The Brain Is Still the Best Computer
Writing Ghostbirth 2 with voice memos, visual canvases, and a healthy distrust of AI
Dear friends,
I had the luxury to focus some days only on my movie Ghostbirth 2.
The packaging is coming together: Director's statement, fact sheet, loglines, biography and the synopsis are basically done. All that stuff…
For the story development, I found a method that works really well for me. Instead of writing the script linearly from beginning to end, I built a big digital canvas in Obsidian.
There I was laying out scenes visually, adding text and images to each one. Like Figma, but local, simple and free.
Once I started working this way, the whole film unfolded in front of me.
When I hit a wall, I switched tools. I started dictating everything about the film into Whisper Memos. So I was walking around my apartment for hours, talking through every scene, every detail, every character decision. Up to 90 minutes per session and automatically transcribed.
Then I fed those transcripts into an AI to get a structured version back. This turned out to be a powerful combination: Dictation get the raw creative energy, AI organizes it. The ideas are still mine. And AI is good at turning a messy monologue into something I can work with.
When I actually asked it to write scenes on its own, the results were flat every time. The brain is still the best computer for storytelling.
Also I ran an experiment with NotebookLM. I uploaded all my funding documents and the current version of the script, then had it generate a podcast-style critique of the project.
Does the story deliver on its premise? Where does the narrative lose momentum? Is the package ready for the co-production market? All that stuff…
Essentially a stress test. That forced some useful adjustments I wouldn't have caught on my own.
The story is in its final stretch now. I can't wait to put everything together into a proper package and start reaching out for funding and collaborators.
Much love,
Marius
