A true legend of French song will soon be entitled to a biopic. With one particularity: it will be recreated vocally and on screen by artificial intelligence.
This is news that may make people cringe. Artificial intelligence is at the heart of many debates within the film industry, to the point that actors and screenwriters went on strike for several months to demand protection against this new technology. This Tuesday, November 14, Warner Music Group announced a new film project which will use this innovation.
A biopic dedicated to Edith Piaf, legend of French music, will soon see the light of day. And if Marion Cotillard played the singer brilliantly in The kid in 2007, no actress should be able to hope to compete for an Oscar after her. Indeed, the company plans to recreate the singing star using artificial intelligence.
This new technology will be used to recreate his voice and image on screen, with the agreement of his rights holders. Artificial intelligence will in fact be recreated to narrate this 90-minute feature film, entitled Edith, which will take place between Paris and New York between the 1920s and the 1960s.
The project is presented by the American media Variety as a biopic, and not as a documentary. However, archive images will be used to transcribe certain major moments in the life of Edith Piaf. For its part, artificial intelligence was inspired by hundreds of archive images and sounds to be able to recreate it on screen. As for the songs, recordings from the period will be used.
“Our goal is to use the latest technological advances in the field of animation to introduce audiences of all ages to its timeless story. The performers of Edith Piaf’s legacy have, for their part, praised “a special and touching experience.” “The technology made us feel like we were back with it. The animation is sublime and thanks to this film, we will be able to tell the story of the real Edith: her joyful personality, her humor and her unwavering spirit.”
This is a new step in the use of artificial intelligence in cinema, but it is not the first time that we have used the new technologies at our disposal to bring the dead back to life. screen. Franchise Star Wars did so by digitally recreating actor Peter Cushing for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, by “grafting” his digital face onto the body of a living actor. In France, Thierry Ardisson’s show, Hotel of timefor its part, used deep fake technology to create a dialogue with deceased personalities, using scripted interviews.