Inside the Making of High Tides: Why a One-Minute AI Video Can Take Two Hours
High Tides creator Fernanda reveals why a one-minute AI video can take almost two hours and how she builds emotion into Clara and Valerie’s visual world.
A finished High Tides video might last only a minute, but creating that small window into Clara and Valerie’s world can take considerably longer. For creator Fernanda, the challenge is not simply producing attractive AI-generated visuals but making every look, touch and kiss feel right for the exact point the characters have reached in their story.
That attention to emotional detail means seemingly tiny decisions can become some of the most time-consuming parts of the process. Fernanda told SoapLandTV that one video lasting around a minute took almost two hours to complete because she repeatedly returned to the timing, gestures and interactions between Clara and Valerie.
“A video that lasts about one minute took me almost two hours to make.”
The aim is not necessarily to make every image more dramatic. Fernanda instead focuses on whether the emotion feels precise enough for the characters and their existing history, particularly when intimacy is involved.
“What matters to me isn’t making a kiss beautiful or a look intense. It’s making it feel right for that particular moment between Clara and Valerie.”
That distinction matters because Fernanda does not see every kiss or touch between the women as interchangeable. A kiss following a frightening experience should carry something different from an affectionate moment in the kitchen, while a touch could be playful, hesitant, protective or weighted with something neither woman is saying aloud.
The same rule applies when an AI-generated result looks impressive but does not feel like Clara and Valerie. Fernanda is prepared to abandon material rather than use something simply because it is visually successful.
“I’ve discarded beautiful images and videos because everything was technically right, but the feeling wasn’t.”
It is an approach that keeps creative control firmly with the person telling the story. The technology can generate possibilities, but Fernanda still decides which expressions, movements and moments actually belong in the High Tides world and which ones do not.
That can mean spending a large amount of time refining something viewers might notice for only a second. Yet for Fernanda, those seconds matter because the visual should communicate part of Clara and Valerie’s relationship without having to spell out exactly what the audience is supposed to feel.
“I don’t just want Clara and Valerie to look at each other. I want the way they look at each other to mean something.”
The result is a visual world where creating less than a minute of finished footage can involve far more work than its running time suggests, with the final decision always coming back to whether Clara and Valerie still feel like Clara and Valerie.
Follow High Tides and creator Fernanda through Neural Afterglow on Instagram and watch the latest Clara and Valerie videos on YouTube. You can also read High Tides on Wattpad and find more behind-the-scenes AI storytelling through SoapLandTV’s AI & Entertainment section.
