Antoine Cormier talks about the making of Julien Colona’s film "Le Royaume"

Corsica, 1995. Lésia is enjoying her first summer as a teenager. One day, a man leads her to a secluded villa where she finds her father in hiding, surrounded by his men. A war breaks out in the underworld and the clan’s grip tightens. Death strikes. Lesia goes on the run to find out who her father really is.
With Ghjuvanna Benedetti, Saveriu Santucci.

It was for their first feature film that one - director Julien Colonna - and the other - cinematographer Antoine Cormier - joined forces to produce and light Le Royaume.

Antoine Cormier : « When we were talking with Julien about shooting Le Royaume, we quickly realized that we shared the same desire for image texture. Our first concrete move was to pounce on a 35mm, 2 perfos camera, which offers the texture and very present grain we imagined for this film, but which still retains more detail than Super 16mm… »

But no... we had to give up, it was impossible for several reasons.

AC : « Almost the entire cast of the film is made up of non-professional actors. We also knew very early on that we’d be in commando mode with this budget, and that the logistics, including shipping reels from Corsica, would be too much for the production ».

So they went in a different direction, still with the same desire for texture in this film set in the 90s, which combines the coldness of violence and savagery with the great gentleness of the quest for a father/daughter bond.

AC : « As I own several Super 16 cameras, we tested some of our sets with the Alexa 35 and on film. These tests, with both media, enabled us to build a base for creating a look that we kept until the end. »

The most important factor in creating this look is the choice of lenses. Pre-shoot tests are invaluable, and Antoine didn’t skimp on them !

AC : « We had to try out quite a few of TSF’s spherical (and a few anamorphic) lenses ! In all a dozen series of lenses and 4 zooms. Julien and I liked the fact that the image was a bit rough and not super-clean. The Canon K35 25-120mm zoom (dating back to the early 1970s) really won us over. And 80% of the film is shot with this zoom ! We also often used slow motorized zooms, like those used in Derek Cianfrance’s "I Know This Much is True" series.
These zooms, sometimes barely perceptible, maintained a subtle tension and reinforced the emotions running through our characters.
I chose a series of Canon K35 fixed lenses, from the same period, which naturally complemented the zoom, and gave us more freedom for sets where we couldn’t light so much, and cramped settings such as car interiors ».

When we talk about texture, when we want to shoot in film, we inevitably talk about grain, and Julien and Antoine took the risk, as they did with film, of shooting with grain.

AC : « We decided to use the internal grain of the Alexa 35 "Nostalgic". We liked the idea of seeing an image with its almost final look (grain included !) displayed on the monitors, of being immersed in the era on set.
Still, we did some tests to see if the camera’s grain could handicap us in color grading, or when we increased the ISO. In the end, the digital noise blended nicely with the "Nostalgic" texture, and we even did some additional texture work in post-production. ».

If the question of image texture was important, another subject had to be tackled in the pre-production phase : framing. The two aspects that constantly rub shoulders in the film, that of violence, anger and hatred, and that of the naiveté, purity and beauty of filial love, find their language in the way the film is shot.

AC : « With Julien, we always said that anticipating several cuts upstream was the key to being ready at the moment of shooting. We spent many hours exploring, asking ourselves questions, going back, correcting... All these cutting possibilities turned out to be a real strength, an asset for reacting effectively to the unforeseen circumstances of a shoot, even if sometimes we had to juggle and adapt along the way, as we always do !

For most of the film, the camera is static, in long focal length, tight on the face of Lésia (Ghjuvanna Benedetti), who at times seems paralyzed to see her adolescent world crumble around her, her naiveté and innocence disappear, and she can do nothing about it...
Conversely, the handheld camera (and movement in general) comes into play on rare occasions, when Lésia leaves her role as observer, and becomes active, forced to act in the turmoil of this runaway.

We’re going to talk about the lighting of two night sequences, one that takes place in a forest, around a makeshift camp for the group of men on the run, the other in a campsite, a very long and touching revelation sequence.

AC : « For the night sequence in the maquis, with these men on the run, who don’t want to be spotted and therefore can’t make a fire, we had to find another source of lighting. But I wanted the light to be justified, so that we could understand where it was coming from.
Thibault Danjou, the gaffer, had the brilliant idea of using gas camping lamps, which we used to use for bivouacs in the 90s.
Today, the opaque part that hides the flame has a slightly more modern design. We had to find an older look with the right opacity and frosted glass.
Louise Le Bouc Berger and her design crew arranged for the lamps to be fitted with frosted diffusion domes. This meant we could film them, as they were completely in keeping with the period ! The lighting was perfect, with the hardness of a flame light, an organic feel and an enveloping rendering.
Apart from a very slight level given on certain backgrounds, all the light in this sequence comes from these lamps.

« The father’s long confession sequence in the campsite was quite complicated. The father and daughter are seated in the background, while a party with summer guests is taking place. We wanted an image with little exposure, a light that conveyed the mood of the party, but "out of the way", to create a kind of bubble of intimacy around this precious moment.

« We hung a very large disco ball, 1.30m in diameter, which we lit with several spotlight sources (aputure + optical noses). This allowed the backdrops to be covered with bursts of light. For the "realistic" look, we also used party lights that were already available in the 1990s, such as Washes that swept the dance floor in color. We also had lots of little touches of light in our backgrounds, brought in by AX5s and other compact LEDs hidden on tables and under umbrellas.
Our actors benefited from all these background lights, and although they were away from the party, lots of disco ball bursts punctuated the statements, and quite often the Washes came to create strong, colorful counters for them. For their faces, we also liked the idea of having a fairly marked lateral direction, coming from a Lite Mat close to them but low in level. »

The driving force behind the making of a film is the expression of technical and artistic talent, but the energy of the team counts just as much !

AC : « Making this first film with Julien was truly an exceptional experience. Our artistic affinities and his immense dedication breathed a special energy into our work. I’d also like to express my deep gratitude to the wonderful team who accompanied us every step of the way. »

(Interview by Brigitte Barbier and translated from french by Chloé Finch, pour l’AFC)