Page 22 - Fujifilm Exposure_35 Miss Potter_ok

PARIS, JE T’AIME
“I love the new Eterna 400T especially for the skin tones, which I find more flattering when photographing Asian skin.”
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Fujifilm was the official partner on Paris, Je T’aime, and a wide range of Fujifilm stocks were used by French and international cinematographers - among them, Pierre Aim, Maxime Alexandre, Michel Amathieu, Laurent Brunet, Bruno Delbonnel, Eric Gautier, Franck Griebe, Eric Guichard, Jean-Claude Larrieu, Denis Lenoir, Rain Kathy Li, Pascal Marti, Tetsuo Nagata, Matthieu Poirot- Delpech, Pascal Rabaud, David Quesemand, Michael Seresin, Gerard Sterin - to create a unique and particular look for each district’s tale.
Producers Claudie Ossard and Emmanuel Benbihy said they tried 81 different edited versions before they were satisfied with the pacing of each story and its transitional links within the final film.
One of the more exotic offerings is the musical fantasy from Christopher Doyle who chose Paris’s largely Chinese-inhabited 13th district and then cast Barbet Schroeder (who produced Paris Vu Pa in 1965, a six-part vignette precursor to PJT) as a French cosmetics salesman who tries to sell his wares along with his cultural and aesthetic preconceptions to Chinese women.
Doyle collaborated with his pro- duction partner and cinematographer Rain Kathy Li, who was born in Beijing and resides in London. Rain started her career as an electrician before entering the camera department. At the age of 18, she began by shooting commercials and in her mid- twenties started photographing feature films.
Today she works as cinematogra- pher to Chris Doyle when he directs films and also works as co-cinematog- rapher with him on feature projects. Rain says her collaboration with Doyle is unique in the way they work togeth- er on every aspect of the film from writing the script to the photography to the music to the editing.
Because Doyle was completing work on his latest film, Lady In The Water (for director M Night Shyamalan), she handled a lot of the pre-production and casting in Paris.
“The first part of the film”, says Rain, “is dark, dingy, and claustropho-
bic, but then in the second part it changes to something more glossy and colourful. I did all the still photographs in the film. Working with all the actress- es beforehand helped me decide how to photograph our main actress who transforms from a harsh Chinese mafia type into an elegant lady”.
“We used the new 35mm Eterna 400T 8583 stock which is a low-con- trast stock. I was a big fan of the previ- ous Super F-400T and Chris recom- mended this new improved stock to me. I have personally photographed four or five films on it and love it, especially the skin tones, which I find more flattering when photographing Asian skin.
“My style of lighting in Paris, Je T’aime is quite dark and gritty, but with low contrast. Chris and I wanted the main location at the hair salon to be set in a gritty (but not deep) green colour. Chris and I both love the green in Fujifilm stock, and the 400 ASA suit- ed the low contrast look, so Eterna 400T was the best option we had. We both knew it so well, there was no need to shoot tests beforehand.
“Because of the contrast, I find the best stop for working with the 400 ASA stock is at T4. I tend to pull one stop, or one and a half stops, so that it is smoother and less grainy, but still giving enough detail in the contrast and the colour. By overexposing it on the set, then underexposing in the processing, the image then looks so beautiful and rich.
“Our film looks quite complicated compared to the other 19 segments. In two days, we completed 65 (some- times tricky) shots which was quite tough as we had several locations and there never was enough time.
“Chris used 60 shots in the edit which he did very quickly because he knows exactly what he wants - he had already visualised it.” ■ MADELYN MOST
Sponsored by Fujifilm, Paris, Je T’aime was originated on various Eterna stocks
Photos above l-r: Director Christopher Doyle HKSC; DP Eric Gautier AFC; main and right: scenes from Paris Je T’aime
20 • Exposure • The Magazine • Fujifilm Motion Picture