En
FrTwo Pictures a Day in Siberia: fourth week
From 15 to 21 February 2015
This is the continuation of the daily photo journal that Gilles Porte, AFC, has been keeping while shooting Safy Nebbou’s film The Consolations of the Forest in Siberia. Gilles has been asking other members of the team to give him one of the two photos sent to us every day, and writes the legends himself. Take a look at these images from their fourth week on location.
First class glass holes
The verdict… Under control of Fréderic (production manager), Samia meters the glass thickness: 2 inches! The UAZ will be driving on the lake! Snow has fallen in the afternoon; we won’t be able to shoot what Safy wanted. Tomorrow, we’ll shoot in Teddy’s cabin thus.(Gilles Porte, Sunday 15 February)
When the sun meets the moon...
(Photo by Cyrille Girard, gaffer, Sunday 15 February)
Dawn...
First day around Teddy’s cabin. The most important set in the film. While I’m shooting this picture at dawn, I already know this cabin will surely appear in the movie more often at dusk! The lake is all iced and my Nikon camera gets crazy because of the temperature. Even in manual mode, it doesn’t stick to the speed I select…(Gilles Porte, Monday 16 February)
Arrived safely on the set!
The cabin is so small that Laurent, sound engineer, is always standing outside, by -22°F, while we shoot inside, by 68°F… (Photo by Benjamin Vial, key grip, Monday 16 February)
Int. UAZ #4 – Way back – Rachel
It takes Rachel (script supervisor), Safy, Louna, Frédéric, Lisa and I, 45’ to get on the "Teddy’s cabin" set. It will even take the ACs and the sound crew 15’ more, due to the bad state of the road and their wish to preserve the equipment three more months! (Gilles Porte, Tuesday 17 February)
Cigarette break
Many Bouriates discover a camera or crew for the first time. What a baffling nature! (Photo Pierre Brayard, set designer, Tuesday 17 February)
Benjamin, camera handheld!
Third day in the cabin. I must admit I don’t fit in Teddy’s (Raphaël Personnaz) trousers. Safy and I ask Benjamin (key grip) to shoot a POV shot of Teddy, camera handheld. (Gilles Porte, Wednesday 18 February)
Make-up close-up #2
No comment. (Photo by Myriam Kimas, make-up artist, Wednesday 18 February)
A hole for a genny!
We made a hole, 100 feet away from the set, as to lay our light genny (6kW), as to soundproof it better. Every night, we will take it back inside a warm place so that it works again the next day. My biggest apparatus is an Arrimax 1800W. Everybody now knows that only dawns or dusks will let us shoot wide night shots, unless a full moon allows seeing the lake as I’ve never seen before! A thought to The African Night, produced by Jacques Perrin, whom I know he shot with no additional light, thanks to a brand new technology. (Gilles Porte, Thursday 19 February)
Arnaud and his electric pole
Arnaud agrees to any of Safy’s desires. With his blower, he was asked to make the electric wires move. Though we don’t shoot, we’ll let him blow for minutes, just for the pleasure of attending this surreal scene.(Photo by Safy Nebbou, director, Thursday 19 February)
Grey sky on the Baïkal!
We should have been shooting on the ice, but the climatic conditions push this sequence shoot again. Safy wants a blue sky! He will be delighted to have the grey sky he needs for other sequences, where this weather is necessary, due to the drama of the script, though. Here, Marie-Sophie (AC), Benjamin (key grip), and Cyril Girard (gaffer). Reminder: Dust-off bottles don’t work anymore, below -4°F! (Gilles Porte, Friday 20 February)
Jean-Christophe, prop master
Jean-Christophe apprehended his ability to cope with cold weather... His job actually puts him at the forefront and his presence in each shot is always an asset to the images we are making. (Photo by Jean-Christophe Joubert, prop master, Friday 20 February)
Ice skates
Jean-Christophe, prop master, who we also call "JC", walks on the water with skates cut in a carpet! Beside him, Benjamin Vial also assures the framing of this tracking shot set upon a meter of ice, on a horizontal ladder! We had made the choice to travel without any track… Between them, Timothy, 2nd AC, goes and get the B camera, immobilized on the lake. (Gilles Porte, Saturday 21 February)
Crack and rock
Cracks in the lake impress me a lot. Without the perfect knowledge of the drivers who guide us, it would be impossible to venture on Lake Baikal, blind… (Photo by Thomas Colban, 2nd assistant director, Saturday 21 February)
(Translated from French by Laurent Andrieux)
- Click here to see the previous series of images
- Click here to see the series of images from the 2nd week.
- Click here to see the series of images from the 1st week.
- Click here to find out more about Gilles Porte’s project, read a plot summary of the movie, learn about the members of the camera crew and some technical specifications.
