Stormchasers: 1880
Welcome to my latest AI video, Stormchasers: 1880.
I was inspired by archival images of the Wild West. I thought, what if there were stormchasers back then, chasing tornadoes across the frontier.
In this blog post, I’ll share how I brought this project to life using my favorite AI tools (currently) and editing process, you get a full peek behind the scenes.
Whether you’re a fellow creator or just curious about the magic of AI, I hope you’ll find inspiration here to bring your wildest ideas to life!
This post may contain affiliate links that clicking through directly supports my content. Thank you!
The Concept and Inspiration
I’ve always been fascinated by early photography and the old west—its rugged landscapes and human characters. Pairing that with stormchasing, I imagined what it would be like if stormchasers existed in 1880, without, but also somehow with, modern tech.
The parody idea was to create something but also as a fan of live stormchasing, by using language and scenarios that fit the time while being humorous today.
I used Grok to help me come up with humorous yet period-accurate lines to give my characters to say in the short.
For me, it was all about blending history with a modern twist, and I had a blast scripting lines with Grok like "Hark, a whirling tempest doth descend upon us!"
Tools and Creative Process
To make this video, I used a mix of AI and traditional tools. Here’s the breakdown:
Still Images
To create still images, that I could then animate, I used Sora from OpenAI. I wanted a specific look and Sora has been delivering lately! I needed prompt adherence and high-quality. Though slow, for me it was well worth the wait!
Animation
Pika Labs has been my go-to lately for animating images. It’s very fast and I can run a lot of iterations quickly. Though far from perfect, I’m able to get clips and sections that I can easily trim or modify to get the flow I want for the story. The stormchasing scenes are starting to come alive!
Voices
With many of the images and animations showing my characters (named Amos, Boone, and Nash) talking to the camera, I needed to create their voices! I asked my wonderful voice-actor boyfriend, Christopher Fryant, if he wanted to do it. But, he was busy with his own AI creations, so I opted to generated the voices and lines with Hume AI. Their fully customizable tools and newer Playground area made this process fun and easy.
Music
I always love to add dimension to the sound design of my videos by layering in some instrumental music. To create this, used Udio Music to generate a theme song by prompting for exactly what I wanted. For me, it delivered an authentic old-west soundtrack!
Editing
Once I had a bulk of the bits and pieces I needed to start editing, I used Adobe Premiere Pro to get everything together. Some clips need trimming and a cohesive style with a black & white edit applied. Also, layering the music with sound effect (next step!) is easy to do in Premiere.
Sound Effects
For general sounds, I turned to Adobe Stock, which has a vast library of royalty-free audio and easily accessible within Adobe Premiere. But for the horse whinny at the end, I used ElevenLabs, which generated a perfect fit for the end of the video to complete the Wild West vibe.
Title Card
Title card for Stormchasers: 1880 was generated with AI using Sora by OpenAI.
I headed back to Sora from OpenAI to create the title card. I prompted for the text title and the distressed, vintage look. The result was a stunning visual, capturing the era’s spirit.
Thumbnails
Any experienced YouTuber knows that thumbnail design is everything! I used some of the still images I created and the title card to make three thumbnails to test on YouTube, each with a different style to see which performs best.
The process was a journey!
I scripted the dialogue with the help of Grok, ensured AI visuals matched the 1880s setting with careful prompting in Sora, and layered in sounds and music from Udio. Editing in Premiere Pro tied it all together, and creating multiple thumbnails was key for optimizing engagement.
Thanks for reading!
Watch Stormchasers: 1880 on your favorite social media platforms below:
@catebligh Stormchasers: 1880 🐎🌪️ @pika ♬ original sound - cate bligh
POV: you're a stormchaser, but it's 1880 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/8cQmYvARza
— cate bligh (@catebligh) April 8, 2025
