Alexandra de Saint Blanquat discusses the black-and-white image of "Two People Exchanging Saliva", by Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh

Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata are both hailing from the art world (he a visual artist, she a researcher and curator in the field of contemporary art). An call for projects from Galeries Lafayette gave them the idea for this short film.
Alexandra de Saint Blanquat explains : “"Les Galeries by night" project is an invitation from Galeries Lafayette to artists from the contemporary art world to take over the premises for one night. Whilst most projects are temporary installations or performances, Natalie and Alexandre proposed an even more ambitious project : this short film set in a strange society where people are no longer allowed to kiss. Their project was approved, and it was thanks to the film’s producers that I came to meet them and was ultimately chosen to film it.
We were therefore able to use the Champs-Élysées location to shoot most of the scenes in the shop, as well as the one on Boulevard Haussmann, where a suite intended for the most prestigious clients (on the top floor) allowed us to recreate Angine’s flat. A total of 12 days of filming were required to make the film.”

Set in a totalitarian dystopia where bad breath serves as a pass and slaps as a means of payment, the film’s absurd world also relies heavily on monochrome imagery and a voice-over by a distinguished guest (Vicky Krieps) delivering a non-linear narrative. “The film has quite a political undercurrent… with a commentary on contemporary violence, that of consumer society”, explains the director of photography. “It’s almost surprising given this open invitation from a major corporation and its communications strategy. The only constraint was that we could only shoot at night in the department store, with everything having to be set up in the evening and dismantled in the morning at 6am : That’s about four hours of daily set-up and dismantling, which significantly reduced our shooting time over the 8 nights spent on location. The final 4 days being devoted to the film’s other sets, a few urban exteriors, and the mysterious ravine in the middle of the forest where the cardboard coffins are dumped...”

As preproduction started between France and the US (the directing couple live in New York), Two People Exchanging Saliva employed an original method to preview the scenes shot in the department store : “We were only able to get four two-hours sessions on location to scout the whole areas of the store where we would film each scene. That was a bit tight given the size of the venue and the complexity of the project. Some shots required up to 30 extras.
For this reason, and to make progress on the breakdown of those galleries scenes, Alexandre and Natalie carried out a complete 3D scan themselves of every part of the store selected for each scene. This scan, taken using a simple mobile phone, was then imported into the open-source programme Blender to reconstruct the sets in 3D. Once the directors had returned to New York, this modelling allowed us to work remotely by generating simple animations, which were initially used to visualise the characters’ movements within the locations. Based on these movements, we were then able to lock each scene by specifying the exact focal lengths and camera settings we had chosen in the interface. Subsequent Zoom meetings enabled us to arrive at a fairly precise breakdown on this basis, which was even edited together. Following this first draft, we reviewed things a little further to arrive at a second, more accurate animation. This preparation within the 3D-recreated set allowed us, for example, to gradually move away from the location itself, to free ourselves from particular wide shots or compositions offered by the beauty of the set, and to focus increasingly on the characters. It also allowed us to avoid shooting too many shots later on, which, given the production conditions, was invaluable.” 

Nevertheless, the director of photography admits to her initial doubts  : “ I must admit that at first, I was a little wary of this way of working. Coming from a documentary background, I love reacting to what’s happening on set and drawing inspiration from reality. Here, it was like pre-shooting the film virtually, in a very precise way, and then wondering what I would be able to bring to the film on set... I was worried that the software’s capabilities—and especially its limitations—would become our own limitations. Fortunately, Alexandre and Natalie managed to stay instinctive, and I think the combination of our two approaches was very fruitful in that respect. I got involved in preparing the storyboard, and they trusted me when I suggested more instinctive and spontaneous ideas.
But on the other hand, many quite complex shots were devised thanks to Blender. Shots that we would undoubtedly not have had time to work out on set without this preview, as the shooting schedule was very tight, and any movement, given the distances and the size of the crew, was very time-consuming. I’m thinking in particular of the shot where we follow Angine up the central staircase, whilst a vertical pan reveals Malaise just above her in a glass-fronted booth next to an arguing couple.

 And then, as those 8 nights in the shop went by, I think we tried more and more things, taking liberties with that previz . I’m thinking, for example, of the sequence of the incident, when the siren sounds and a customer is forcibly ejected from the shop. There, we decided on set to shoot an improvised, handheld shot, which fits the intensity of the scene much better. That’s when you realise that pre-visualisation does have its limits after all !”

On the major decisions regarding editing and narrative, Alexandra de Saint Blanquat reveals the influences and fundamental choices behind the short film : “The Lobster, by Yorgos Lanthimos, was a major source of inspiration for the film’s directors, and it’s a common thread we drew upon throughout the preparation : that distance, that very cold, observational stance of the camera. It seemed to fit very well with our dystopia, this sort of surrealist dictatorship. The voice-over too (as in Lanthimos’s film), which was there right from the writing stage—a story told by a narrator who is also an observer.
But even so, the film doesn’t operate entirely in this mode. We then move into the perspective of each main character, first Malaise, then gradually Angine, even taking a brief detour into that of Pétulante, the jealous saleswoman.

We used forward tracking shots as a means of leaving this observer’s position and accessing the characters’ intimacy. For us, the work on the characters was the foundation of the film... “This was what we wanted to highlight first and foremost, rather than the context or the location, however visually rich it might be”.

Another key choice for the director of photography was black and white. “We wanted a black and white look that was at once brilliant, modern and simple. A black and white that didn’t seek to imitate analog moviemaking. Somewhat in the spirit of the look Paul Guilhaume achieved in Jacques Audiard’s Les Olympiades, a film on which I studied his contributions and explanations at length. We wanted to avoid an image that was too sophisticated, too polished, which might have made the short film resemble a fragrance commercial.”

Another source of inspiration for the lighting was the postcards that Angine finds in the unfortunate customer’s bag, which serve as storyboards for each part of the narrative.

“Postcards depicting classical painting and sculpture, which also guided us towards restrained sensuality. Probably the main topic of the show. As an example, the intimate scene in the changing room between Malaise and Angine, which ends with a kiss.

A scene actually shot in the department store’s changing rooms, which echoes the make-up scene, interrupted by the alarm. The lighting was highly contrasted yet very soft in this cubicle, lined with velvet fabric, which appeared very dense on screen. I remember a scene shot very quickly, in just two takes, with incredible precision in the acting from our two lead performers. The light came solely from above, using diffused Astera tubes, with a few white reflective boards placed in the few spots I didn’t cover in the frame as I moved around them. I remember we even considered breaking away completely from the rest of the film to enter a dreamlike state for the duration of this kiss by diffusing the light more towards the camera. Right up until the last minute, we even considered shooting two takes, one with and one without a filter. But in the end, that option was shelved, and I’m very happy with that choice. The scene itself—the fitting room—and that lighting, so inspired by the sculptures seen on postcards, really stands on its own, without losing the intimacy with the actresses’ skin. Feeling their bodies, despite the light being somewhat harsh, was what mattered most for that sensuality in that scene.” 

Opting for the Alexa LF fitted with a Panavision Primo 70 series, Alexandra de Saint Blanquat also explains her choices regarding the transition from colour to black and white. “The decision to use the large format was made by Alexandre, who wanted to take advantage of the sensor’s size to shoot with slightly longer focal lengths even in confined spaces.
In terms of lighting, we were constrained by large spaces and short set-up times. We had to use the existing light in the Galeries Lafayette as a base, cutting or adjusting the effects by area.

From there, we always added a main light source, which allowed us to achieve contrast, but also a clear line for the shadows, and not to multiply them. The idea was not to go for an expressionist style, but to keep the shadows clean and the lighting directions clear. Then, on set, we adjusted the softness of the contrast using LiteMats and reflections. The challenge lay in the preparation, and with the help of precise lighting plans drawn up in collaboration with chief lighting technician Alexandra Fischer, so that we had time to move this main light source up two or three floors for certain shots, and then move it again... We thought of the space as a theatre stage, and we decided that the foreground should shine and have volume, whilst allowing the background to darken gently.
Anna Brun and her set design team were also a great help in setting up signage that was quick to install, which allowed us to organise the set a little, making it less cluttered and more understated.

As for the LUT, I had various contrasts on set that I’d prepared in advance. The contrasts mainly affected skin tones : some LUTs pulled the skin tones down, resulting in an image with more grey tones, whilst others lifted the skin tones, making them almost translucent, and creating a more contrasted yet luminous image. The first LUT was mainly for the exteriors, the second primarily for the shop.
Furthermore, we tried to maintain consistency in colour temperature with the existing lighting in the shop. One of the challenges in colour grading was to separate the rendering of the marble, which is used extensively in the Galeries, from that of the faces, which are very similar in black and white.
It was actually quite unsettling at times to sift through the rushes for continuity shots without the LUT and suddenly see a radically different film emerge. There won’t, of course, be a colour version of this project, but I must admit that, out of sheer curiosity, it would be really interesting to see it !”

On the lessons she has learnt from this adventure, the director of photography nods : “It was my first black-and-white film, and I’ve refined my approach to working with light. Working in black and white demands a new level of rigour when it comes to contrast—whether that’s in the set design, the LUT or the lighting. It’s something I approached much more instinctively on my previous projects, but with black and white, this is unforgiving... Because very quickly the faces suffer, as they end up looking too harsh. It forces you to be much more structured in your approach and on set. And suddenly you rediscover light even more, with its softness, its volume and all of its characteristics stripped of colour” .

(Interview conducted and edited by François Reumont for the AFC)

Two People Exchanging Saliva
Direction : Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh
Direction of Photography : Alexandra de Saint Blanquat
Set Design  : Anna Brun
Costumes  : Resvan Farsijani
Sound : Charlie Cabocel
Editing : Hannah Park
Music : Bobak Lotfipour