Last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, director and digital artist Pierre Zandrowicz (also co-founder of French studio Atlas V) unveiled his first short film, IN SEARCH OF TIME, developed and produced with the assistance of generative tools boosted by artificial intelligence. A real proposition at the heart of the metamorphosis of the cultural industries: what if this was just the beginning? Interview.
Editor’s note: this interview was recorded several weeks ago. With the rapid evolution of generative tools linked to artificial intelligence, many things have evolved. OpenAI’sSora for video, for example .
Discover the uses of AI as an artist
Pierre Zandrowicz – My curiosity about artificial intelligence (AI) and generative art began in September 2022, when I had just moved to the United States. I found myself in a new environment, just as these new OpenAI ChatGPT tools were emerging. The first form of text-basedbrainstorming was relatively limited at the time. Then came Midjourney for images, and I saw it as a new field to explore, coinciding with my desire to continue exploring the cinema medium and the “film” format alongside my immersive projects. The emergence of AI tools gave me the opportunity to do so, in a very autonomous way.
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P. Z. – Initially, I worked on moodboards, to develop my own inspirations. I posted a few visuals on Instagram, and by chance the Fellowship gallery working on digital formats (including NFTs) spotted my creations. It proposed a collaboration around 100 photos from my work on Midjourney, to be sold online in a “Lo and Behold” collection on the Ethereum Blockchain. Incidentally, the proceeds from this sale enabled me to finance the development of a feature film script! The circle was complete.
P. Z. – So I devoted myself fully to it, starting by exploring existing platforms like Runway (whose official Creator program I joined in 2023). But at that point everything was still in its infancy, and I turned to open-source platforms. And the possibilities became impressive, via tools that are not very mainstream, but much freer in terms of possibilities. I got involved in AI photography (or Post-photography), but the first video-related offerings appeared… In the wake of this, Runway launched its AI Film Festival (in February 2023). It seemed logical for me to take part.
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IN SEARCH OF TIME: a short film produced with AI
P. Z. – At that point, Sam Pressman (an American film and immersive content producer who had collaborated with Atlas V on EVOLVER) introduced me to Matthew Tierney, a painter with whom I hit it off immediately. With only a few weeks to go before the festival, we worked together in my attic to conceive a first AI film around the tools I’d found – and personal video shot in Greece and New York. The result was strange but compelling, like old family memories lost then found again. The result submitted to Runway lasted 2 minutes 30 seconds, and we thought we had delivered the best of ourselves in this context. But we didn’t make the cut, up against IA films that were already more commercial. And that was a real lesson in humility.
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P. Z. – Some time later, the Tribeca Film Festival called us, interested in what we’d done and how we’d gone about it. Matt and I offered them a longer version of the film, with the idea of spending the following months producing a 7-minute film on our own: IN SEARCH OF TIME. It’s an extraordinary stroke of luck to have been able to return to cinema with this opportunity.
P. Z. – I’m not defined by the technologies or media I work with. But cinema remains by definition my primary passion, and the most accomplished experience. If I take as an example the showing of the film at Tribeca, we were able to set up a real installation with a photo exhibition and projection. It’s obviously satisfying to see one’s work so easily distributed and shared collectively. VR makes this possible, even if it’s a little more complex (especially technologically). Incidentally, I’m combining the two mediums on my next VR project, since it’s being done in collaboration with a filmmaker.
![](https://xrmust.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/XRMust_PierreZandrowicz_ARitual.jpeg)
Au final, l’IA un outil facile ?
P. Z. – Artificial intelligence opens up many possibilities… but in very surprising ways! It may save time, but it’s a capricious tool that requires a lot of iteration, testing and research. It’s like using a real-time engine that needs to be constantly rebuilt. The final rendering may be a simple image, but going through the technology requires real work on the part of the human being (the artist). It’s another way of working, with a little more independence no doubt. IN SEARCH OF TIME is a film made entirely by two people (including sound design and voice-over), apart from a sound engineer for the final mix.
P. Z. – I work with artificial intelligence in three ways. For photography, I’ve developed my own reference dataset. So I generate images from data that only comes from my own work. For film, it’s much more complex to create models. Instead, I work on workflows, using open source data available online. Like a galaxy of technological boxes that I connect together to obtain something. Then it’s time to start rendering – which is more traditional – before seeing the final result! It’s a form of artistic and visual exploration that’s done in a very artisanal way, but I’m passionate about it. Finally, in a more traditional way, I continue to work on Runway, Leonardo and other platforms. It’s all about masking the AI effect, which can be spotted quite quickly with the best-known engines.
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P. Z. – Mixing tools, with open source, allows us to detach ourselves from all that. You have to test and test again, but around strong stories. In this respect, it’s Matt’s and my job to conceptualize and write. We’ve just finished the script for our second film, the indirect sequel to IN SEARCH OF TIME. There will probably be less AI, but it will help us with the visual effects (VFX, post-production). We still have a long way to go to convince ourselves to make a 100% AI film that isn’t marketed on that criterion.
P. Z. – I’m continuing with AI tools with American artist Wu Tsang (who previously directed OF WHALES, an Atlas V production) around a play she’s directing in Zurich.I produce the associated content with my AI tools, images and videos.This month, I inaugurated my first exhibition based on my images in Brooklyn with FellowshipAI (CEREMONY), with another coming soon in Reggio, Italy.And film projects, always…
https://daily.xyz/artist/pierre-zandrowicz
https://foundation.app/@cinem.ai
https://www.instagram.com/cinem.ai/
![](https://xrmust.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/XRMust_PierreZandrowicz_InviteExhibit.jpg)
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