The Mechanics of Cinema in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

This research project by the Film Department at ECAL aims to assess the impact of artificial intelligence on cinema and film education.

Research project (2026) with Benoit Rossel

Assistants: Olivia Capol
Researcher: Alice Leroy
Image: © Roberto Beragnoli
Know-how: Screenplay / Scriptwriting, Machine learning (ML, AI)

Artificial intelligence technologies are now playing an increasingly prominent role in discourse, as well as in the creation, production and distribution of works, and in film education. This recherche project therefore aims to shed light on the potential and challenges of these tools, in order to understand how to use them – or decide not to – in full awareness, and to explore critical perspectives or possible alternative models. Discussions will also address the ethical and environmental issues raised by their development.

Guyvanstrattenphotography Copyright Nicolas Saada.png — © Nicolas Saada

Principal investigator: Benoît Rossel
Researcher: Alice Leroy
Lecturers and researchers: Morgane Baffier, Artist, Paris
Roberto Beragnoli, Director, Florence
Gilles Gaillard, Director of Photography and former director of Mikros. Partner at the NIN9E Studio investment fund, Paris
Andrea Gatopoulos, Director, Rome
Philippe Lasry, Screenwriter and Head of the Screenwriting Department at FEMIS, Paris
Alice Leroy, Film historian and critic at Cahiers du Cinéma, Paris
André Ourednik, Researcher and science fiction author, Lausanne
Nicolas Saada, Screenwriter and director, Paris
Eva Thelisson, Executive director and co-founder of the AI Transparency Institute, Lausanne
Shiny Vallenas, Photographer (ECAL graduate), Lausanne
Assistant: Olivia Capol
Period: 1.02.2026–30.06.2027
Supported by: HES-SO – Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (RCDAV)

Projects related to Machine learning (ML, AI)

BA GRAPHIC DESIGN

Paul Paturel – Modulat – 2025 #2

by Paul Paturel

Grime Index is an interactive VJ-ing project that centralizes, visualizes, and enables navigation through iconic moments of grime — a chaotic genre born on London’s pirate airwaves. By turning audio data into visual identity and live signage, the project makes a performance-based, oral, and improvised culture more readable. Designed for both newcomers and longtime fans, it is built around three interchangeable modules — MC, instrumental, and lyrics — honoring the culture of sampling, MCing, and mixing. Diarization, transcription, dynamic typography, and real-time effects combine to reveal grime’s living and navigable memory.

BA GRAPHIC DESIGN

Dorian Pangallo – Sublime Démocratie

by Dorian Pangallo

In an era where crises follow one another and justify a state of permanent exception, Sublime Democracy is a critical multimedia campaign portraying democracies stripped of their foundations, yet upheld by persistent symbols sustaining the illusion. Designed as a contemporary fable, the work draws on precise presidential speeches and polished visuals, integrating AI as the engine of a critical process where falsehood becomes language. By playing with the codes of power, it questions our habituation to fear, authority, and dominant narratives.

BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

Thomas Gaudin – UnBubble

with Pauline Saglio, Christophe Guignard, Alain Bellet, Gaël Hugo, Lara Défayes, Laura Nieder

Unbubble is an interactive installation in which a robot explores a user’s smartphone to analyze their Instagram usage. This intrusive act highlights a paradox: if it’s rare to hand one’s phone to a machine, we nonetheless do so every day by letting algorithms collect our data. Our online habits shape a tailor-made reality that filters, sorts, suggests, and sometimes limits our horizons. Unbubble questions how our digital traces construct a fragmented image of ourselves — one that is then used to guide our choices, desires, and attention. The installation invites us to become aware of these mechanisms and opens up a space to imagine other narratives, other ways of navigating, and other worlds to explore beyond the paths laid out by algorithms.

MA PHOTOGRAPHY

Soft Photography

with Salomé Chatriot, Charlie Engman, Simon Lehner , Milo Keller, Marco De Mutiis, Claus Gunti, Clément Lambelet, Giulia Bini, Simone Niquille

Soft Photography is a research project conducted by the Master of Photography at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne with the support of the HES-SO. It aims to shed light on the role of human emotions in the creation and reception of images produced using generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or computer-generated imagery (CGI).

BA GRAPHIC DESIGN

BA MEDIA & INTERACTION DESIGN

BA PHOTOGRAPHY

Video Clips – 2025

with Sami Benhadj

Music video projects created within the framework of the Sequence course supervised by Sami Benhadj. Each 2nd-year student in the Graphic Design, Media & Interaction Design & Photography Bachelor programs produced an individual music video. Taking an existing track as a starting point, every project sought to translate the music into images, exploring visual storytelling, rhythm, and staging. Students were encouraged to experiment and develop a creative and personal approach, resulting in original graphic worlds where sound and image resonate with one another.

Projects related to Machine learning (ML, AI)

Paul Paturel – Modulat – 2025 #2

Dorian Pangallo – Sublime Démocratie

Thomas Gaudin – UnBubble

Soft Photography

Video Clips – 2025

Related courses See all courses

Related courses

See all courses