When artificial intelligence shakes up cinema

A dystopia made of plastic men, who see their world descend into panic when the matter they are made of is transformed into fuel… Utopiaa short film directed by Anthony Smeyers, is one of 48 one-minute films, 100% generated by AI, selected by the MarsAI festival jury, on the theme “Imagining desirable futures”.

The event, which takes place on Friday, is organized by the La Plateforme school, which offers audiovisual training assisted by AI, and Bruno Smadja, creator of the Mobile Film Festival, which presents short films made using smartphones. Everyone gathered this Wednesday at the former Docks des Suds for the preview screening of certain short films. “The objective is to create attractiveness together to make the future as desirable as possible. Bruno, by bringing short formats, and us, the AI “, explains Cyril Zimmermann, co-founder and president of La Plateforme.

The idea of ​​the project is to make cinema accessible to everyone. Made from several video tools, both free and paid, and prompts (questions asked to the AI), “these short formats allow you to scale what is possible. We want to bring out new traditions, give people the desire to create », declares Bruno Smadja. The production time has nothing to do with a classic film: 48 hours to 15 days are enough to create a 100% AI short film. “We saw the arrival of AI as a fantastic creative tool. By talking with many creators, we understood that it made it possible to express ideas and tell stories without financial need. »

Is AI going to bounce around the cinema industry? Bruno Smadja brings a new response: «ÂRather, it will integrate little by little. Because the emotion that an actor or actress can convey will be difficult to beat by an AI. » However, at the risk of replacing human labor. “çhelps in the making of a film, just like special effects do. It’s a tool “, he specifies.

The one-minute films shown during this preview almost all present the same theme: that of the environment. A paradox when we know that AI has harmful consequences on it. “The carbon impact is absolutely terrible. We need to think differently and build data centers intelligently », underlined Bruno Smadja. «ÂI think we need to define a framework of use, we consume a crazy amount of energy. Responsible uses must be imposed », confirms Cyril Zimmermann.

But this cinema, thought of as accessible, still requires certain knowledge. “To transcribe your ideas, you need to have an audiovisual culture, such as camera angles or postures. », développe Bruno Smadja.

Friday, during the festival, five winners will obtain a grant of 10,000 euros, allowing them to create other projects. “It is not by refusing the tool that we will respond to concerns, it is by using it well that we will integrate it », concludes Bruno Smadja.