How I Used AI to Create the Best Data Visualization for My Video

Behind the Scenes of Bryan on Blockbusters & Brands

Every great idea lives or dies in the gap between the taste you have and the tools you know how to use.

And most people quietly drown in that gap.

This project reminded me exactly how wide that gap can feel, and how AI now acts like a creative bridge across it.

For my latest episode of Bryan on Blockbusters & Brands, I wanted to show people just how dramatically Spider-Man 3 fell off compared to the first two Raimi/Tobey films. I knew could feel the emotional beat I wanted. Which was a dramatic, almost uncomfortable visual drop.

But I had no idea how to build what I was imagining.

All I knew was:

I want to show a leadboard bar graph over time. I’ve seen this for spends by country over time, box office, etc.

Turns out I was trying to describe:

A bar chart race.

This is the turning point where AI helped translate what was in my head to then helping me execute a surprisingly complex data-driven animated visual.

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Why Data Visualization Matters (Even If You Don’t Think You’re a “Data Person”)

If you’re in marketing, product, sales, UX, leadership — any role where you have to persuade people — you’re in the storytelling business.

Data visualization gives you:

• emotional impact
• clarity at a glance
• insights people actually remember
• buy-in from non-technical audiences

And yet… most people are limited because the barrier to entry feels too high.

This project reminded me of something important:

AI doesn’t replace strategy, it removes the friction between strategy and execution.

Once that clicked, everything changed.

Starting With the Data: Where the Real Story Was

Before I touched a single visualization tool, I threw the Spider-Man films into a spreadsheet to compare their box office multipliers.

That’s when the story jumped out at me:

• Spider-Man 1 and 2 grew in a predictable arc
• Spider-Man 3 dropped harder than Eddie Brock’s Daily Bugle career
• If 3 had matched Spider-Man 1’s multiplier, it would have cleared $500M, the highest of the trilogy

The data felt dramatic

(What do you tell your boss…or the client?!).

I wanted the visualization to feel dramatic too.

I just didn’t know how to build it.

Using ChatGPT to Identify, Learn, and Build the Visualization

When I asked ChatGPT if there were tutorials for a “leaderboard-style graph that moves over time,” it immediately replied:

“what you’re thinking of is usually called a bar chart race”

From there, AI accelerated everything:

1. Choosing the right tool

ChatGPT walked me through my options:

• Flourish (fast)
• Python with Matplotlib (customizable)
• D3.js (powerful, but not today!)

I went with Python because I wanted control. Pacing, colors, pinning the bars, etc.

2. Setting up my environment

ChatGPT walked me through:

• installing Python
• configuring VS Code
• adding the right libraries
• organizing the project folder

The friction dropped significantly.

3. Generating a starting script

It gave me a ready-to-use code and an Excel template.

All I had to do was plug in the Spider-Man data.

4. Customizing the experience

This is where creation took over:

• Spidey red/blue + symbiote black
• pacing and duration
• scale adjustments to punch up the drama
• pinning the films so they didn’t shuffle positions
• exporting with a greenscreen background for easy keying

This is where AI shifted from “assistant” to “collaborator.”

It handled the technical scaffolding so I could focus on the creative decisions.

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Rendering the Animation and Bringing It Into Premiere

Once the code was set, rendering the animation took minutes.

The terminal showed:

• frames
• duration
• FPS

…and a full video output dropped into my folder.

I imported it into Premiere, keyed out the background, and integrated it into the essay narrative.

Was it perfect on the first pass? No.

Was it mine? You bet.

And most importantly….

The visualization helped me communicate the insight more powerfully than I could have alone.

That’s the real win.

Why This Matters (and Why AI Isn’t Coming for Your Creativity)

This project reinforced something I want more marketers, creators, and professionals to understand:

AI can write, but it can’t decide what story you’re trying to tell.

I still had to:

• find the insight
• know why it mattered
• decide how dramatic it should feel
• pick the emotional tone
• choose the aesthetic
• integrate it into the narrative arc

AI didn’t create the idea.

AI helped me build the idea.

This is the new creative workflow.

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The Framework: How AI Compresses the Creative Cycle

Here’s the process I followed, one you can steal:

1. Story First

What’s the emotional or strategic point?

2. Data Second

Find the numbers that reveal or support the point.

3. Visualization Third

What format communicates this best?

4. AI Collaboration

Ask ChatGPT to:

• identify the right visualization
• outline your workflow
• provide the code
• troubleshoot
• customize
• export

5. Your Craft

You bring taste.
You bring judgment.
You bring the story.

AI just helps you get there faster.

Want to See the Actual Chat I Used to Build This?

I didn’t include the full back-and-forth here because the real value wasn’t a single prompt, it was the iterative process.

If you want:

• the actual ChatGPT conversation
• the Python script
• or a template you can adapt

If you’re reading this from my email updates, reply and I’ll send it to you.
And if you’re not subscribed yet… again, consider this your hint. 😉

Want More Behind-the-Scenes and AI Workflows?

This is the first entry in what could be a new series exploring how AI is reshaping creativity, marketing, and storytelling from the inside out.

If you want:

• more breakdowns of how I build my video essays
• more AI workflows you can borrow
• more ways to merge narrative + data + visuals

Subscribe if you want more behind-the-scenes workflows like this. I’ll share the next one as soon as it’s ready.