The "Caïd" series uses "found footage" to tell a gang war with more immersion and tension -
Netflix
Caïd
, French series 10 x 10 minutes, is available since Wednesday on Netflix
The series uses the
found footage process
for more immersion and tension
If
found footage
is mostly used in horror cinema, all genres have tried it, with varying degrees of success.
Available Wednesday,
Caïd
d'Ange Basterga and Nicolas Lopez, co-written with Nicolas Peufaillit, is the new French series from Netflix, a series in the original format of 10 x 10 minutes.
But that's not the only peculiarity of this gang war story, since it is told entirely in
found footage
.
In what ?
Literally "rediscovered film", this staging device presents the film or series as an authentic video recording and espouses the point of view of the person or person who is filming, whether it is a TV crew, a family camcorder, a cell phone, surveillance cameras, or even a computer screen.
"You never cut, we shoot as many images as possible"
In
Caïd
, a director and his chief operator are sent by a music label to film the daily life of a new rapper, a former dealer, for a clip.
“You never cut, we film as many things as possible, as many images as possible.
Even when a scooter arrives and ducks in the pile with the machine gun.
The
found footage
is used and appreciated, as here, because it imposes a realism of fact and places the spectator at the heart of the action… or the horror.
In fact, horror cinema very early adopted the process - the ghost train effect - with the precursor
Cannibal Holocaust
in 1980, then the milestones
The Blair Witch Project
,
Paranormal Activity
and
REC
.
It therefore becomes a sub-genre in its own right, and all the figures pass through it: zombies (
Diary of the Dead
), exorcism (
The Devil Inside
), sect (
The Sacrament
), serial killer (
Creep
), extraterrestrial (
Hangar 10
),
bigfoot
or troll (
Willow Creek
,
Trollhunter
), and even dinosaur (
The Dinosaur Project
).
SF, superheroes, comedy ... all genres are included
The success is such at the end of the 2000s, and the potential still there, that other genres are trying it, from science fiction (
District 9
,
Europa Report
) to superheroes (
Chronicle
) through thriller (
End of Watch
) and even comedy (
Project X
).
The
found footage
is democratized, to Hollywood (JJ Abrams is behind
Cloverfield
) and to France (
Babysitting
band Philippe Lacheau).
Nothing seems to be able to escape him: the parody (
Ghost Bastards - Fucking ghost
), the disaster film (
Into the storm
), the family adventure (
Echo
), the great filmmakers (De Palma with
Redacted
, Shyamalan with
The Visit
)… The French even take up the challenge of romantic and generational comedy in
found footage
with
Play
with Max Boubil.
Do you suspend disbelief?
It was in 2020, and if the projects are rarer, the cinema and the television do not want to let go of the camera, the proof with the series
Caïd
.
However, this is what some spectators criticize the concept: but let go of this damn camera!
The
found footage
is in fact acquired from the famous consented suspension of incredulity, but raises the question of who is filming, who is editing, and even who is showing.
Cannibal Holocaust,
for example, stages the discovery of dandruff found in the jungle.
Cloverfield
is presented as a personal recording, which has become a secret-defense document, even if it obeys the laws of the Hollywood blockbuster.
In
Play
, Max Boubil finds old video tapes and launches the film of his life, with, of course, always the right cut at the right time.
Oh the ugly documenter, we believed it
“We worked a lot on the technical breakdown to justify each shot.
There, it was a real challenge, explains Nicolas Lopez, co-director of
Caïd
, to Première.
It is even very frustrating at times the
found footage
.
Because we would like to make beautiful frames, here and there.
But we can't ... We can't do whatever we want.
Even if I admit that, sometimes, we let go a little.
From the moment the spectator enters the story, we can allow ourselves to get out of the frame a bit.
"
The “best”
found footage
are often documenters, like
Catfish
, the story of a young person who goes to meet his Facebook crush, whose authors maintain ten years later that if, if, everything is true.
On a related note, we can cite
Forgotten Silver
and its forgotten movie genius, and for good reason, it never existed, but viewers believed it and resented director Peter Jackson.
Bob Roberts
by Tim Robbins,
This Spinal Tap
by Rob Reiner,
Borat
and
Brüno
by Sacha Baron Cohen are other documenters, not to mention
It happened near you
with Benoît Poelvoorde, but also the series
The Office
,
and even the animated film
Les Rois de la glisse
on surfing penguins.
We came to the end of the concept there, right?
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