[Them, Her & Him]
"Will you be there" is the collective title of three short dance films. A story about loss, reminiscence of a place, and a past relationship. Should we let our dearest memories go? A short film where dialogues were traded with a dance choreography and that will be declined in 3 versions: "Them", "Her" and "Him". 3 perspectives, for 3 different points of view, or are they really?
It all started with [Them], the project initially being only a single video. It is during preparation that the idea of 3 different versions grew on me. Loosely inspired by the concept of the movie: "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" (2014) by Ned Benson, I quickly decided that making 3 different versions with the dancers would be fun. This would give the audience the opportunity to witness the entire performance of each dancer (in the first part of each video) and experience a slightly different ending.
All backstage images by Damien Rembert
This short film is part of a series of videos I will be producing between 2021 and 2022. This is part of my transition from photography only, to photography AND video. My journey in videography and filmmaking started back in 2010. Very few people know I started making films before I started making stills pictures professionally. I struggled to make ends meet in the video industry back in Strasbourg, and my photography career was growing much faster, so making videos became less of a priority with time. Before the COVID-19 became a thing, I was planning on investing more time into filmmaking. I wanted to start from scratch, and the best way to do it was, to begin with, what I knew best: dancers and athletes. This is the reason why a lot of my first videos will be centered around them. The idea will be to test ideas & concepts and the goal will be to produce longer videos and more ambitious short films by 2023 and make my debut in a short narrative film before 2024. And after that? You guessed it, I hope to be ready to make my first feature film! But there is a long way before that.
All backstage images by Damien Rembert
The crew was the smallest crew I ever worked with on a set. My assistant Marlène, my grip Damien and just me directing and doing my best as a cinematographer. The concept and general idea of the short film were discussed with the dancers weeks before principal photography. I made a first detailed shot list, with keywords and key elements I wanted to see in the choreography and in the final short film. The music I chose, "Hope" by Ian Post, was a personal favorite and matched the story I had in mind. I asked the dancers to send me videos of their rehearsals to help me visualize my shots better and make any changes if needed. A rehearsal on location would have been better, but this wasn't possible for any of us. Luckily, I knew the place already because I had worked there before on a photography project so this helped me finalize the storyboard.
Dance photoshoot behind the scenes at Château la Louvière! Feat. Marina & Oleg Dance photoshoot behind the scenes (Feat. Axelle Chagneau) Fine art Portraits Behind the scenes photoshoot (feat. Loïs Bret)
All backstage images by Damien Rembert
This entire project was filmed with the Fujifilm GFX100s, the GF30mm, the GF50mm (main lens), and some shots were made with the GF110mm.
I used a Zacuto Follow focus and their ACT recoil cage for all the handheld/ shoulder shots.
All the "stabilized" camera work was done with the DJI RS2, and everything was recorded on the ATOMOS Ninja V recorder.
Controlling the light there was a nightmare! The scene where both dancers meet was shot in a room that had 3 giant windows. To make it short we were heavily relying on the weather and it was constantly changing. At the end of the first day, a big chunk of the footage we shot was unusable because it was too different from some of the earlier takes. So we had to add an additional 4 hours of filming the next day to re-shoot some sequences. Luckily we managed to get a few of them that kind of matched the earlier takes we did.
We tried to have a bit of control over our exposure, especially in the close-ups with the help of some additional artificial lights.
Our kit consisted of a NANlite Forza 500 and the 120 parabolic softbox (often used to raise the Ambient light on all the wide shots), and 2 NANlite Pavotube 30c. In the sequence where Anaëlle walks across the room, we hid 2 Pavotubes behind the curtains of 2 windows to maintain the desired exposure.
We had the chance to work again in this beautiful location. The idea alone of the two protagonists entering the castle on either side, came to my mind during my first photography project the first time I discovered the place. I immediately knew I had to make a short film inside the Château la Louvière.
Will you be there? [Them, Her & Him]
A short dance video
A film crafted by Haze Kware Choreography & Performance: Anaêlle Mariat & Tangui Trévinal "Hope" Music by Ian post AD: Marlène blackdough Grip: Damien Rembert Filmed at the Château La Louvière X Vignobles André Lurton HK VISUALS all rights reserved I would like to thank the entire staff of the Château la Louvière for letting us create in such a beautiful space. Thank you, Claire Dawson and Jacques Lurton for your trust. Huge thanks to Anaëlle Mariat & Tangui Trévinal for sharing their art with us. Let's hope this is only the beginning!