American Cinematographer - April 2002 - 51

they agreed. As Pitof began prepping,
however, he did not yet know that
Vidocq would be among the first

onboard

features in the world

Children with Jean-Pierre Jeunet and

to

shoot in

24p

high-definition (HD) video for
theatrical release.
Pitof's

primary concern was
bring his sensibilities to
Vidocq, a detective story set in the
year 1830. "I wasn't really attracted to
the idea of doing a period piece," he
how

to

admits. "For

me

it seemed old-fash¬

ioned, so I found a way to make it
non-historical, almost like a sci-fi
movie set in the

past."
began discussing the
film's visual style with cinematogra¬
pher Jean-Pierre Sauvaire (Taxi,
Scenes de crimes) and production
designer Jean Rabasse (City of Lost
Pitof

IUnterocGaiouCrftl.esy
grabs

Frame

Children). "The first reference I
would say we

'met'

was the painter
symbolic painter
of the 19th century before the
Impressionist period," Pitof recalls.
Gustave Moreau, a

"His works have
-

they

are

an

almost sci-fi feel

intense, with

very

rich

heavily involved in art direction
for both films. Pitof explains, "The
faces of the 19th century are not the
same as faces of today. We looked at
paintings and read descriptions and

was

studied the work of Daumier,
cartoonist who

a

popular in
that period. If you take today's faces
and dress them up like the 19th
century, they don't fit. It looks like a
costume party."
Coincidentally, French actor
Gerard Depardieu had committed to
a
completely different film based on
the character of Vidocq, who is
frequently referred to as the "Parisian
Sherlock Holmes." When that project
evaporated, the actor expressed an
interest in starring in Pitof's version.
(The two had previously worked
together on Asterix.) Pitof says that
Depardieu's interest gave Vidocq
momentum

was

very

and also

raised the

stakes.

blacks."
Pitof

specifically to "design
Vidocqs characters." Caro co¬
directed Delicatessen and City of Lost

brought Marc Caro

to

be

was

originally

in

35mm,

the

Sony/Panavision HDW-F900 24p
CineAlta camera had just been
released as the filmmakers prepared
for production in early 2000, and the
camera's possibilities intrigued Pitof
and Sauvaire. "I've worked with
different HD formats for years, and
I've always been impressed by the

the depth of field and the
intensity of the blacks," Pitof says.
contrast,

"HD doesn't have the latitude of film

negative, of course, but if you shoot it
right you can get beautiful images
with very nice color. To me, it's like
the difference between shooting
negative for a paper print and shoot¬
ing an Ektachrome slide. You have no
margin for error [on Ektachrome],
but when you get it right it has a
special beauty. I'd been interested in
making a movie in HD for years, so
when my friends at Sony told me
about their 24-frame progressivescan

some

camera,
tests.

Despite the
film's 19th-

century setting,
Pitof says that
he wanted to

approach the
story more like
a

sci-fi film than

a

period piece.

Much of

Vidoccfs
imagery was
inspired by the
symbolic paint¬
ings of mid19th-century
artist Gustave
Moreau.

I asked if I could do

The

camera we

got had

the serial number 000001."
For

Though Vidocq

shot

Sauvaire, the idea of

breaking new ground was both excitAmerican

Cinematographer 49
American Cinematographer - April 2002

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