Was Sylvain Chomet's 'Christian Dior's Night In Colour' Made Using AI?
What do you get when you cross one of the most acclaimed traditional animators in the world with one of the world's most glamorous fashion brands? Among the first of this year's batch of holiday films is a new short from the world-renowned French company Christian Dior. The film is directed, co-written and designed by the Oscar-nominated French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet (The Illusionist, Belleville Rendez-Vous). It features the voices of Louis Garrel, Camille Cotin, Rihanna, possible future James Bond star Josh O'Connor, Greta Lee, LaKeith Stanfield and narration from Robert Pattinson. Sounds pretty exciting, right?
The film features a fictional episode in the life of the real company founder, Christian Dior. One snowy Christmas Eve, 1949, Dior is stuck in Paris, while his friend and movie star Marlene Dietrich is in Hollywood. At the last minute, Dietrich is in need of a new dress. And with a little bit of Christmas magic, featuring a star, a trio of bees and a talking chair, he's able to get it to her. Although the story may be entirely poetic license, it's inspired by the very real friendship between Dior and Dietrich.
Christian Dior's Night In Colour is being sold very much on its hand-drawn nature. It's a love-letter to traditional 2D animation, we are told. Jonathan Anderson, a Dior designer, is credited as Creative Designer. "The film we've created together for Dior is all hand-drawn using techniques that go back to the 1940s," he said. The making-of video they released also seems to back this up.
Why, then, is the film at the centre of a storm online? Why are other sites and social media accounts that have covered it finding themselves the target or criticism and (shamefully) abuse? Part of the online community that is opposed to the use of AI, particularly in animation, are quite convinced that the short uses the technology. If true, it would be tremendously disappointing to see a hero of 2D animation going down that path.
What actual evidence is there that Chomet used AI? Online "detectives" present images of individual frames that they claim are evidence of it being AI Slop. It's not exactly a smoking gun. The animation quality isn't as smooth as in Chomet's features and the movement has a bit of an uncanny feel to it. This could be due to the use of AI; equally, it could be the result of a lower budget and digital production.
The making-of footage confirms that Chomet created original artwork for the films and characters. This doesn't rule out that AI could have been used for the "animation". But, honestly, it doesn't seem that likely.
If Artificial Intelligence was used for this film, then the filmmakers are being downright cagey about it. Scratch that, if it does, then they are outright lying. Why would they do that? AI advocates are usually proud to use the technology and will disclose its use. If Dior used it and tried to hide it, that would be an extremely risky strategy. Imagine the furore if it came out.
Positive reaction is out there too. The comment section under the YouTube video is full of people celebrating 2D animation and praising it for not using AI.
This is not the first time Dior has worked with animators for a campaign. They worked with double-BAFTA-winning animator Nina Gantz on the short Year Of The Horse and Miss Dior with French studio Remembers, founded by Arco's Ugo Bienvenue and Felix de Givry. And that is just in the last year. These certainly seemed to have been produced traditionally- in stop-motion and 2D, respectively.
So, is it AI or not? On consideration, probably not. But accusations like this are likely to become more common for traditional animators going forward. It's unlikely we are ever going to get a definitive answer. And even if we do, some anti-AI folks are militant enough that they won't believe it. You'll just have to make up your minds for yourselves.
