3. Motion blur. Pixel motion blur to soften the over-sharp AI render, especially on close-ups like the shoe on the pedal.
4. Camera shake. A wiggle expression on a null, tuned per shot, so it feels handheld.
5. Sound. Back in Premiere, Kling’s generated audio as a base, layered with ElevenLabs and Epidemic Sound. A two second portal moment carries four layers.
6. Film grain. An overlay as the last pass, so the whole thing sits on one surface.
Sound did the most. Play the same clip silent, then with raw AI audio, then fully layered, and the jump from “looks like AI” to “wait, is this real?” happens mostly in your ears.
Generated source still
Generated source still
Finished export · colour and texture
Finished export · colour and texture
These show different moments of the shot, not a frame-matched comparison.
These show different moments of the shot, not a frame-matched comparison.
05 · Guardrails and limits
05 · Guardrails and limits
What I held to, and what still needs people
What I held to, and what still needs people
What I held to, and what still needs people
Guardrails
This is an unofficial spec piece. It wasn’t commissioned or endorsed by Netflix or Adidas. AI use was disclosed everywhere it was posted. The characters use their Season 4 look so nothing spoils Season 5. I picked every still, every clip and every cut.
This is an unofficial spec piece. It wasn’t commissioned or endorsed by Netflix or Adidas. AI use was disclosed everywhere it was posted. The characters use their Season 4 look so nothing spoils Season 5. I picked every still, every clip and every cut.
Where it still needs people
Models only know what they were trained on, and some had never seen a Demogorgon. The opening shot failed four or five times across four models before one landed. Nothing can enter a frame that wasn’t in the start image without a workaround. Raw output runs slow and looks too sharp. And taste: the model gives you options, it doesn’t know which one is right.
Models only know what they were trained on, and some had never seen a Demogorgon. The opening shot failed four or five times across four models before one landed. Nothing can enter a frame that wasn’t in the start image without a workaround. Raw output runs slow and looks too sharp. And taste: the model gives you options, it doesn’t know which one is right.
What this means for creative teams
What this means for creative teams
AI gets you to the rough cut. Craft gets you to “is it real?”
AI gets you to the rough cut. Craft gets you to “is it real?”
AI gets you to the rough cut. Craft gets you to “is it real?”
Anyone can generate something decent now, and that’s exactly why decent isn’t enough. The internet doesn’t need more AI output. It needs work someone actually finished.
Anyone can generate something decent now, and that’s exactly why decent isn’t enough. The internet doesn’t need more AI output. It needs work someone actually finished.
The tools made the frames. The idea, the choices, the edit, the grade and the sound are what made people stop and ask.
The tools made the frames. The idea, the choices, the edit, the grade and the sound are what made people stop and ask.
Bring this to your team →
© 2026 Phyo Thu · @phyofox
© 2026 Phyo Thu · @phyofox
Wellington, NZ
Wellington, NZ