How much of your Christmas video was made with AI?
Along with some kind words on the festive vibe of our Christmas video, there seems to be a lot of interest in HOW we made our festive video – linked to the general curiosity in how much we can rely on AI for generating quality visual assets.
So, we decided to put together a brief “behind the scenes” look at how the SG creative team brought it to life.
We started with something very un-Christmassy:
A summer drone photograph, shot at roof height.
From there, AI became a powerful collaborator, helping create some interesting festive effects and movement.
Step 1 – Setting the scene
Using AI (Nano Banana), we transformed the summer shot into a winter night scene – adding frost, moonlight, glowing windows and a streetlamp. We generated multiple versions so we could later blend and fine-tune the lighting manually in Photoshop.
Step 2 – Bringing it to life
With V03 AI, we turned the still image into a slow, cinematic camera move from rooftop to ground level – deliberately without snow so we could control that later.
Step 3 – The snow globe
AI helped us create a moody snow globe scene, complete with dramatic lighting and our winter street view inside the globe.
Step 4 – Motion and interaction
More AI prompting: a hand enters, lifts the globe, shakes it, and sets it back down – with swirling snow inside. This took a lot of trial and error (AI has strong opinions about where snow should go… including outside the globe…!).
Step 5 – Knowing AI’s limits
We tried to generate the full SG snow globe entirely in AI. It didn’t work well enough – so we moved on. Knowing when not to use AI is just as important.
Step 6 – Crafting the magic
Adobe After Effects did the heavy lifting:
• Combining scenes
• Adding falling snow
• Making everything seamless
Step 7 – The finishing touches
Still in After Effects, we animated the SG logo, transitioned to the Christmas tree, and added the final message. As many have discovered, AI still struggles with logos, text and brand precision – human hands matter here.
The takeaway?
This is a great example of how AI can help create things that would have been far harder (or slower) before. But it took expert guidance, creative judgement, and traditional craft skills to shape, refine and finish the work. There is no way the raw AI outputs could have been sent out in our name.
AI is powerful. But it’s talented creative folk that bring it to life, give it meaning, add the human touch that creates the sense of warmth and connection.
SG brings together an expert team of traditionally trained, future-thinking, AI-savvy designers and VFX creatives who create video for every kind of business need — from brand storytelling and explainers to advertising, product films and wider marketing content. They use an intelligent mix of core skills plus AI for creative effect and time and cost efficiencies, meaning we can deliver impressive video content without breaking the bank. Get in touch