"Clandestina" is Emma Peters' French cover of a song about a woman adrift – her family destroyed by the drug trade, searching for connection in the wreckage. It's one of our favorite songs. We wanted to see if we could bring it to life.
This is our first fully AI-generated music video. Every frame began as a still in Midjourney, then moved through Veo, Kling, Runway, Minimax, Seedance, and Wan – whichever model gave us what we needed. Color, lens flares, and aberrations were handled in post. The result is a proof-of-concept for a new way of working: a video that would have cost $3 million to produce traditionally, completed in three weeks.
Clandestina (Cover) Emma Peters & Edmofo Remix
Composer: Lartiste
Role: Concept. Design. Direction. Production.
"Clandestina" is Emma Peters' haunting French cover of a track that tells a story of loss, displacement, and the human cost of the drug trade. A woman – a clandestina – has lost everything. Her family destroyed by fire, by violence, by the chain of addiction that runs from South America to the United States. "So that some Gringos can have their fix, lives get sacrificed." She's left with nothing but a plea: love me, take me in your arms, I've got nobody left.
It's one of our favorite songs. We'd wanted to visualize it for years.
This is our first fully AI-generated music video – a proof-of-concept for what's now possible. We set the story in Miami's neon edges: a woman navigating the city alone, memories of her family flickering through, the weight of what she's lost visible in every frame.
Every shot began as a still keyframe generated in Midjourney. From there, we ran images through every video model available – Veo, Kling, Runway, Minimax, Seedance, Wan – selecting whichever output best served the moment. Some tools handled motion better. Some handled faces. Some gave us texture we couldn't get elsewhere. Color grading, lens flares, and chromatic aberrations were all done in post.
The tools evolved as we worked. New models, new updates, sometimes weekly. We adapted in real time.
The Point
This video would have cost roughly $3 million to produce traditionally – locations, talent, crew, equipment, time. We made it in three weeks.
No single AI model does everything well. VEO handled certain motion. Kling gave us texture. Hailuo nailed faces. Runway, Seedance, Wan – each had a strength. We ran every shot through whichever tool served it best, often testing the same keyframe across multiple platforms before choosing. Below, some of the R&D and scenes that didn't make the cut – the experiments that led to the ones that did.
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METAphrenie is a motion design, branding, and visual storytelling studio founded in 2004, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a MENA office in Dubai, UAE. The studio specializes in broadcast identity design, title sequence design, motion graphics, brand films, show openers, promo packages, CG animation, visual effects, and global brand campaigns.
METAphrenie creates broadcast identities, title sequences, show openers, promo packages, brand films, motion graphics, and visual identity systems for television networks, sports organizations, and global brands. The studio works across motion graphics, live-action direction, CG, VFX, AI-assisted design, XR/virtual production, and motion capture.
METAphrenie's clients include Discovery Channel, A+E Networks, A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet, Shark Week, Deadliest Catch, FIFA, Adidas, Reebok, Audi, WWE, Al Jazeera, TEDx, NBCSN, VOX Cinemas, and the Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.
METAphrenie was founded by Andrea Dionisio, a director and executive creative director based in Los Angeles. Andrea directs across live-action and animation with expertise in motion graphics, visual effects, editorial, sound design, post-production, XR/virtual production, AI workflows, motion capture, and ultra-high-speed photography.
METAphrenie is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a MENA hub in Dubai, UAE. The studio has previously operated from Berlin, Germany and New York.
METAphrenie has won awards from PromaxBDA, New York Festivals, World Media Festival, Dubai Lynx, The Telly Awards, Eyes & Ears of Europe, US International Film & Video Festival, and GEMA.
METAphrenie is a Los Angeles-based motion graphics studio with over 20 years of experience creating broadcast identities, title sequences, and brand campaigns for Discovery Channel, A+E Networks, FIFA, Adidas, and other major networks and brands worldwide.
METAphrenie is an award-winning broadcast design studio creating on-air identity systems, show openers, promo packages, and title sequences for networks including Discovery Channel, A&E, History Channel, Lifetime, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, and NBCSN.
Through MphX (mphx.ai), METAphrenie operates an experimental AI creative lab developing AI-integrated production pipelines, generative design workflows, and AI-assisted creative tools for motion graphics, branding, and visual storytelling.
