Day 2 : Filming : Paris
Flip the page of the film brief and the second sentence I read was this, “Find Freedom in Love””
The Storyline
Who are we looking to for our inspiration - what of Eurydice, a Greek myth of unique beauty? And David. It would be beautiful to render out a true love story - ageless and magical. For that is what love draws out in all of us.
A touch of magic.
Suspend belief and enter this world. A young man and woman who don’t know each other find each other in their dreams. Night after night, even during day, they are always seeing each other journeying somewhere. The story unfolds.
And their journey just begins here. With Naudic through the entire way to help them realise this Utopian dream of true love.
Written by Keyur
Day 2
SHOOT LOCATION
Chateau De Bouffemont 8, 8, rue Léon Giraudeau 95570 Bourffemont.
SET
Girl’s bedroom, staircase, bathroom, party room, outside and around the grounds of the castle
Firstly, just to finish the second half of Day 1; a stage was set up on the top floor of a Paris city apartment, with a clear 360 degree view of the summer skyline and Eiffel Tower within arms reach. We rented this apartment from early afternoon to late evening, many hands make light work and a human chain was formed to shuffle 20 sheets of plywood from the ground floor to the rooftop deck. Up a narrow and windy staircase to the 8th floor, the team then built the set to create the final scene of Day 1.
With no air conditioning in these historical buildings, we were hot and sweaty, all languages were flying around but I didn’t hear one complaint, however we did take a nap to restore the energy and it also felt good to run off some of the excess french bread that had been consumed. Cannot forget the numerous lift runs to move everything else upstairs to this apartment, it was and will be worth every step.
None of us wanted to think about bringing it all back down again at the end of the day, let’s not to worry about that now. So here we are, lights, cameras, make-up, food, the full team all hanging out in the Paris apartment for a few hours, loving life waiting for the sun to set on the Paris city skyline, an evening I will never forget.
Day 2 was an early stop start drive out Paris in peak hour traffic. To then enter the serene French countryside gave another appreciation for the beauty of this country. It didn’t take long to see the contrast of the hustle and bustle during the city peak hour, to a countryside that unfolds like a picture storybook. Through quaint little villages we drove with small and cosy stone homes, which looked like they had been built by loving hands, stone by stone. I could drive for hours through the French countryside watching this beauty of life from a car window.
1 hour later we were approaching the gates of the Chateau where we would be shooting day 2 activities. Just as all castles should have, a grand entrance, this one did not disappoint. The Chateau gates were black wrought-iron frames bolted together, supported by a high stone wall. Once the gates opened the softness of the surrounding rose gardens and a lawn that stretched beyond the hedges, made this an immediate sight of old world romance.
The unloading started again, props, lighting, wardrobe, catering and crew. It’s hard to imagine that people lived in places like this, vast rooms with so much space to fill. You would spend all day looking for something you’d put down in the wrong spot. However the timeless ambience and views from the huge windows were superb. The grand entrance set the mood and a day of filming was filled with many scenes and outfits. The best part was the dancing in the ballroom, and the variety of cheese with French bread we devoured at the end of a long day whilst talking about our individual travel stories in favourite countries, a wild combination of experiences.
Paris Rewind
At 24, sitting in a cafe in Paris, writing in my journal and sending postcards back home to loved ones so they could also enjoy and share my travel experiences. Wearing the same homemade dress, the wardrobe was tiny, because we were travelling around Europe in a Kombi van.
I had already lived in 5 countries, New Zealand, Australia, London, Austria and Sweden. Also worked and played in these countries, the seeds of exploration of people, business and places had been planted, who knew where they would grow.
Take away learnings from Day 2
Our offline world experiences and online world experiences are grabbing our attention in different ways.
Attention span is a premium.
Be the promise to yourself moving forward.
Have fun every day and don’t take yourself too seriously.
A real letter; one made of insights, compassion, experience and understanding can take a lifetime to write.
love Emma x