Jean-Charles Granjon tells us about the challenges of marine coordination on his latest film collaborations.

The Son - Florian Zeller

The Son is a movie directed by Florian Zeller and produced by Joanna Laurie. Several star actors including Anthony Hopkins and Laura Derne share the poster with Hugh Jackman in the lead role. The film will be officially released in France on March 1, 2023.

(Image : Tournage sur la plage pour le film The Son)

Initially, the production contacted us to shoot with splash bags for a film that would be shot 15 days later. Very quickly, we realized the need for maritime coordination and support for the filing of filming permits.

To find 6 technical boats available and answering a very precise schedule of conditions: A drone in an octocopter with the Arri mini LF and a team of 8 people including a pilot able to take off and land by 20 knots of mistral, a transport requiring to embark the team, the HMC and the technique i.e. about forty people. Finally, to propose a boat of play with the conveniences necessary for international stars as well as several shuttle boats between the open sea and the quay which is used as a station.

Beyond the boats, we had to guarantee the certifications of the sailors and the boats, organize specialized briefs for each of them in order to prepare the maritime coordination, and especially foresee several sites of shootings and withdrawals according to very changing weather.
One of the major challenges was to anchor the game boat in one of the most protected natural sites in France in 30 knots of mistral wind while guaranteeing the safety of the site, the boat, and the actors.
The filming was perfect, and coordination was essential to translate the maritime language, the constraints, and the problems of navigation with the artistic and production issues. In short, an intense experience and a great success for our team, all in an English-speaking world.

(Image : préparation caméra sur le tournage de The Son)(Image : Bateau The Son)

(1 aquatic director of photography - 2 cam assistants - 1 specialized production manager - 1 maritime coordinator - 3 divers - 8 sailors, specialized pilots).

Transatlantic - Anna Winger

Anna Winger unveils Transatlantic, the new big-budget Netflix series. From March 17 to 24, 2023, the Cinemania Festival is taking place, which will have the honor of hosting the project’s first worldwide broadcast.

(image : Décor Transatlantique)

For this international co-production, we did the marine coordination and maritime security for a sequence shot at the entrance of the Old Port in Marseille.
The challenge? To block the entrance of the Vieux Port in Marseille and to guarantee a 40’s atmosphere and therefore free of all modern boats. We put seven boats with their pilots at our disposal to regulate maritime traffic. An incessant VHF transmission to coordinate 4 blocking boats, a filming boat, and 2 light reference boats for the integration of a cargo ship in VFX. A team of rescue divers was also present to secure the actors in their fall scene from their boat.
Our location in the south of France and our relationship with the main ship owners in the Vieux Port allowed us to work very smoothly on this mission. Our knowledge of the sea and our sense of the setting did the rest.

(image : Décor barque Transatlantique)(image : Régie marine Transatlantique)

For more information, please visit our website: www.bluearth-prod.com