French director, animator and voice actor Pierre Coffin was at the Next Content Conference 2017 at COEX Mall on October 23, where the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise co-director shared his thoughts on storytelling and the role of technology in the medium. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – French director, animator and voice actor Pierre Coffin was at the Next Content Conference 2017 at COEX Mall on October 23, where the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise co-director shared his thoughts on storytelling and the role of technology in the medium.
Coffin was adamant that technology, no matter how advanced, was severely limited in crafting a good story.
“What technology does is merely help beautifully deliver [the story]. This makes me think of my projects that were unsuccessful, because the story and the characters were not very good, even though the technical aspects were brilliant. Technology can never craft a story, because the story is such a human creation,” he stressed.
Amidst a crowd of voices who were busily talking up the potential of AI and VR in changing the content industry for the better, Coffin’s message on the limitations of technology stood out.
On what artificial intelligence might do, Coffin said, “Though AI is trending, there is no indication that it will play a big part in the storytelling department. To be honest, AI emerged a long time ago, but it is only now that it has become a topic of interest. It is difficult to think about the impact AI might have on the content industry.”
Amidst a crowd of voices who were busily talking up the potential of AI and VR in changing the content industry for the better, Coffin’s message on the limitations of technology stood out. (Image: Korea Creative Content Agency)
The director also revealed his indifference towards computer generated stories, saying he became “uninterested as soon as he realized that a computer had produced it” when watching such a production.
Speaking on the technological changes he had experienced throughout his career, Coffin predicted that the 3D viewing experience would eventually be replaced by a higher form of user experience. He mentioned that the biggest change for him was when “traditionally drawn animation transitioned into CGI”.
Until the end, Coffin emphasized story first, design second. “If there is no story, technical features are useless. Technology is simply like a pencil or a camera that helps you write faster or edit faster, but that’s as far as it can go.”
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
