By Stephen Obermeier, creative director & AI experimenter
When the Midjourney newsletter hit my inbox late at night, one line stood out:
“Video is now live for everyone.”
That was enough. Sleep had to wait.
I opened the interface, clicked a few buttons, and within minutes, it was clear: Midjourney had quietly launched a tool that works better out of the box than most competitors. It’s fast. It’s intuitive. And it delivers surprisingly coherent motion from a single still frame.
I started animating random images from my Midjourney archive — older experiments, unfinished thoughts, visual scraps from various phases of my long-running AI project called Postcards from Pyongyang. If a still felt like it could move, I hit “Animate.” No prep, no strategy.
Within an hour, I had about 100 clips, all generated in-app. Total GPU time: around 12 Fast Hours. I showed them to Lea, a colleague. Her response was immediate: “Let’s turn this into a music video.”
Months ago, I had created a track using MakeBestMusic, based on Korean lyrics I had written with the help of ChatGPT 4-o. It wasn’t intended for anything in particular — just part of the archive. Surprisingly, the song turned out to be a 70s-style disco stomper. Glittery, punchy, unapologetically retro.
And it clicked. The dreamy, surreal motion from Midjourney paired oddly well with that sound.
We dropped everything into Final Cut Pro. No grading. No effects. Just rhythm, timing, and raw material.
Total production cost (excluding time): 30 USD. Total time: one evening.
Some of my first try animated clips
Yes, it’s a V1. But it’s surprisingly solid.
The interface is minimal – a single “Animate” button inside the familiar image grid.
You choose Low Motion or High Motion, and the tool generates 5-second clips (up to 21 seconds on reroll).
Everything runs in-browser. No timeline. No layers. No learning curve.
That’s the real strength here:
It’s accessible. It’s simple. And it gets results – fast.
You don’t need animation experience. You don’t need a workflow.
You just need a good still and an instinct for movement.
The output isn’t perfect. But it’s good enough to surprise you.
This isn’t just frame interpolation – the system adds motion that feels directed.
Clothes sway. Lights flicker. Water moves like intention was involved.
Not realistic, but emotionally suggestive.
Limits are obvious:
No audio
No timeline or timing control
Output resolution is 480p (for now)
Glitches in complex scenes, especially in High Motion
But here’s the point:
It gives you usable video in seconds, with zero setup, and a clear visual identity.
Midjourney isn’t trying to be a full animation suite.
It’s a creative reaction space – fast, direct, surprisingly expressive.
That’s why it works.
It’s not about control. It’s about momentum.
And sometimes that’s all you need to start.
That’s how this music video came together:
One evening. A few clicks. A tool that doesn’t get in your way.