The Artist director used AI in new film, says producer

“[The film] starts on the battlefield in the First World War,” Maraval noted admiringly. “Without AI, it’s ten days of shooting. With it, it’s two days.” Pressed on the fact that that eight-day reduction in filming necessarily cost actual humans their jobs and money, the exec seemingly tossed Hazanavicius under the tank treads, citing that “it’s the director’s choice.” The money man also cut more to the chase by telling his interviewer that while AI is a fantastic tool to help directors achieve their artistic vision, it’s also “more profitable” for investors. 

And while we have only Maraval’s word on the topic (Hazanavicius wasn’t present at the event), it does strongly suggest that the Oscar-winner has joined fellow directing luminaires like Paul Schrader, Steven Soderbergh, Doug Liman, and Darren Aronofsky, among others, who’ve recently jumped on the divisive AI train. 

With Hazanavicius’ film requiring extensive period sets and battle scenes, Maraval stated that the current financial market all but mandates that filmmakers look to emerging technologies for assistance. Especially for a film as singular as The Third Hand, which is described as being about “a young French soldier wounded in battle in WWI, who then wakes up in the laboratory of a mad scientist who grafted a German hand onto his abdomen.” Still, if David Cronenberg could create a hand plunging a VHS tape into a human abdomen on a shoestring budget and without AI, perhaps there’s some value in practical filmmaking still.