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Cinematographer Pierric Gantelmi d’Ille, AFC, is lensing this film, which premiered at the Alpe d’Huez Festival and has been warmly received by audiences since its release on February 4.
Shot over 13 weeks in Thailand, the Greek islands, and the suburbs of Paris, Philippe Lacheau’s Marsupilami is the first blockbuster of the year to be released in theaters at the start of the winter holidays. Pierric Gantelmi D’Ille remembers : “This film was a real challenge for me, and for Philippe Lacheau as well. Even though we had already worked together on Alibi.com 2 with a number of digital effects, the Marsupilami project far exceeded anything we had done before in terms of ambition, budget, and complexity. Pathé’s involvement in the film and the enormous expectations we felt on their part were a little daunting... But Philippe is a huge workhorse, and it was with great enthusiasm and energy that we embarked on the preparations six months before filming began.”
From the very first discussions, all eyes were on the star creature from the comic book universe. A cute yet angry creature with yellow and black fur, created by cartoonist Franquin in the 1950s.
"Of course, we reviewed the first screen adaptation of Marsupilami (Houba ! On the Trail of the Marsupilami) directed by Alain Chabat and shot by Laurent Dailland, AFC. At the heart of the equation was the decision from the outset not to rely solely on a creature created using 3D modeling, as was the case in the 2012 film. As Philippe Lacheau imagined his film as a tribute to the cinema of his childhood, he decided to use animatronics techniques. This work relies on both puppetry techniques and micro-motor facial animation, popularized by films such as Gremlins (Joe Dante, 1984). We therefore embarked on a long period of testing as the creature was being created by Nicolas Herlin and his studio.
I particularly remember all the discussions about the animal’s fur, its yellow color, its thickness, and its density, which proved crucial to the final result.
Another challenge in this new film was that it wasn’t the adult Marsupilami as Franquin imagined it, but its baby hatching and emerging from its egg during the cruise... So we had to imagine what a baby Marsupilami might look like and make it believable from the very first shots. It was of course fascinating to see this character gradually come to life, and above all to be able to offer the actors—especially our young performer—a partner on set who wasn’t just a stuffed animal painted green.
But given the ambition and the numerous action scenes in the film, animatronics alone were not enough to produce all the shots. The creature therefore also had to be recreated in 3D alongside the puppet used in front of the camera.
“Given the very close intertwining of this puppet and its digital double, we needed the permanent presence of Sébastien Nebout, the VFX supervisor on set. This is a rare thing, as most of the time the VFX team only comes in on an ad hoc basis depending on the scenes. On Marsupilami, Sébastien’s presence reassured us about the creature and all the effects for 90% of the shoot. It was a really smart decision in terms of organization and time.
Among the challenges that this live-action/digital creature setup presented us with was that of color and its rendering : here again, the tone, density, and shine of its fur were the focus of all our attention in the image. Looking back on the entire trial period leading up to filming, it was through several rounds of camera tests (shot in FX 3) and initial 2D modeling trials (3D being extremely costly) that we were able to determine the LUT and, in particular, everything related to find the right yellow, which was particularly important in the final result."
The team settled in Thailand in mid-July 2024 to begin shooting the tropical sequences of the film.
"Many different destinations were considered to recreate the South American jungle where the beginning of the film is supposed to take place. But in the end, Thailand and its islands were chosen, particularly for the security and infrastructure available there. For example, just before us, the series ’White Lotus’ was being filmed there, and the local crews are perfectly accustomed to international scale productions. The only disappointment was the weather, which was pretty awful during the monsoon season. There was a lot of rain and a lot of stress in terms of the images, the continuity, and the tropical atmosphere we had imagined. In terms of references, Philippe immediately mentioned the adventure films of the 1980s, particularly Raiders of the Lost Ark. That’s why we wanted a film that was quite warm, quite saturated, and with dominant colors that evoked the world of comics that Spielberg himself was inspired by. But unfortunately, we didn’t really have a choice with this schedule, as the presence of our young actor meant that the production dates were necessarily fixed around his summer vacation."
After three weeks spent in this tropical jungle setting, filming stopped and resumed at the end of August for exterior shots in the Paris suburbs (again to accommodate the young actor’s work schedule). The team then boarded a real cruise ship in mid-September to sail to the Cyclades and shoot most of the cruise ship scenes that form the heart of the film. Finally, the cabins, corridors, and other interior ship scenes were recreated in the studio over a three-week period, again with the help of a lot of special effects.
"It’s true that we had really beautiful weather on the ship. The skies were blue, and it was much easier for me. It was very different from the outdoor shoots in late august around Paris, where there was perhaps only one day of good weather. That’s why a lot of the sky was replaced in these sequences, to achieve a certain uniformity throughout the film, that feeling of sunshine and brightness that I think is inseparable from a comedy project like this."
Among the challenges encountered in the studio, Pierric Gantelmi d’Ille particularly remembers the wide shots of the puppet.
"In fact, the animatronics are mainly for the Marsupilami’s face, which is controlled remotely by a bundle of wires leading to a console. All of its other movements are physically animated by two puppeteers, who are in the camera’s field of view but hidden under full blue outfits. They are the ones who bring the creature to life live via blue rods. And their presence on set is not so easy for the lighting. The shadows cast by these two people standing next to the creature often pose a problem, and it’s always a bit of a drag to film those shots.
It’s a constant balancing act between their freedom of movement to animate and the placement of the spotlights. And then I also remember a subjective shot of the Marsupilami jumping around that Philippe was keen on. That was a real headache to coordinate during the fight sequence with the gang of mercenaries who took over the ship. Although initial discussions with the rest of the stunt and special effects team led us towards a shot filmed with a GoPro action camera, I really insisted on being able to shoot this shot with the Sony FX3, which we had been using regularly since the start of filming as a third camera. This was in order to take advantage of much better colorimetry in this beige setting with this yellow creature. It would have been very difficult to match a Go Pro shot with the Sony Venice 2 cameras A and B. Thanks to a very light 12mm fisheye lens, I was able to save a few hundred grams and ultimately shoot with the FX3. The only downside was the poor stabilization offered by this combination. But this was then corrected by Cédric Fayolle’s team in post-production.
Looking back on his choice of camera kit, the director of photography admits to choose simplicity over risks. "When Philippe told me about the American cinema of the 80s that he loves so much, the anamorphic option immediately came to mind. It’s difficult, of course, to dissociate a film like Raiders of the Lost Ark from this choice of image. But honestly, as we went through the tests and realized how complex the shoot was going to be, I decided that we needed to simplify things as much as possible. That’s why I chose the Arri Signature Prime spherical series, which I know very well and which would give excellent results, particularly thanks to the exchange of data and metadata in VFX. Combined with the Sony Venice 2, which is also my camera of choice, I felt much more secure and able to respond to many unexpected things without wasting time.
In fact, even though the film falls into the category of French blockbusters, I must admit that time was really tight during the shoot. We literally spent our time running around and shooting at almost the same pace as a TV series. It must be said that the presence of a creature and a seven-year-old child really doesn’t make things any easier on a film like this. The project was initially estimated to take 15 weeks to shoot, but two weeks were subsequently cut during preparation. »
(Interview by François Reumont pour for the AFC)
