Un Certain Regard - Another "Viewpoint" on Filmmaking

I like to talk about digital cinema and DSLR techniques. Those cameras make the revolution possible, but if you have a low budget, this isn't sufficient to make a good film for the audience. If you spend too much time thinking about the "how", you'll never get it done. Don't forget the "what" and the "when"! Life is what happens while you're busy making other things. 

Un Certain Regard is an example of what that really mean. The director Jupiter Le Bâtard did this short film by coincidence. All pre-production (idea, writing, casting, location, storyboarding) happened in just a weekend, and production just took 2 hours. The project of Jupiter Le Bâtard was to wring the neck of the trend. Today, most of the short films have a high technical quality but directors often forget the most important thing : the story. What matters is the script and the narration, rather than the high definition tools that we have today at affordable prices. He shares his very interesting experience on this page.

This is just a quick test movie with many "technical flaws", but viewers don't care about all of that as long as the story works and they feel identified with the characters. Taking in account the filming context : no rehearsals, few hours of preparation, no sound, no script supervisor, basic lighting… This little film has worked well out his way into several international festivals in the last year, because most viewers don't care about all that technical stuff. And viewers have to be the main concern of any director, because movies are made for them.

Il s’agit juste d’un test rapide de vidéo avec de nombreux "défauts techniques", mais peu importe, les téléspectateurs ne s’intéressent pas à tout ça finalement, tant que l'histoire marche et qu’ils arrivent à s'identifier aux personnages. Rappelons le contexte de tournage, pas de répétitions, pas de préparation, pas de prise de son, pas de script-girl, un éclairage au minimum... Ce petit court-métrage a pourtant parcouru son chemin dans plusieurs festivals internationaux au cours de la dernière année, et cela a vraiment été possible car, pour la plupart des gens, la partie technique n'a pas vraiment d'importance. Et, à vrai dire, le public devrait être la principale préoccupation de tout réalisateur, parce que les films sont faits pour être vu par un public.