Need evidence that the employment of AI in music videos is improving? Look no further than this outstanding piece by director Kelzang Revach at Paris-based studio Temple Caché for electronic duo Chien Méchant.

The video for Étiole Filante is an intense and gobsmakingly gorgeous re-imagining of a early 80s teen monster movie in which the gender-fluid lead characters, Joh-Ane and Barbarella, meet for a disco date on a moonlit night - and then Barbarella reveals her true identity... 

The vision is based on numerous references from movies of the time - some of which are clearly visible as the narrative unfolds at breathless pace. The team have used tradition techniques - mashup video, rotoscopy, animated 2D painting, 3D modelisation - which have then been turbocharged by the addition of AI animation.

"This decision to set the story in this context appeared early in our dialogue with Chien Méchant," says Kelzang Revach. "Along with it came all the pop and colorful intensity, superficiality and clichés contained within TV shows about highschool sweethearts.

"What inspires me the most in this style exercise is revisiting these same cultural codes that made our adolescence. Despite the de-construction we’re currently doing on our patriarchal heritage, we still find a sort of guilty pleasure in certain gendered patterns.

"How to reshuffle the cards, playing with these patterns, letting go of pre-established roles to turn them into roleplay? It’s a fine line to walk. A strong dosage of sensuality and desire, along with a pinch of humor, will be added ingredients to this guilty pleasure."

"The most astonishing crafts remaining only an asset to shape the stories Temple Caché wishes to tell, this exercise was all about turning artificial intelligence into a means of expression.

"The first production step was centered on targeted research for shots of 80’s movies and TV shows. This found footage helped as a narrative reference to the editing of our clip. These shots were then processed through rotoscopy, and retaken with background elements - as well as added elements proper to the song’s story.

"The output was finally reshaped through digital painting, strongly inspired by 70’s and 80’s posters, and with a strong incline for the kitsch aesthetic."