How we used generative AI

THE AMERICANS is documentary footage filmed by Hyunsoo Moon between 2019 and 2025. In four places, we used generative AI to create or change part of a shot. Each one is listed below, with where it appears and why.

A documentary asks you to trust that what you see happened. Where an image was generated or altered rather than filmed as it appears, you should be able to find out.

Where and why

• 28:38Jephthah’s house, exterior.A three-second shot of the house before Jephthah talks about his years at Tyson and the move to Milwaukee. We changed the order of events in the edit, so the season in the original footage no longer matched the story. We used generative AI to change the season in that footage.
• 44:54Sam’s story, the temple.An exterior shot of the temple before Sam’s ceremony. For the same reason, the scene’s place in the story didn’t match the season it was filmed in. We used generative AI to change the season and the camera angle.
• 54:07Anna leaving a Taco John’s.A parked car blocked the frame and made it hard to follow what was happening. We removed the car with generative AI. Nothing else in the shot was changed.
• 56:37–57:31Jephthah’s life in Myanmar.Short historical recreations of events Jephthah describes from before he came to the United States, intercut with licensed archival photographs and footage. The recreations were researched for historical accuracy. We used them to convey the urgency of what he lived through, which no camera recorded.

Times are approximate, in minutes and seconds from the start of the film.

What is not generated

Every interview, every voice, and every word spoken by the people in the film is real and unaltered.

Questions about any of this: thatguymoon@gmail.com.