Four-time Academy Award nominee French director Sylvain Chomet has answered questions about the potential use of generative AI in a new ad campaign he directed for luxury fashion brand Dior, which was explicitly presented as hand-drawn in original materials released with the short film, including a behind-the-scenes video.
Talk exclusively with VarietyChomet and his producer Aton Soumache unequivocally rejected viral speculation that many of the images in the short were generated using artificial intelligence. According to Soumache, the ad was created over seven months by a team of 20 artists, including six animators.
While denying allegations of AI use, Soumache said Variety: “We used an automated interpolation system for a very small part of the process, but the film itself is traditional 2D animation.”
This is an interesting distinction that deserves a little examination. First, the original ad was presented as hand-drawn by Dior in its exclusive ad with WWD (Women’s clothing Every day): “The film we created together for Dior is entirely hand-drawn using techniques that date back to the 1940s,” Dior creative director Jonathan Anderson said in the article. This description, however, leaves out a major detail about the production process, according to the filmmakers’ own explanation.
Automated interpolation is not necessarily the same thing as generative AI and encompasses a range of different technologies, including but not limited to AI-based tools capable of synthesizing new images. Neither filmmaker identified the software used or explained precisely how the process worked.
Soumache characterizes interpolation as “a very small part of the process,” which also leaves considerable room for interpretation. Is it referring to a small percentage of the completed footage, the number of shots, or perhaps a limited part of the production schedule? Without knowing what he’s referring to, or even what technology was used, it’s impossible to draw a concrete conclusion about the extent of automation in the finished film.
Among the extra fingers, fuzzy tree stars, shapeshifting dog collar, and strange bee trimmers that fueled the original speculation, Chomet offered a more conventional explanation: his team used established animation techniques in which exaggerated or superimposed shapes convey movement. Unlike the unspecified interpolation system, these techniques have existed for generations in animation production. They are the basis of the craft of hand-drawn animation. Whether they explain every instance identified by online viewers is another question, which cannot be answered by a general explanation of the technique.
None of this proves that generative AI was used. Employing artists on a seven-month production does not necessarily rule it out either.
And this has been the main problem since the start of this ordeal. The language of the primary sources was explicit in describing the film as hand-drawn. Now the filmmaker and producer have recognized that the intermediate images were generated by interpolation. But they did not provide enough evidence to cast doubt on the potential use of AI.
Until they or Dior provide more specific information about their tweening tools and workflow, their statements have done little to allay suspicion.
Given Dior’s status in the fashion industry and its focus on the short as a celebration of traditional craftsmanship, greater transparency would go a long way toward resolving questions surrounding its production.
Gn entert
