There are some works of art from which one does not emerge unscathed. Such is the case with Champ de Bataille, a live-action VR film that immerses viewers in the hellish trenches of the First World War.
Director François Vautier (familiar with virtual reality, with several films to his credit: RECODING ENTROPIA, ODYSSEY 1.4.9, I SAW THE FUTURE) summons up the memories of his grandfather, a poilu who survived the horrors of war, in order to “restore meaning to the great story” and make the weight of events felt physically and emotionally. Here’s a look back at a film production of extraordinary ambition.
Inheriting memory
Passed down by his grandfather, François Vautier became fascinated at an early age with these stereoscopic photos, which heralded the era of multi-dimensional stories and immersion. They are based on a principle as simple as it is effective: to record two shots of the same scene on glass, using juxtaposed lenses. Imitating stereoscopic vision, this allows us to experience depth of field. Invented in 1849, the process was used during the First World War by sections of soldier-photographers tasked with documenting life in the trenches and at the front. It gradually fell into oblivion. Fascinated by the format, François explored these fragments of history, going so far as to create his own viewing device: “I did my own research into stereoscopy, […] in many forms, in photography, but also in video, and I played a lot with the artefacts, aberrations, and problems of perception that it posed for us.”
From stereoscope to virtual reality headset, it’s just one step that the director takes. In 2016, he began making his first experimental films in virtual reality. The “Great War” theme resurfaced when he discovered the ultra-realistic imagery of the Battlefield video game his son was playing. He found it lacking in emotion and depth. He decided to fill the gap, drawing on his mastery of virtual reality.
Saving the VR soldier
“After making films in classic VR [via CGI and animation], I really wanted to tackle cinema,” enthuses François Vautier. The task is immense, with everything still to be invented.
The cameras, for a start, are gems of technology capable of filming 360 degrees. But they require a lot of post-production work, and are light years ahead of conventional cameras in terms of dynamic range and resolution. “It’s amazing to have the impression of being both at the cutting edge of technology and at the same time in the prehistory of something,” testifies Christophe Graillot, its talented director of photography. Even the choice of model is a challenge: “Today, the technical range of cameras is quite narrow. […] There are either people doing things on their own, or things that are a little more sophisticated, with brands that make things. But they’re still very fragile models, and in the conditions in which we used them – outdoors, in the mud, with explosions – it wasn’t easy.”
The team went so far as to attempt to set up their own rig, before opting for a compromise via less suitable but already proven solutions. “We considered creating our own system, doing what we call a camera rig, with a hardware and software development part, and creating the post-production workflow behind it. We indulged ourselves. We approached him. […] We had to go through that too, and it enabled us to understand the existing technologies and see what the problems were going to be,” explains the director.
Is art born out of constraints?
Beyond the technological challenge, capture becomes a real puzzle at 360 degrees. The off-screen area, usually used to set up the film crew, lights and other elements of the set, disappears, as the entire scene is likely to appear in the image. This poses a major challenge for the director, who is forced to direct from a distance without necessarily being able to intervene as he sees fit. François Vautier explains: “I made mistakes at the start of shooting because I couldn’t hear or see what was going on. I even discovered some images, some scenes, during editing. […] I would have liked to be on the spot, to say ‘Let’s do it again, like this, more this, more that, etc.’, but I didn’t have the chance to do that because I wasn’t there.”
Secondly, it’s impossible to move around with these devices, since the operator appears inexorably on the screen. Otherwise, time-consuming and costly retouching would be required. Christophe Graillot’s solution, adapted from competitive sport, is as astonishing as it is impressive. The camera is suspended via a system of cables, enabling it to be moved and controlled digitally in the air. Enough to make the director break out in a cold sweat. Six months before shooting, I realized that there were editing effects I’d written that didn’t work. While others, which intuitively didn’t seem relevant to me, worked very well.”
An out-of-this-frame experience
In addition to adding movement to the image, this “Spidercam” subtly guides the viewer’s gaze. This is particularly important here, since virtual reality leaves the choice of frame to the viewer. For the director, “sometimes, in virtual reality, in fiction, you can lose your viewer If, all of a sudden, the viewer’s gaze is drawn to something happening at his feet, when there’s a character in front of him who’s taking a bullet and it’s decisive for the rest of the story, then I’ve lost him. As soon as the camera moves, you naturally want to look forward, and the same goes for placing it against the trench or the wall of a barracks. “It’s also a film about matter and nature, and that serves the narrative. But it’s also how I get back to directing,” explains the author.
Hence the importance of setting the scene from two points of view. The first adopts that of Julien, the main protagonist (a soldier lost in the middle of the trenches and the fighting). The muffled sound represents his deafness, adding yet another layer of realism. The second, more general, situates the action through omniscient camera movements over the scenery and landscapes. After 4 projects in virtual reality, François Vautier knows the format: “When a viewer puts on a helmet, he’s going to experience something. […] They’re going to live their own experience. And that’s what virtual reality offers”. Through the eyes of the hero, we quickly find ourselves trapped. Our powerlessness to influence the narrative echoes that of the main character, a technical operator abandoned with his companions in misfortune. Finally, spatialization by sound designer Pierre-Marie Blind, in harmony with musician Pascal Bantz’s sound environment, offers the final touch to perfect immersion, while drawing the eye to key points in the scene.
Between dreams and heritage transmission
Champ de Bataille is more than a realistic reconstruction of the trenches of the First World War. François Vautier integrates a dreamlike dimension with more abstract, almost fantastical visual and narrative elements. He plays with the perception of time and space. The director captures not only the brutality of the moment, but also the psychological and emotional resonance these events leave behind. These dreamlike passages offer welcome moments of breath in the midst of chaos, while reinforcing the idea that war is a traumatic experience that continues to haunt those who lived through it, long after the guns have fallen silent.
This journey between reality and abstraction lends itself perfectly to wider distribution, particularly to younger generations. This is François Vautier’s ambition: “I also want people to be able to see it outside a helmet; in domes, in immersive places. I want whole families to be able to see it at the same time, and also have a traditional cinema experience. It’s not completely inconceivable.” There’s no doubt that, with its integration into the Unframed Collection catalogue and its powerful educational and heritage potential, Champ de Bataille has all the keys in hand to become not only an impressive narrative experience, but also an effective tool for raising awareness of the history and realities of war.
A message all the more pertinent in the context of modern conflicts, and a disturbing reminder that the lessons of history must never be forgotten.
Director: François Vautier
Screenwriters: François Vautier & Geoffroy Grison
Actors: Rod Paradot & Thimothée Robart
Music: Pascal Bantz
Production: Jeremy Sahel – Da Prod
Coproduction: France Télévisions (Story Lab), Digital Voodooh, Kwassa film