A Prophet

Paru le La Lettre AFC n°189 Autres formats

[English] [français]

Stéphane Fontaine worked for a long time as Eric Gautier’s first assistant. He graduated from the Louis Lumiere school in 1985, and alongside his work as a focus puller, lit documentaries and art films.

After a stint in the world of commercials, his first feature film as cinematographer was Bronx Barbes by Eliane Delatour in 2000. He has since collaborated with Philip Grandrieux, Arnaud Despleschin and Barry Levinson.

A Prophet is his second film with Jacques Audiard, after The Beat My Heart Skipped.

What are the stakes of this new movie ?

Stéphane Fontaine : For me the film really tells the story of the creation of an individual ... It is the journey of a young man who is going to discover himself during the six years of his prison sentence. It’s a sort of initiation, without any value judgments, as is often the case in the films of Jacques Audiard.

This film therefore relies heavily on its cast. An ambitious selection of new faces, notably including Tahar Rahim, a young 27 year-old actor for whom everything seems so simple on the set. I think a great talent is revealed here.

How did you develop the visual strategy for this project ?

It took a little time to figure out how to make this film... We did many tests, in Super 16, in 35 mm and also in digital with the Red and the HVX200.

Ideally, we would have liked to shoot in a quasi-documentary style by going to a real prison, and adopting a freewheeling approach to filming. From this point of view the Super 16 solution was very well suited, knowing that we would shoot a lot handheld, using a greater zoom ratio than available in 35 mm.

And then upon screening these tests, the Super 16 image, and what it brought notably in terms of graininess to the screen, emerged as an aesthetic position that was far removed from the film. In the end, we chose to shoot in 35mm, with the least possible grain in the image. And it’s also for this reason that I insisted that the presentation of the film at Cannes be done with digital projection, from a JPEG 2000 aster. So as to go all the way with our "no grain" decision !

Apart from this issue of grain, we took great care to avoid framing that was too composed, shots that were too "beautiful". The light is harsh, not especially pleasant, playing with faces in shadow, with eyes that are seen only rarely.

How did you post-produce the image ?

Originally the post was to be photochemical. But gradually, as the film was edited and the special effects began to be added, we quickly realized that it was more logical to switch to 2K. So, we had access to a DI for three weeks at Eclair, alongside Isabelle Julien, with whom I work regularly be it in film or digital.

This digital timing was not about reinventing the image of the film, but rather to confirm choices made during shooting. The intention must be in the negative. In fact I just remembered the usual instructions from Jacques Audiard : "Dark, but with brilliant backgrounds !"

What equipment did you choose ?

The film was shot in 3P 1.85 with an Aaton 35-III equipped with a set of Cooke S4s and a 28-76 mm Angénieux Optimo zoom, a combination that works well for handheld, which is Jacques Audiard’s prefered filming method. Almost all the scenes were shot with one camera, with the exception of a few sequences of groups of people that pushed us to use two cameras.

And in terms of film stock, you spoke of tests ... What did you use in the end ?

This is my first movie in Fuji (500T and 64D), and it allowed me to find colors that I did not have when shooting in Kodak. Whether it be certain blues or certain cyans, one obtains a very different palette, and also skin textures which are quite different... Only two sequences were shot in Kodak (5218).

What about the sets for the prison scenes ?

The prison set was built entirely by Michel Barthelemy on a vacant site. In fact, the image we have of prison is often shaped by those in American movies... In a French prison for example, there is no cafeteria... The inmates eat their meals in their cells, nor are there any uniforms or special outfits (except in the case of "Auxis", inmates employed by the prison).

There are also wide disparities between prisons or detention centers... We tried to create a sort of synthesis by constructing a set that resembles no prison in particular, but that is still realistic...

During our tests, we benefited from a "model" cell that was built first and that allowed us to identify more precisely the problems related to its small size. It was a real studio set, with no ceiling, and flying walls.

From Jacques’ perspective, all these conveniences were so many handicaps that would hinder the film, so we decided to build solid walls and add a ceiling. This decision profoundly changed the sound, and also constrained me as far as the placement of lights.

In the end, all the lights used in the film are either built into the set in collaboration with Michel Barthelemy, or come from the outside through the few windows that can be found in this kind of setting.

Did you develop a precise palette of colors ?

The set was built very quickly. Michel offered me a selection of hues for the walls and the various rooms, which all had the common feature of low saturation. But the color palette of a setting is not always something that the lighting must follow to the letter. For example, I sometimes use a warm light in a setting that is more on the cool side.

Anyway, lighting a scene or actors does not interest me. What I like is to find an ambiance, a mood in which the characters are going to like to evolve in.

(Interview by Francis Reumont for the AFC - translated by Benjamin B)

Technique

Film stock : Fuji 500T & 64D – Kodak 5218
Camera : Aaton 35-III 3P, 1.85:1, Cooke S4s, Angénieux Optimo 28-76mm zoom