We’re asked the question more and more often. At conferences, in client briefs, sometimes directly on set.
“Do you use AI?”
The short answer: yes. The full answer is more nuanced.
What we do with AI
AI entered our production workflow in 2023. Not as a revolution. As an additional tool — very powerful, with its own rules of use.
Shot extension. When we’re shooting in the vineyards of Saint-Émilion and we’re 2 seconds short on a sky shot, AI generates that extension imperceptibly. Nobody notices. The film stays intact.
Voice cloning. For international versions of a corporate film — English, Spanish, Mandarin — rather than calling back the executive who shot the French version, we can clone their voice with their explicit consent. The voice stays theirs. The accent is adapted.
Generative ambience sequences. For purely exploratory creative films, we use locally fine-tuned generative models to produce mockup sequences. It’s a creative decision aid, not a finished product.
What we refuse to do with AI
This list matters as much as the previous one.
Replace real people with avatars. We’ve received briefs asking us to “generate happy employees” for an employer brand film. We refused. A film where the people don’t exist is a lie. And it shows.
Produce volumes of content with no art direction. AI can generate 50 videos in one night. That’s not what our clients buy. They buy a perspective. An intent. A consistency. Those three things don’t automate.
Use AI without informing the client. Every AI usage in our productions is documented and shared with the client. It’s not a legal obligation (yet). It’s a transparency obligation.
Deepfakes without explicit consent. Cloning someone’s voice or image without their agreement is an absolute red line. No matter the budget, no matter the urgency.
Why the line is there
Here’s how we define it: AI is a tool in service of human vision. It accelerates, it assists, it complements — it doesn’t replace art direction, casting, lighting, emotion.
A film produced 90% by AI and supervised by a human is not equivalent to a film produced by humans with 10% AI assistance. The difference isn’t technical. It’s in how much living matter remains on screen.
We believe the viewer feels it. Even unconsciously.
The future we see
In 5 years, every production studio will use AI intensively. The question won’t be “do you use AI?” anymore but “how do you use it?”
The studios that will have survived are the ones that maintained a clear artistic identity — and used AI to amplify it, never to replace it.
At SIGNS, we’ve been preparing for that future since 2023. We develop our own local workflows, we train our teams, we refuse the shortcuts. Because a luxury house entrusting us with their film expects a director’s perspective. Not a model’s output.