Riviera Breakup
A French New Wave pastiche — animated from a 1960 Godard-era poster, scored, and edited into a complete short film.
The question was whether AI video could hold a point of view — not just render something that looks good, but carry a specific cinematic argument from first frame to last. Riviera Breakup was the test.
Built from intent, not capability.
The reference wasn't a mood board. It was Raoul Coutard — Godard's cinematographer — and the specific quality of light he pulled from the Riviera in 1960. Two clips: a woman smoking in a convertible, and a car driving away along a Mediterranean coastline ending on a FIN title card. The edit used Smooth Cut to close the seam. The French VO and music bed were there from the start — not added in post to make it feel European, but because the film was European from the premise.
Proof of thesis.
Taste is not a feature of the model. The Nouvelle Vague influence isn't window dressing — it's the argument. Anyone can generate a clip that looks like the 1960s. Fewer people know which frame to keep, where to cut, and why the title card should hold for five seconds instead of three. That's the judgment layer. That's what this film is about.