Former tech journalist Erika Rawes, together with a family of tech enthusiasts, turns short AI-generated clips into a roughly 45-minute courtroom sci-fi feature.
Former technology writer Erika Rawes, along with her family, has finished work on Dimitri’s DMT Defense, an original courtroom science-fiction film made by weaving together classic storytelling, family teamwork, and early generative-video tools.
Instead of using a single prompt to create the movie, the Rawes household crafted a 45-minute feature. They developed the characters, built scenes and visual elements, generated individual video clips lasting from eight to twenty seconds, and stitched them into a full story through extensive post-production work, audio design, and an original musical piece.
The main characters were created by using the filmmakers’ own faces as visual models, enabling family members to appear throughout the animated movie in altered roles.
“To make this movie, we modeled characters after our own faces for reference, constructed scenes and visual materials, and leveraged early generative-video tech to produce clips that ranged from eight to twenty seconds in length,” said Rawes. “After that, we put those clips together, incorporated dialogue, sound effects, and original music, and edited—then re-edited—until we had a film we were proud of.”
Rawes, who previously worked as a national technology journalist, wrote and directed the film and acted as its story editor. Her spouse, Robert Rawes, handled production duties and served as the AI audio engineer. Their daughter, Maya “Mack” Rawes, wrote and performed the original track titled “Lost Feelings for a Friend.” Their son, Erik Lane, took on the roles of AI design engineer and visual editor.
The plot of Dimitri’s DMT Defense centers on 21-year-old Dimitri Spirit, who stands accused of killing his friend following a mysterious and seemingly impossible event. Without a conventional weapon and with evidence that defies standard explanations, the situation unfolds as a courtroom puzzle involving altered perception, emerging science, and the possibility that what the defendant witnessed originated from a realm beyond their known reality.
This project was completed during a period when generative-video tools are still highly experimental. Achieving consistent character appearances, emotional continuity, visual coherence, and synchronization forced the filmmakers to repeatedly recreate, swap out, rearrange, and fine-tune individual shots.
“The technology didn’t make the movie on its own,” Rawes stated. “It provided us with a fresh type of raw material. The storytelling, the performances, the structure, the sound, the music, and the final choices all still had to originate from people.”
The movie also reflects the deeply personal nature of its production. Family members contributed their physical likenesses, technical expertise, and creative efforts, making Dimitri’s DMT Defense both a science-fiction experiment and a family-produced independent film.
Production Credits
Writer, Director and Story Editor: Erika Rawes
Producer and AI Audio Engineer: Robert Rawes
Original song by: Maya “Mack” Rawes
Generative AI Design Engineer and Visual Editor: Erik Lane
About Dimitri’s Defense
Dimitri’s DMT Defense is a roughly 45-minute courtroom science-fiction film that tells the story of a young man accused of murder while under the influence of the drug DMT. Constructed from hundreds of individually generated and edited video clips, the movie blends family performances, original music, AI-assisted visual production, and traditional narrative filmmaking.
The film Dimitri’s DMT Defense is now available for viewing on YouTube.
Erika Rawes
Erika Rawes
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