THE TOOLS BEHIND ELSWHERE.
A look at the software, hardware, and everyday systems behind a studio run by one person.
Every film involves more than the images that reach the screen. There are notes, script revisions, visual experiments, discarded shots, project files, and exports. Working independently means finding a way to keep all of that moving.
The ELSWHERE. setup brings together AI-assisted production, Adobe’s creative tools, and hardware for writing and storage. Each part supports a different stage of turning an idea into something people can watch.
SPACE TO THINK
The reMarkable Paper, with its keyboard, gives me a place for notes, planning, and story development. It’s where an idea can stay unfinished for a while: a scene, a character’s motivation, or a question that needs more thought.
ChatGPT Plus supports that development process. I use AI as assistance with writing and exploring possibilities, while deciding which ideas fit the story and which ones to leave behind. I also use it to generate some of the images I use as references to turn into scenes.
FROM IDEAS TO IMAGES
Higgsfield is part of the visual production workflow, helping bring characters, environments, and moving images into form. Generating footage involves repeated attempts, selection, and refinement. A compelling individual image still needs to belong to the same world as the shots around it.
Adobe Creative Cloud supports the wider design and post-production process, bringing together the work that surrounds a film—from visual assets and editing to the materials used to introduce it to an audience.
Together, these tools help me work across the script, the film, and its marketing while keeping a consistent creative direction. I might switch to a cheaper AI video platform, depending on the credit prices developments.
A SETUP THAT CAN MOVE
A MacBook Pro M1 with 16 GB of memory supports work away from the main workspace. I currently use my in-ear AirPod Pro. But I might buy a better pair of headphones in the future.
WHERE EVERYTHING LIVES
Storage is a less visible part of filmmaking, but it matters when a project contains many generations, versions, and source files.
A Crucial X10 Pro 4 TB SSD holds active project material and working files. A WD Elements 16 TB hard drive supports archiving and Time Machine backups. Separating current production work from longer-term storage helps keep the growing collection manageable.
ONE PERSON, A CONNECTED PROCESS
The purpose of this setup is to give ambitious ideas a practical path to completion. Writing tools support the story. AI helps develop and produce the visuals. Creative software brings the pieces together. Storage preserves the work behind them.
As ELSWHERE. grows, the setup will change. The ambition stays the same: to make films and content with room for more people, more perspectives, and stories that might otherwise remain unfinished.
