Baby Blues movie shoots on HDCAM

Baby Blues is a romantic comedy from French company Move Movie about a couple in their late 30s: businesswomen Karine Viard (La Tête de Maman, Les Enfants,) wants to have children, while Stefano Accorsi (The Maiden and the Wolves) isn’t so sure.

The movie was shot on HDCAM by director of photography, Damien Morisot. “The look of the film is mainly determined by the story and the characters,” says Morisot. They are a well-to-do couple who live on elegant Right Bank in Paris. “While we were doing the recce, the word ‘chic’ became a leitmotiv and reference. What is a ‘chic’ look? I guess it is shooting with controlled colours, contrasty and bright.”

“After a month of preparation the film’s budget came down a little and the film had to be shot in seven weeks instead of eight, so the option of shooting part in a studio vanished. Knowing most of the locations, I decided to shoot the feature in HD. It was the only way to ensure control of the image in digital grading, as the director Diane Bertrand was very concerned about skin tones and colours. With time getting short, I knew high definition would save time on set and make our life easier”.

HDW-F900R

It was Morisot’s first time shooting in HD. “Fortunately, a few months before, I met Fred Savoir (of Amazing Digital Studios) and called him to see what the options were. Along with Olivier Garcia of HD System, we discussed the different possible processes; and did some tests to assess the options. The Sony HDW-F900R camcorder came out as the best choice, with a Zeiss DigiZoom mixed with the Zeiss DigiPrime, provided by Panavision Alga.

“I didn’t have too much time to learn about HD. Having seen the tests, I decided to work the same way as I do on film: working by eye, with no special adjustment of contrast for HD at all”. Morisot recognised advantages to shooting in the new format. “It was interesting to shoot HD in low light situations, and possible to achieve a good look and a great image with a small light source,” he comments. “You have lots of possibility in the low part of the curve and it is easy to recover contrast afterwards in post. At the moment, I'm doing the grading and everything looks the way I wanted; there are lots of possibilities for adjusting the image. We should have no surprises at the 35mm film projection as we have been doing tests on film throughout the grading to control the whole process.”

For Morisot, it was an experience worth repeating. “I think it was the perfect film to start working on HD: mostly interior, on location, with quite a few takes on each shot – which is, as the production manager says, an advantage of HD.”