- France Télévisions launched last December a new popular science program, C'est toujours pas sorcier .
- Inspired by the cult show C'est pas sorcier , this new program is embodied by Max Bird, Cécile Djunga and Mathieu Duméry.
- 20 Minutes visited the backstage of the show.
Six years after the end of its broadcast, C'est pas sorcier finally has a successor. Max Bird, Cécile Djunga and Mathieu Duméry explore the pyramids, the bee ecosystem or the glaciers in C'est toujours pas sorcier , France Televisions' new popular science show. CTPS is broadcast on the France Télévisions youth platform, Okoo, and since January 4 on Saturday at 8:35 p.m. on France 4, and on France 5 on Wednesday at 4:55 p.m.
The program takes up the concept of the cult scientific program, broadcast on France 3 from 1993 to 2014. Each episode carries out a scientific investigation of a new trio: Max, the scientist, Cécile, the explorer, and Mathieu, the bottle- by train. They are assisted by SAMI, for an independent multimedia learning system, a box which assists them in their research. The program is largely produced in a studio in Saint-Ouen, where 20 Minutes was able to observe behind the scenes of the program.
A cabin replaces the truck
This Tuesday, Max Bird, Cécile Djunga and Mathieu Duméry finish playing the scene at the end of a show on the teeth. The first two, seated on the small terrace of the cabin that serves as their laboratory, witness Mathieu's return. This comfortable cabin replaced the truck in which Jamy Gourmaud carried out his experiments and demonstrations. Each survey generally starts from a discussion in the cabin, which leads Cécile and Mathieu to go into the field. Max, he remains on set to explain the subject of the day, assisted by SAMI and sometimes by Mathieu.
The team has three days of hut footage scheduled for this week - four different shows. Then there will be reports from Cécile Djunga and Mathieu Duméry. "We shoot like in the cinema, set by set, costume by costume", explains David Montagne, the director. Once the images required for the program on the teeth in the box, the assistant director makes the animators activate: "We are going to change, we are going into a volcano!" The animators change, remake themselves, the props changes some objects, and off we go for the opening and end scenes of the episode on the volcanoes. In control, on a table, large models of volcanoes await the afternoon. While Cécile Djunga will shoot scenes on a green background in another studio, Mathieu Duméry and Max Bird will remain in the cabin.
Scripted program in advance
The atmosphere is relaxed. Before each scene, the three animators rehearse their text "Italian style". " It turns ! Says a voice. They start. The text is fluid but ... "It was bad", balances Cécile Djunga once the scene is over. "There is something that does not come ..." All three repeat their lines, suggest modifications to David Montagne and Coline Vison, the editor. The second take is more fluid, funnier; the third will be the right one.
Each program is scripted in advance, to the decimal point. The writing of the programs is a joint work between the teams of journalists of Coline Vison, who prepare the subjects, and an author, Yohann Zaoui, who works the scenario. "It's a program that is at the crossroads between a very educational magazine and a fiction," enthuses David Montagne. There is a tense thread of intrigue, which makes each discovery make you want to keep looking. "A process inspired by C'est pas sorcier :" Jamy had this magic trick with which he managed to catch people and hook them, and we never wanted to let go of the show, "recalls Max Bird.
The shadow of C'est pas sorcier is never far away . In the hut, on a shelf, is placed a scale model of his famous truck. The three presenters all watched, when they were younger, the program presented by Jamy Gourmaud. Max Bird had also invited him to an episode of his show on YouTube, Idea received . However, the CTPS team intends to do things its own way. "I don't watch old episodes of C'est pas sorcier ," explains Coline Vison. Otherwise, there is the risk of ending up with the same plans, at the same angles. Journalists sometimes look at them, to verify that they have not already done the same thing, or to see how they have resolved certain angles. "
Ecological considerations
And CTPS lives with its time. The show regularly addresses scientific and technological advances through SAMI, and environmental considerations are present in almost all subjects. Sometimes in filigree, sometimes in a more obvious way, as in the episodes on the bees or the melting of the glaciers. "From the moment we talk about science, we are forced to talk about ecology," says Max Bird. The popularizer, who became known on YouTube, has been campaigning for the protection of the environment for several years. As for Mathieu Duméry, he has been popularizing with Lénie Cherino, since September 2014, the environmental issues in Professor Feuillage's ecological chronicles .
“They are part of a generation of talents partly fed by Fred and Jamy. It is a natural lineage, ”says Ronan de Longraye, director of programs for young audiences outside of animation at France Télévisions. Cécile Djunga, humorist and Belgian TV host, "dynamic and curious about everything", completes the trio. “We needed incarnants who stick to the aspirations of the program, who seek to understand the world to change it. And who have several strings to their bow: having a taste for popularization, and being able to play the comedy by breathing in the humor necessary for entertainment. The alchemy is there. The jokes burst out between the sockets, under the amused gaze of the technicians.
"It's like a good Astéri x ," says Mathieu Duméry. We are not Goscinny, of course! “, Specifies the presenter under the laughter of his comrades. “But we make jokes, which a child will take in the first degree without thinking about it, while an adult will be able to understand the reference. Max Bird insists: their program "is not specially aimed at fans of C'est pas sorcier ". "It's a new audience, new children," confirms Cécile Djunga. "People of our generation react first with a nostalgic tone, thinking that we cannot touch the original ... But end up putting their children in front," says Mathieu Duméry.
"Reinventing yourself without profaning"
Ronan de Longraye sees CTPS as "a nanny program, where parents can put children and know they can leave them there." This project had been in the making for two years: the France Télévisions teams wanted to recreate a popular science program, and relied on a “well-established” brand by using C'est pas sorcier . "We were hyper awaited at the turn, especially since there were unsuccessful attempts to raise before us," said Ronan de Longraye. We had to create a program in the footsteps of our elders, and reinvent ourselves without profaning. CTPS is keeping its mission of "public service" in mind, according to Ronan de Longraye: talking to young people about science in an accessible manner.
The three hosts refuse to be impressed by the aura of their predecessors. Especially since they are used to building their projects with less means: “On YouTube, or in a show, we are all alone, we have to decide everything. Since I started CTPS , I have struggled on some videos because there was no one to help me make a decision, "says Max Bird, while his comrades nod. “When you're used to the YouTube economy, you're used to doing it all at once. There, we can delegate and focus on the role of facilitator, ”adds Mathieu Duméry. For Cécile Djunga, the main difference with the scene "is interactivity, there is no immediate feedback. We hope that the subjects will work, but we have to wait for the broadcast. We are finally starting to get feedback from the public, so we will be able to evolve. "
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