It’s that time of year again – as tens of thousands of fans and moviegoers descend upon the French Rivera for film premieres, a glimpse of their idols, or even just to soak up the atmosphere, during the 78th edition of Festival de Cannes.
And out there, right now, I know there’s one guy who’s working every single hour available to “get the shot” – something that the team at Capture One asked Tom and I at Evoku to film last year at the 77th festival:
You may not know him, but I guarantee you’ve seen his work. From the Oscars, to BAFTAs, from Cannes to Fashion Weeks all around the world – Alessandro is the photographer who captures the red carpets and runways for press outlets far and wide.
So when I got a message from Rafael at Capture One, saying he’d love to tell Alessandro’s story as a customer of their software, things seemed pretty straightforward:
“See if you can slide into his DMs” – was the call.
And for the first time in my life, having briefly looked it up to check I’m not doing anything illegal or immoral, I did exactly that.
Within minutes, I had a reply from one of the most genuine and helpful guys in our industry (if not the planet) – ready to take on the challenge.
And here is the result:
Now, what that film doesn’t show is the pain it took to get the story – as it turns out, there are some practicalities that can’t be ignored, regardless of who’s backing your attendance there.
First off, the Festival Press Office – who I must say were extremely helpful, polite, responsive and encouraging, as they told me “absolutely not” in response to my request for 5 passes to film him at work. (Don’t worry – we’ve done this a few times, that wasn’t out of naivety, more practicality!)
You see, even with the backing of a brand, and indeed Alessandro himself as a veteran of the circuit, there’s a realisation that simply can’t be ignored:
In the press pit / photocall areas, there’s just not enough room for each photographer who wants to be there, let alone a film crew that aren’t actively capturing the festival itself; instead, the behind-the-scenes talent. Sure, we could tell his story from his accommodation and all the things that happen before/after the actual shoots – but not the key moments of all the action.
It just wouldn’t work.
Luckily, I happened to be in Sydney at the time, looking around some camera stores. Along with Tom, we got to the idea that if we couldn’t get the footage, maybe a camera could – without us – all it would need was a device that we could reframe after the fact.
Like an Insta360…
I must say, fair play to Capture One at this point:
When you say to a client, “Look, we can go for it, but I cannot guarantee we’ll be able to tell the story you want. It could be epic, but it could be a waste, either way we’ll try.” – it takes some confidence and appetite for risk to move forward, especially in one of the most expensive locations in Europe for that period of time.
Shooting the Shoots
Landing into Cannes was a buzz – almost every flight to Nice was full of festival-goers, landing into the warm sunshine of the French Riviera with all its glitz and glam. For cost, we didn’t stay in the city centre (actually nearly an hour out), as prices in even a basic hotel were understandably sky high.
But once we got to the Palais and Casino area, it was easy to see why this event has such a pull – from far and wide.
The main event complex (the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes), consisting of multiple screening rooms and theatres, the casino itself, balconies for photocalls and views across the Mediterranean, is just the perfect venue for such an occasion.
While Cannes is obviously a year-round destination, it’s in the two weeks of the film festival where everything gets a little crazy.
Pristine beaches are closed for private/sponsored events – no-fly/drone/entry zones are manifested in every direction – police presence exists everywhere you look – it’s quite the city takeover.
And getting to the venue early allowed us to see the issue that the Press Office had raised.
Those little round markers on the steps and floor in the image below, no more than 2ft apart?
Well that’s one for every official photographer that’s been permitted to shoot. That’s their whole entire area, for them, kit, everything – and there is literally no room to move.
While tempting to get frustrated with the Press Office, when you look through the military-level operational notes and challenges they face with their own plans, us changing them to film a short documentary was never going to work.
And that’s just for the official (press pass) photographers.
Of course, outside of the main areas, you’d fine hundreds, if not thousands, of tripods, ladders, all locked and chained (seemingly for quite some time before the festival) along the run of Boulevard de la Croisette, all named and ready for their owner to try and get something as a shot – whether they were in the right place or not.
There’s no “process” for these guys, it’s just a case of finding their spot (a spot) and protecting it, ready to hopefully catch a glimpse and a frame or two of someone famous as they arrive.
So what would we do, if we couldn’t get what we needed from such a distance?
The backup plan
Having met with Alessandro before flying, we’d discussed the “backup plan” (with permission from the Festival Press Office) – to use his much-loved Meta Ray-Ban glasses with built-in camera.
As the city came to life, on night one, it was time to see if this would work as a primary source…
It didn’t.
First, the resolution simply wasn’t high enough. (Put bluntly, it’s crap, and at night it gets worse…)
Second, Alessandro doesn’t normally shoot with glasses, so struggled to use his viewfinder with them on. (We had a golden rule from our side that absolutely nothing could get in the way of him “getting the shot”, so it was a hard no.)
Third, even if he did, the “perspective” we wanted wasn’t that of the back of a black Nikon camera pressed against the lens of our viewpoint and audience’s screen.
Still – even while experimenting, Alessandro hit his own built-in “ultimate pro” button and captured the night in all its glory – along with the right mix of attendees and BTS content, allowing us a safety-net of content should we not be able to do much more.
It was clearly time for the Insta360 to prove its worth.
While the public face of Cannes is that of luxury and glamour – the reality of photographer life at the festival can be far from such lofty heights. Apartments and hotels charge extortionate rates on the basis they know someone desperate enough will take them, resulting in these guys travelling (by foot) quite some way each day to get to work.
Alessandro’s trusty Peli Case has taken the brunt of that effort over many years – bruised and battered, he trundles down and back through the side streets of Cannes with music in his ears, 3 times a day for the 3 photocall sessions. Filming along the way was a challenge, but if ever you need an endorsement for wheel integrity, give him a shout.
So our challenge was to capture three things:
- What Alessandro saw.
- What the environment felt like.
- What he captured.
And in each scene, that would now include a 360º “dome” that we could reposition in post-production to give us any angle of view we wanted.
The only downside – while the stitching is great for someone holding an “invisible selfie stick”, it’s not quite so perfect when mounted onto the hot shoe of a camera (you’ll notice some of the Nikon Z8 missing!). Although, when captured in video, it was perfectly usable.
Of course, Alessandro’s images from each session were stunning – precise, direct, personal – and his rapport with the guests is second to none; resulting in unique shots that others struggled to get.
And part of that struggle is down to the sheer volume of photographers vs the severe lack of space – all yelling, moving, flashing, beeping – it’s crazy in there.
Indeeed, Alessandro explained a couple of his “tricks” to grab attention in the RSA session we followed up with later.
But this unique perspective of “real life in the pit” was what gave us the ability to really tell the story from a photographer’s view. Looking back on the “what if we film from a distance?” and “will the Ray-Ban’s work?” discussions, it was clear this was the right tool – by a long way.
And most importantly, when it came to capturing Eva Longoria (above) or Eva Green (prior) – none of our capture devices got in the way.
Back out on the streets, while the “buzz” and chaos continued, the results from these guys couldn’t have been more different.
Those ladders, the long lenses, the public with phones on weird contraptions – sure, they were getting something, but none of those shots were going to make it around the world. If anything, they’d have been better off paying one of the photographers to click a few extra for them…!
Speaking of which – what we didn’t realise until being there, was how many people use Cannes as a vanity parade for appearances of fame.
Indeed, it turns out, you can pay to walk the red carpet, and then pay one (or more) photographers to get excited as you do so, taking your photograph along the way. As is often now said: In a world where everyone is special, very soon, nobody is.
Handing back over to the pro’s though, what’s incredible is how “normally” Alessandro speaks about his subjects – “they’re just people” (and he really means it).
Whether it was Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese or Edna from Wigan, he’d approach capturing these people with exactly the same passion, enthusiasm, skill and attention – regardless of who it was in front of his lens.
Oh, and noise.
Lots of noise.
You see, when crowds descend on the stars; when security are yelling and trying to control excited photographers; when stars have a thousand cameras to look at – there’s only one way to really stand out…
…and that’s to be LOUD.
From a distance, the “many faces of Alessandro” became clear one afternoon as we sat and watched the master at work.
Knowing their preferred names, their recent films, their history, their character – it’s all part of the job that nobody really talks about but is so essential to this line of work if you want that person to turn and look at you, your camera, into your lens; instead of anyone else’s.
You have to be heard. Seemingly from Spain, from what I experienced – but it works.
What also worked, was having the foresight to capture Alessandro’s interview on day 3 in the apartment, hours before he completely lost his voice for the rest of the week.
Luck, karma, planning – it didn’t matter – we had the ingredients we now needed to tell the story of capturing Cannes from a photographer’s (and Capture One user’s) perspective.
We got to watch, both first hand and from his own viewpoint, how challenging and yet special these red carpet moments can be.
From the small groups enjoying each others company as they celebrated their screenings and awards, to the camaraderie between photographers in the stands – it does feel like a temporary neighbourhood where everyone knows their role, their place and their times – to be there and enjoy the moment.
Those iconic shots?
They’re often captured while the photographer is being physically moved by security.
It’s not done in anger – it’s just the practicality of balancing X number of screenings, Y volume of stars who have to walk the red carpet and Z count of photographers, all vying to get “that shot”.
But it’s Alessandro that seemed to get them – time and time again.
Royal Society of Arts – The London Event.
So what better way for Capture One to launch their story of capturing star-studded film premieres – than to hold their own (non-star-studded) one in London?
It was a chance for people to learn the story, but also quiz Alessandro (and evidently myself) on the hows, whats, whys and everything else to do with photographing the stars.
Sadly, it turns out for the RSA, I’d need a shirt.
With buttons.
That actually do up.
Introduced by Rafael Orta, CEO of Capture One, the evening of Q&A hosted by Tina Eisen with Alessandro and myself was full of both new and familiar faces, wine, great discussions and a lot of fun (with Tom still filming the BTS of the BTS too!)
We covered tips and tricks, Alessandro’s essential underwear for shooting Cannes, the reason he chooses black and white, his insistance on deleting all his raw files (yes!), the complications of access and filming rights – and a lot, lot, more.
And for those of you wanting the real inside-scoop, with some extra insights on some of the stars too, the full show can be seen here:
So there we go – can you take a full film crew in to the photography pits at one of the largest International film festivals each year? No.
Do you need to, if you have a great subject and some off-the-wall thinking? Not really!
And as a final set of tips and tricks for you all…
First – it turns out it’s definitely best to get David Grover at Capture One to record his “intro” after the bar opens and the mingling has begun. Under the influence, he’s much better at the one-take approach than we predicted.
And then, on to Cannes.
- Steak N Shake burgers are “interesting”, but more “smash and grab” by the time the kitchen’s done.
- No, France, you should not need a knife to be provided with your “soft boiled egg” at breakfast.
- When every restaurant around your hotel is closed for 2 nights of the week, chicken on the balcony will always win.
- It is literally impossible for Alessandro Galatoli to avoid looking posed and primed, even when he’s the one taking a random photo in the street.
Never been to Cannes? You should – it’s an incredible place and time to experience.
Been to Cannes? Yeah, I get why you might want to take a rest.