NOTRE DAME BASILICA AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT SUSPENSION WINDOWS

NOTRE DAME BASILICA AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT SUSPENSION WINDOWS

Another idea was to take advantage of the vaulted ceilings and the stained glass windows that could be used as bridging shots to take as many low-angle shots as possible. That’s where we were able to shot the scene where they rescued the crown, by recreating the Chapel of the Seven Sorrows and using fake rain and quite a bit of smoke. Jean-Marie Dreujou adds : “Bourges Cathedral has two side aisles that are nearly similar to those of Notre-Dame. All in all, six real cathedrals were used in this film.”

As were Bourges and Saint-Denis (currently undergoing renovation) to splice in a few opening scenes with the construction work. The Cathedral of Sens, considered by experts to be a sort of matrix for Notre-Dame, was logically chosen. As I expected, the undertaking turned out to be even more complex than usual ! The first step was to list the existing cathedrals that could serve as locations. But this time, he tried to reassure me by telling me that only a Pass Navigo would be required for me to make this film.

“He takes us on new adventures with each project, often to the other side of the world.

“Jean-Jacques Annaud is a man who likes challenges,” says Jean-Yves Asselin, the film’s executive producer (who has worked alongside him since the 1992 film L’Amant). If the very idea of recreating Notre-Dame for a film seems almost surreal, it is undoubtedly because Jean-Jacques really has no limits as a filmmaker… He’s literally afraid of nothing ! And it is thanks to the meticulous preparatory work between the director, the producer, the set designer, and the special effects director, that we were able to put together a method for making this film.”įrom a narrative point of view, Jean-Jacques Annaud decided to integrate both archival footage of the cathedral from before the fire (in particular, for the mass that preceded the disaster), extracts from reports and television channels’ live coverage of fire, and, of course, a majority of reconstituted shots, either on location, or in other cathedrals, or in studio. For me, perhaps it was somewhat reminiscent of the spirit of his film on the Battle of Stalingrad (2001). “With the invaluable help of Mathieu de la Mortière, the first assistant director, we catalogued every piece of this puzzle, which we knew would be very hard to put together.” Jean Rabasse also describes how important this first phase was : “At the beginning, we all had a little trouble knowing exactly what this film was going to be : a documentary ? a fiction ? But little by little, as preparation with the detailed mockups went on, I realized that Jean-Jacques was determinedly heading towards an extremely well-documented film that was yet a fiction. Jean-Jacques used a fiber optic endoscopic camera to preview his camera angles and precisely lay out his shots.” Prévisualisation avec un endoscope Réunion : Jean-Jacques Annaud, Jean Rabasse, Jean-Marie DreujouĪccording to Jean-Marie Dreujou “This initial phase enabled us to familiarize ourselves with the cathedral, its architecture, and the whole sequence of events described in the screenplay. Originally working off of simple carboard mockups of the cathedral (such as can be bought in shops), the director and his team had meeting after meeting to literally catalog every single shot in the film. Then, they embarked on a very precise roadmap for the actual preparation of the film during summer 2020, for a shoot that was to take place over 11 weeks from March-May 2021. Taking advantage of the first lockdown during the spring of 2020, Jean-Jacques Annaud and Thomas Bidegain, his co-screenwriter, finalized the screenplay by perusing the voluminous archives and testimonies of the event. Work on Notre-Dame on Fire began just before the pandemic, but rapidly came together after. And how men and women risked their own lives in a heroic and incredible rescue operation. The unbelievable reality of the events of April 15, 2019, on which day the cathedral suffered the biggest disaster of its history.

Notre dame basilica and then there was light suspension