Produced by Tétra Média Fiction, “Paris Police 1900” (8 episodes, each 52 min.) skillfully blends detective work, politics, and espionage storyline shot mainly on location in a Belle Époque Paris. “From the outset, Fabien Nury, the creator of the series, wanted a very cinematic look. Hence the choice to shoot on ARRI ALEXA with anamorphic Cooke lenses,” explains Brecht Goyvaerts SBC, director of photography for the first four episodes. “Together with director Julien Despaux and set designer Pierre Quefféléan, we worked hard on the style of the series. It became clear that we wanted a dark image, which goes against the grain of the Belle Époque look. However, I wanted to create a lot of subtlety in the blacks by playing with the set’s brightness and by using smoke and dust to give the image substance. In very, very dark scenes, I would put a spotlight against the light, a bit of smoke, and immediately it would bring the light to life in the shadows. The production and Canal+ immediately validated my approach, despite the very marked image bias.”

“I chose the ALEXA Mini because its sensor creates a soft, natural image,” says Goyvaerts. “It allowed me to keep the softness in an otherwise high-contrast image. Secondly, I know this camera very well. It gives an organic image, and the combination is perfect with the Cooke lenses that have the flare and blooming I was looking for.” Goyvaerts continues: “The exposure latitude of the ALEXA Mini is also very impressive. Finally, we were shooting on real sets, which were sometimes quite narrow. Here the compactness of the Mini was invaluable.”