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Fidelity & ExcellenceThomas Aquinas College is unique among American colleges and universities, offering a faithfully Catholic education comprised entirely of the Great Books and classroom discussions.
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Richard Goforth (CA’26) Releases AI-Animated Short Film
“My goal is to craft productions which will nourish the soul of man,” says Thomas Aquinas College senior Richard Goforth (CA’26), following the release of “Valley of Shadow,” his six-minute short film depicting the horrors of World War I. His medium of choice: artificial intelligence.
“Valley of Shadow” marks the first narrative AI production to attempt a period-accurate historical film, blending traditional Hollywood pre- and post-production techniques with cutting-edge AI filmmaking tools. Richard developed the project through SUBVERUM, his own AI filmmaking initiative. In the creation of this movie, he pioneered an entirely new filmmaking method, integrating over 30 distinct AI tools into the traditional production process, maximizing the artist’s ability to create with intention. “Every frame was crafted by me: I wrote the script and screenplay and created the storyboards — all before I even started using AI — then brought my vision to life using AI tools.”
To further enhance the humanity behind his artist-driven approach to AI filmmaking, Richard enlisted the help of his brother, Edmund (CA’29), who wrote and narrated the original poem “Umbra Mortis” featured in the film, and John Haggard (CA’24), who contributed his assistance on the sound design.
“AI will not be taking these kinds of creative jobs away,” Richard says. “In fact, from a directorial standpoint, it becomes immediately clear that you need artists, writers, musicians; people with genuine creative talents to help bring the final product together.”
Produced for Manalive Media Group, “Valley of Shadow” serves as a proof-of-concept for the company’s upcoming live-cinema production “Death, War, Poets,” based on Joseph Pearce’s play, “Death Comes for the War Poets.” The unique, live-edited production is set to premiere in France in 2026 and will be streamed worldwide.
Beyond the film, Richard also helped in the production of “The Mind and the Machine,” an upcoming online lecture series from Thomas Aquinas College examining the philosophical dimensions and implications of artificial intelligence.
“You often hear that the involvement of AI in a creative project makes it not art, that AI can’t create anything beautiful,” Richard says. “My solution to this issue is to use these tools in a way that maximizes the artist’s creative control, so that the artist’s creative decisions are directing the use of AI toward fully realizing his creative vision. AI filmmaking is more than just inserting a prompt into a mystery box and seeing what base entertainment pops out: It is a powerful set of tools that, when ordered in the right way, can be used in the creation of beautiful works of art.”