Toward new skies
Today’s 10-second video was inspired by the first of the more than 40 Air France posters in my collection of original vintage posters. Printed in 1946, it was designed to celebrate the post-WWII rebirth of France’s national airline which had been grounded during the war — and to announce that Air France was back in business. The English translation of the tagline under the logo, “Vers des Ciels Nouveaux," is “Toward New Skies.” (Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the original poster, which is framed and displayed in our living room.)
In the early 1980s I was walking past a vintage poster gallery in Manhattan, saw it in the window, stopped in my tracks, went into the store, and bought it on the spot.
This morning I uploaded a photo of it to Google Gemini and instructed it to bring this piece of art to life as a 10-second video. Here, for those of you who are interested, are the exact directions I provided:
Create a 10-second video in the style of a TV commercial by animating this 80-year-old poster. The video will begin with everything on the poster except … the airplane … the Air France logo and name in red type at the bottom …. and the tag line under the words “AIr France.” The clouds should be animated ever-so-slightly, just enough that the viewer realizes they are not static. The airplane, which has four propellers, will be out of sight as the video begins but, before viewers see it, they will hear the sound of its four propeller-driven engines, which will grow louder as the plane approaches and flies past the “hole” in the clouds. Be sure to keep the “hole” exactly as it is shown — because the shape is the image of France on a map. The plane will slowly fly out of the poster, to the left as the Air France logo and name appear in red at the bottom along with the tag line from the poster under the words “AIr France” as an announcer says (in French): “AIr France. Vers Des Ciels Nouveaux.” Be sure to use the exact Air France logo, name and tag line that are shown on the poster.
