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At some point or another, most people have dreamed about being part of the movies, whether as an actor, director, or something on the more artistic side.
Now, for a French expat this dream has come true, having just won a competition that will put his creativity - a futuristic commercial - in a movie set in the future. It will be released next year.
Jean-Michel Tari, 37, a computer game cinematic director for one of the world's leading games companies, entered the "Bad Contest" earlier this year.
Contestants produced a 20-second advertisement to be included in the next film by distinguished French director Mathieu Kassovitz, called "Babylon AD."
Tari's clip will be integrated in the movie, adding authenticity; it will be a commercial seen by the people of the future.
"I don't really know what they will do with my work. Perhaps at the end my ad will just be a small tiny picture at the background of a two-second shot," he says. "But what is really important for me was to be chosen by such movie professional. It's really a big honor for me."
Tari declines to describe it since it will be part of the movie's content; he also is not able to mention his employer. He has lived in Shanghai for eight years.
"The only thing I can say is that it will be 100-percent computer generated and involve a new original service I've created that could exist in 20 or 25 years," says Tari.
The "Bad Contest" was launched in July by MNP, one of the "Babylon AD" movie's production companies, to look for clips of futuristic ads or news. The winners will not only appear, but the creator's name will be mentioned in the credits.
"Babylon AD," to be released in February, is based on the novel "Babylon Babies" by Maurice G. Dantec; it is an adventure set in the near future, starring Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry.
"The plot follows a veteran-turned-mercenary who takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to China. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified messiah," explains Tari.
The footage of futuristic images, like Tari's film, will be shown in the film on futuristic TVs, personal tablets, vehicles and especially on a huge scale - on the sides of New York buildings.
Tari created his ad in his spare time. When he heard about it, time was short. "It was open for video, film, anything. But I knew that I only could be able to do it in 3D, because in this way I was able to control everything, know what I could do, and more important, what I couldn't."
Explaining how he looks at such projects, he says: "I want to be creative and original. I knew that thousands of people would participate in the contest. So, if you don't 'kick the ass' of the viewers or surprise them, there is no chance to win."
He created his ad entirely with special effects. "I used no actors at all. I've just created a story without actors, nothing organic. No skin, no hair, no clothes, which are the most difficult things to achieve in 3D."
Tari started out working as artistic director/graphic designer for an advertising agency in the south of France. With a strong background in computer graphics, he moved to Montreal in 1997 and to Shanghai in 1999.
Now in charge of in-game cinematics for the company, Tari says, "it's a little like being a movie director, but with virtual cameras and actors in 3D."
He says the computer graphics industry is always evolving and moving forward. "The hardware we are working for (PC or game console) is always getting more powerful, so there are fewer limits to our creativity. I like to imagine that I can do anything."
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