To honor his daily appointment despite the health crisis, the France 2 series had to adapt, in front of and behind the camera. Report in their studios near Montpellier.
Welcome to the bubble. The one set up in Vendargues by France Television to preserve – whatever the cost – its star series shot in the Hérault. The health crisis had yet taken everyone by surprise last spring.
For eleven long weeks, the huge studios rang hollow, the epidemic having put an end to filming. But since June 1, the 16,000 m2 occupied by production near Montpellier are swarming again at the cost of a strict sanitary protocol.
Masks removed only to shoot
“We had to react quickly, find stocks of masks, put in place measures specific to our sector of activity”, details the executive producer of the series, Olivier Roelens. The series of France 2 has attached the services of doctors and referents whose role is to ensure respect, on a daily basis, of barrier gestures. For the actors, the masks only come off when the cameras are rolling.
“And with make-up, but at that point the people who take care of us have to wear FFP2 protections”, specifies Fabrice Deville, who plays Florent in the soap opera.
The actors tested on the set
On the set, the Covid-19 slowed everything down, from the management of the costumes, which must now be used with a disinfectant bomb or household alcohol, to the catering. Gone are the big tables where actors and technicians mingled in a joyful summer camp atmosphere. “Now it’s a meal tray in the dressing room, or in the canteen, but between three panels of plexiglass.” Every actor who joins the studios is entitled to his quick saliva test. A new test is performed 72 hours later.
However, there is no question of staging masked characters. The hydroalcoholic gel must remain out of the picture, even if it has imposed itself in the four corners of the studios.
Liners that live together for intimate scenes
A real headache for directors who had to find tips so that the social interactions of the characters are not too impacted by the rule of the minimum distance meter. “This can involve changing the focal length of the cameras to give the illusion that the actors are closer, explains Olivier Roelens. You can also shoot fields and reverse shots with masked actors. “ On more intimate stages, the production has even resorted to liners who live together on a daily basis. And the illusion works.
Every evening, on France 2, the Covid-19 epidemic recedes. For at least twenty minutes …
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