Some projects begin as strategy. Others begin as curiosity. Noctalis Umbra began as both, and became a deliberate experiment, under the shadow of the Moon…
As an engagement specialist working at the intersection of science fiction, digital culture and AI-assisted creation, I wanted to explore a simple question: What can be built under constraint? The Noctalis Umbra project is not about producing the most spectacular visuals possible. It is about exploring what can be achieved under strict limitations: creative, technical, financial, and algorithmic.
The Challenge
Create a coherent narrative universe and character using only short, vertical mobile-first videos, while maintaining visual consistency, audience retention, and brand identity.
The Constraints
• Format: 9:16 vertical, designed exclusively for TikTok
• Attention span: ultra-short (25-60s) content adapted to platform consumption habits
• Budget: limited subscriptions; preference for image animation over full video generation to preserve credits
• Time: production optimized for efficiency and repeatability
The Method
To stay within those boundaries, I built a modular AI workflow:
• Image creation: NanoBanana Pro
• Image animation / video generation: Kling, Grok, MidJourney
• Editing & assembly: Canva
Each asset is designed with scalability in mind: reusable visual identity, strict color palette, absolute character consistency and adaptable narrative fragments.
The Character
Noctalis Umbra (in latin “the nocturnal shadow” in latin) is a moon-born presence, neither hero nor villain, but a quiet force of balance.
She embodies cycles: darkness and clarity, retreat and emergence, silence and illumination. She is intentionally non-controversial and accessible: a symbolic character built around universal metaphors rather than niche mythology. Her universe rests on one principle: without shadow, there is no illumination; darkness is not negative, it is the space where light becomes visible.
Her visual identity is strict and consistent – cool lunar tones, minimalist night settings, restrained movement – ensuring recognisability across ultra-short formats.
The Results
After 10 weeks of existence, the Noctalis Umbra project has accumulated 200K+ video views, confirming early audience receptivity to character-driven, AI-assisted storytelling in vertical short-form format. This performance was achieved through iterative optimization, visual consistency, and constraint-based production, not through scale or advertising.
Beyond reach, the project generated meaningful audience interaction. Many viewers reached out privately to share how the character’s message resonated with them, particularly the reframing of darkness as a space for renewal rather than fear. This confirms that narrative coherence can foster emotional engagement, even within ultra-short formats. The project therefore functions not only as content production, but as emotional resonance testing within algorithm-driven spaces.
Notably, the project has not attracted criticism commonly directed at AI-generated content. The videos have not been dismissed as low-effort or “AI slop.” On the contrary, viewers frequently highlighted the perceived quality and coherence of the clips. They applauded the character’s consistency, notoriously difficult to achieve in AI-assisted workflows, along with the creativity and visible effort behind each video. The project demonstrates that disciplined art direction and sustained iteration elevate AI from novelty to craft.
To be continued!
MARIE-SOPHIE GERMAIN 