Micro Salon 2014, two intense and multifaceted days

By Jean-Noël Ferragut, AFC, and Vincent Jeannot, AFC
Now that the pages of the 14th Micro Salon have been turned, we take this time to reflect upon this event, which went by at the speed of light. We would like to mention the new discoveries and meetings with familiar friends, the lovely combination of the latest innovations and blasts from the past, and especially the friendly ambience that the AFC’s Directors of Photography attempted to maintain against all odds.

Our annual event is becoming more and more international and European in flavour. Attendees came from Germany, Russia, Belgium, the United States, Italy, the UK, and many other countries where the cinema of today is being created and made.

What else can we say ? Without entering too much into detail, we would like to mention the broad range of products demonstrated this year by our 52 associate members in the fields of lighting, mobile camera stands, anamorphic and non-anamorphic lenses, on-set colour timing of dailies, to name but a few. Also we would like to thank the following people for their interest in our event and for paying us the honour of a visit : Sophie Cazes, technical consultant for cinema at the Ministry of Culture and Communication, Igor Primault, the CNC’s director of innovation, video, and technical industries (accompanied by Pierre-Marie Boyé, Thierry Ciolfi, Thomas Grosperrin, and Baptiste Heynemann), Marc Nicolas, the General Director of La fémis, Francine Lévy, the Director of the Ecole nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière, Thierry de Segonzac, the President of the Ficam, Angelo Cosimano, the General Delegate of the CST, Olivier-René Veillon, the General Director of the Ile-de-France Film Commission, Jean-Paul Gillet, the President of the IDIFF, and Anne Bourgeois, the General Delegate of L’industrie du rêve.

The AFC’s special thanks go to
Like every year, the AFC and its members extend their warmest thanks to the men and women whose support, assistance, and hard work enabled the Micro Salon to take place in the best possible conditions.
- Raoul Peck and Marc Nicolas, respectively President and Director General of La fémis, Marc Urtado, the Technical Director, Elisabeth Ledanois, Administrative and Financial Director, Pierre-William Glenn, AFC, co-director, with Jean-Jacques Bouhon, AFC, of the image department (also President of the CST), as well as the administrative, teaching, and technical staff and the entire staff of La fémis for their renewed hospitality and their kind aid ;

- Our associate member partners whose good humour and cheer make our event the success that it is, year after year, thanks to their participation, the attendance of their own guests from Europe and the other side of the Atlantic, and the unparalleled ambience that brightened these two days :
Aaton-Digital, Acc&Led, ACS France, Aile Image, Airstar France, Arri, Binocle, Broncolor-Kobold, Cartoni France, Ciné Lumières de Paris, Cinésyl, Codex, Dimatec, Eclair Group,Eclalux, Emit, Fujifilm - Fujinon, HD Systems, K5600 Lighting, Key Lite, KGS Development, Lee Filters, Loumasystems, Lumex, Maluna Lighting, Mikros image, NecFrance, Next Shot, Nikon, Panalux, Panasonic France, Panavision Alga, PanavisionCinecam, Propulsion, Roscolab, RVZ Caméra, RVZ Lumière, Smartlight Motion, Soft Lights, Sony France, Sublab, Technicolor, Thales Angénieux, Transpacam, Transpagrip,Transpalux, Transvideo, TSF Caméra, TSF Grip, TSF Lumière, Vantage, Vitec Videocom ;

- Our surprise guests who hosted their own special events : Nicolas Basset with the portable stabilizer Stabe One, Jean-Marie Delorme and the Ikonoscop camera bodies, Philippe Reinaudo and FirePlay software, the ADIT’s digital image technicians, the AOA’s assistant operators, and the administrators and moderators of the Cinematographie.info online forums.

As well as
- Thierry Beaumel (Éclair Group), Mathieu Leclerq (Mikros Image), and Eric Martin (Technicolor) who animated a round-table discussion on intentionality and color timing ;
- Russian Directors of Photography Alexander Ilkhovski, Igor Klebanov, and Mikhail Krichman who came from Moscow to present their association, the RGC, and their work.

And also
- Christine Janeau (Airstar), Olivier Oudart (Ciné Lumière de Paris), Marc Galerne (K 5600), Franck Ledesma (Key Lite), Gilles Rousseau (Lumex), Yann Blitte (Panalux),Laurent Kleindienst (TSF Lumière), for their luminous assistance (electricity and various lighting equipment), Gilles Henry (TSF Véhicules), for various means of transport, (TSF Ciné Boutique), for the snack and beverage carts ;
- The team in charge of coordination, Mathilde Demy, assisted by Marie Garric and Margaux Duroux, for administrative coordination ; Eric Vaucher and Jacques Vilaplana, for directing technology, sound and lighting, seconded by Manon Barbier, Olivier Bargès and Felix Demy ;
- The staff in charge of welcoming visitors and making them feel at home, Camille Béchir, Morgane Bouthors, Elliot Carrasco, Clément, Margaux et Quentin Duroux, Virginie Niclasse, Benoît Portolano, Aurore Pourteyron, Raphaël Ridao, Quentin Savoie, and Aude Voisine ;
- Fabien Corée and Simon Legros, for decoration and signage ;
- Thierry Jault, AFC for the lighting of the display and public gathering areas, seconded by Marc Lambert, Thomas Vankerrebroeck and Clément Duroux for electricity and lighting, and Emmanuel Van Wambeke for equipment ;
- Allain Vincent and Martin Rossini, for providing electric power supply to all floors of the event, along with Florian Berthellot, Benjamin Chaudagne, Georges Harnack, Cyrille Hubert, and Diane Plas, their hardworking accomplices ;
- Richard Andry, AFC, Viviane Mikhalkov and Evgenia Alexandrova for their network, preparing for the “carte blanche” to the RGC and for accompanying our Russian colleagues ;
- Jean-Jacques Bouhon, AFC and Eric Dumage, AFC for the high-res 4K screenings, thanks in part to Jérôme Pocholle and Stéphane Gadroy, attentive projectionists, and François Reumont who hosted the screenings ;
- Nicole Sportes (3Deluxe), for loaning the 3D goggles ;
- Olivier Binet (Tapages & Nocturnes), for loaning the walkie-talkies ;
- Elizabeth Conter and Séverine Haïat (Les 400 coups) for providing food for our staff ;
- Jean-Marie Achard, for his graphic design work (the 2014 logo, poster, invitation, carte blanche, etc.) ;
- Hervé Toucheron (Typofset), for his printing carts ;
- Tristan Happel, for her photo reportage ;
- The representatives of the French and foreign press for the invaluable visibility they gave to our event.

Especially
- Maurice Fellous, honorary member of the AFC, for the stories and memories he shared with us, reminding the old and informing the young about the amazing silent mechanism of the Debrie Super Parvo camera, which was used from 1932 to the 1950s ;
- Bernard Château, for having shown the most recent of his cars equipped for tracking shots, a Cadillac Eldorado 1966 that he has used on a number of films. A Moviola Crab Dolly was proudly installed on his set, fitted out with an Arri BL IV camera, itself perched on a Worrall geared head ;
- Thank you to them, to La fémis, and to Panavision Alga for loaning this material to us.

Without forgetting
All the members of the “AFC” house who gladly pitched in to help prepare, set up, and clean up : Lubomir Bakchev, Dominique Brenguier, Sébastien Buchmann, Nathalie Durand, Claude Garnier, Eric Guichard, Vincent Mathias, Vincent Muller, Luc Pagès, Philippe Piffeteau, Myriam Vinocour, and especially the sixty-odd Directors of Photography and active members of the AFC who, along with our three co-Presidents, Michel Abramowicz, Rémy Chevrin, and Matthieu Poirot-Delpech, worthily represented our association over these two days.

Before it’s too late
The AFSI Members and their president, François de Morant, who were the life and soul of the Espace Son for the second year in a row :
- The handymen, especially Yves Capus, for the sound umbrella ;
- Michel Casang, for presenting the “Son direct” conferences with the help of Martine Planchard and Elisabeth Paquotte ;
- The Tapages & Nocturnes company, with Nicolas Launay, for the A4 printouts, the photos, and their logistical assistance ;
- Pierre-Antoine Coutant, for the Afsi signage ;
- Vincent Goujon and Michel Casang, for meals and logistics ;
- Yves-Marie Omnès and Olivier Le Vacon for organization, with the help of Jean Casanova, from a set ;
- The INA for loaning photos of the exposition ;
- Vincent Magnier for his organization and Dominique Gentil, AFC, for his invaluable assistance hanging and lighting ;
- All the AFSI members who helped carry out this colossal project : Jean-Luc Audy, Philippe Bouchez, Dominique Davy, Vincent Hedon, Corvo Lepesant-Lamari, Paul-Etienne Mondain, Thomas Peiniau, Xavier Pirouelle, Laurent Poirier, Jean-François Schenegg, Geoffrey Terreau, Emmanuelle Villard, Olivier Villette et François Waledisch ;
- The partners who presented : A4Audio, AETA, Areitec, AudioRoot, ATS France – Nagra Audio, Cinela, Poly-Son, Sennheiser, Tapages & Nocturnes ;
- As well as Christine Janneau (Airstar) for loaning the light fixture that lit the entrance of Set 2.

And last but not least
Our over two thousand five-hundred guests and visitors, including from the AFSI, who came to discover the expertise that our technical industries are now used to putting on display at the Micro Salon, and not without a certain dose of brio !