Since Irreversible , what has brought you together?

 Benoît Debie: "We met in Brussels. Gaspar was presenting I Stand Alone (1999) as a preview, and that same evening a short film by Fabrice Du Welz, When You're in Love, It's Wonderful (1999), which I had worked on, was being shown."

Gaspar Noé: "I loved the film's visuals, with super vibrant colors and super-black blacks. I remember telling you, " You like shadows." "

B. D.: "When you called me back to make Irreversible in the summer of 2001, you said, "I want the same thing!"

G. N.: "The cinematographer I usually worked with wasn't available, so I approached everyone I could collaborate with. But most French cinematographers put lights everywhere: with them, I wouldn't have been able to get shots with much freedom of movement. That's when I thought, hey, there was this short film with a killer image. You couldn't feel the spotlights; the set was lit with just a bare bulb."

B. D.: "Actually, on Irreversible , in my equipment truck, there were only bulbs, no spotlights. Gaspar's intention was to only use light sources that would appear within the camera's field of view."

G. N.: "I went to the Louis-Lumière School, where we were taught to light for low-sensitivity film stock—so with a lot of spotlights. I always felt that this system stifled the directing: the actors sweated, the makeup artists had to come in to do touch-ups… On Irreversible , I wondered how to get vivid, deep colors while, at the same time, a direction that allowed for free movement, so that it would feel very documentary-like. For example, for the nightclub sequence where Vincent Cassel comes to exact his revenge, I wanted bare light bulbs, and red ones at that."

B. D.: "That was an added difficulty, because red bulbs don't have enough power to properly expose the film. So we used white bulbs and spray-painted them red."

How do you organize yourselves on your various shoots? For example, who handles the camera?

B. D.: "Generally, Gaspar."

G. N.: "Except for the Steadicam. On a party scene in Irreversible , I was so out of it the night before that I couldn't frame the shot properly. Luckily, someone was there to do it… It was the same for Climax : I like to be close to the actors so I can give them directions during the take. But sometimes I get cramps, so Benoît has to take over. In any case, one of us keeps an eye on what the other is doing on the monitor. On Enter the Void (2009), the nature of the project was more conceptual, so it was different. Since there are a lot of overhead shots done with a crane, we followed the camera movements together on the monitor, and we took turns controlling the crane's joysticks. And when we followed people from behind with the camera on our shoulder, it was based on the actor's height. Since the main actor was taller than me, Benoît filmed him."

Visually, do you share common references?

B. D.: "For me, it's more photographers who inspire my work. For example, on Enter the Void , we talked a lot about Bill Henson, an Australian photographer who mainly shot nudes. In his photos, there's 80% black. That's what we wanted for the film too, even though it's very bright."

G. N.: "I still think filmmakers call on Benoît when they want things to pop with color. Sometimes, on my sets, the stylists get annoyed because I'm always asking Benoît if a certain extra should be in blue or green. It's the same for set design. "  And the red wall on the side, is that okay, not too intense?  " "

B. D.: "We try to find a nice combination of colors. That's also what guides the viewer's eye."

G. N.: "I also noticed that you liked the actors to appear slightly backlit so they stood out from the background. Benoît, he likes silhouettes."

Gaspar, in general, in your films you favor orange and reddish hues.

G. N.: "You, Benoît, have you ever made a very blue film? Personally, I don't work much with blue."

B. D.: "It's a color that's been used so much in cinema; I've grown tired of blue. I prefer purple and violet."

For Enter the Void , you worked extensively with fluorescence. Benoît, it's a common thread in quite a few films you've contributed to ( Spring Breakers , Lost River …).

B.D.: "These are colors we often see in photography but that aren't widely used in film because they're very difficult to expose, especially on film. I find it amusing, and in Gaspar's films, which do have a futuristic feel, it seems to work well."

You both seem to push each other to take on technical challenges…

G. N.: "We love how technology serves the image. Benoît shoots a lot, so he's always up-to-date on the latest innovations. For Love (2015), which we wanted to shoot in 3D, I was initially apprehensive because we had done tests with incredibly heavy cameras. Benoît had just finished shooting in 3D on Wim Wenders' Every Thing Will Be Fine , and he was incredibly reassuring, saying that there were lighter ones we could work with. That's how I applied for and received funding from the CNC at the very last minute."

B. D.: "What I liked about Love was that the 3D wasn't gratuitous; it had a real narrative function."

G. N.: "On Climax , he also brought something incredible that he had tested on the set of Harmony Korine's The Beach Bum . It doesn't exist in Europe yet, but it's amazing: using an iPad, you can adjust the lighting remotely. You can change the hue, the brightness, make the light vibrate. It's mind-blowing! You have so much more time to shoot thanks to this system. Before, getting a stepladder, changing the gel, making adjustments—it took ages. In fact, the more technology advances, the more fun you can have on set."

B. D.: "It made it easier to play with a gradual evolution. At the beginning, it's just a party, we're working with naturalism. Then, once the characters have had some sangria, we shift into something stranger, more unsettling."

What does it involve to film these dances, voguing, krump…?

G. N.: "I wanted the dancers to be free to move, so we shot with short lenses to get a wide-angle shot. We left ourselves some leeway to do some reframing in post-production. As for the casting, I didn't have any preconceived notions at first. I just wanted young people. In reality, when you're looking for voguing dancers, they tend to come from the suburbs, they have families of foreign origin, they're trans, lesbian, gay. I just chose the best dancers I could find. The idea of ​​the French flag waving in the middle of the room came about at the last minute: we put up a red curtain, then a blue one, and we thought it would look nicer with white in the middle. And there you have it, a French film!"

As always, you've paid meticulous attention to your opening credits and typography.

G. N.: "Tom Kan, with whom I worked on the opening credits for Enter the Void , is the king of typography. Generally, filmmakers don't give a damn about the opening credits because they come at the end of post-production and they just want to go do interviews. But I think they should be just as enjoyable as the rest of the film."

In your films together, and particularly in Climax , you really manage to convey the humidity, the dampness, the filth.

G. N.: "I often said that Climax must resemble Uli Udel's film *Christiane F., 13 Years Old, Drug Addict and Prostitute *, because in Berlin, clothes are often very colorful, and at the same time, you have this slightly grimy atmosphere. Like a mini-Berghain, French style; once you go in, you don't know how to get out."

B. D.: "From the moment the circuit breaker trips in Climax , the lights that remain are emergency nightlights. That's what creates that impression."

G. N.: "You also like to use smoke machines."

B. D.: "Yes, I find that they dress the air. That's my concept of lighting in general, to dress the space. On this film, we created atmospheres rather than lighting the actors."

You shot the film in fifteen days. Technically, how did it go?

G. N.: I feel like I remade Irreversible in reverse.

B. D.: Yes, it's the same shooting style, on the fly.

G. N.: Both films are shot with a handheld camera, the dialogue is improvised because there's no script, and we shot in chronological order. We also tried giving the dancers some vodka to motivate them, but, since they're athletes, they're very sensitive to alcohol and they didn't drink too much. So, we saved that for the crew."

Gaspar Noé And Benoît Debie : fluo dads By Quentin Grosset

2018-09-04

Photo Rectangle Productions

https://www.troiscouleurs.fr/article/gaspar-noe-et-benoit-debie-fluo-dads

Published on January 26, 2021