Reynald Gresset’s journey as a filmmaker began when he worked as an operator for international news outlets filming from Afghanistan to China and Lebanon to South America. He followed his passion for filmmaking and music shooting live performances and personal interviews of world renown musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, Metallica, Sting etc….
These early experiences shaped Reynald’s interest in the world’s ever changing human landscape and the power of creative expression, feeding a curiosity that has only grown with his experience. His desire to constantly evolve as a director and master the craft of filmmaking prompted his transition into commercials.
Reynald has directed numerous successful campaigns for Samsung, National Geographic, CocaCola, Peugeot, Renault, T-Mobile, Toyota, Heineken, Verizon, Orange, Vodafone and many more. His work was awarded numerous times over the years, e.g. at the Clios, Epica Awards, Kinsale Shark Awards, Eurobest and a few Lions in Cannes, to name only a few.
Reynald’s approach to filmmaking is defined by his desire to understand the personal dimension of a story and to capture with his camera powerful fragments of human experience. Naturalism and a photographic sensibility in the use of light infuse Reynald’s aesthetic with the patina of life. His is a lucid and yet poetic look that translates on screen into visually sophisticated, cinematic, and truly vibrant imagery.
I am foremost interested in scripts with a creative idea. We are all, as directors, attracted to those. I also like scripts that are different from what I usually work on. An idea or narrative that I have not already included in my reel. I try not to shot myself out from other creative styles.
When I get a script I first try and imagine how to make it more cinematic. An agency script is often just a few lines that need to be incarnated and developed. It is what is expected of me.
I have to develop the visual mood, describe the acting and actors and the general artistic direction.
I listen to music while looking through pictures and progressively the narrative and the film becomes more obvious to me.
To be honest, I only research if the brand is totally unknown to me so as not to make an obvious error in my treatment which could lead to a general misunderstanding on the part of our agency and client. In general I focus solely on the script.
The most important to me is my relationship with the DOP. It is the person with whom I have the important artistic relationship. For the last 10 years I have also worked closely with my producer in the preparation phase to discuss all creative aspects of the narrative. We work ardently on the elaboration of the story board to keep the essential aspects of the story-telling…which for a director can be the more difficult part of the process.
As mentioned previously, I like telling a story. Finding the right casting is possibly what I appreciate most. Nonetheless, more conceptual work from a strictly commercial point of view, also attracts me very much.
I am not sure it qualifies but I am often accused of being too passionate and of working too much…before and after the shoots.
Crews are aware that our working together will not be a ‘vacation’ but I believe this to be the same for all directors.
There is no secret for lasting in this business. You have to work hard and think/reflect constantly. It is the only way I know how to do my job.
I never work directly with cost controllers…it is my producer’s prerogative. However for the last few years, directors have been more implicated in the production process and I have learned to appreciate it more and more. It feels like a natural evolution and I like it.
In my career I have often run into complicated situations. We have always found a solve…not always the right one but one that allowed us to move on. Wrong casting, bad weather, technical issues…sometimes all on the same shoot. On a shoot I once had a weather issue compounded by a broken Russian Arm and a drone crashing thereby destroying the lens attached to it. It was a tense on set moment…we made do.
It is important to keep in mind that a commercial shoot/production is always a prototype. Each with its inherent problems. It is one of the reasons this job is so addictive: you can never control everything.
It is more and more important. There is no longer nay room for DIVA directors who believe only their word and ideas make sense. Times have changed. It is better to be clear on your intentions both with agency and client.
Sadly I don’t have much time on my shoots to counsel but I do appreciate seeing the work of promising young talents. Sometimes that person is someone who worked with you on set a few years back…and you noticed then that there was promise and a similarity with you at the start of your career.
I am not sure what I can answer here…A year ago, few could imagine what the world was going to become. Even fewer how long this would last.
I do believe that we will use remote systems more often for meetings and PPM’s. We have learned how to do video call-backs and possibly to reduce the number of people on set. Before the onset of this pandemic I always did live call-backs. Met the actors in person.
Today it is more difficult to judge an actor’s skin, his personality, charisma but it has now become so common that it may well become the new norm.
Yes, sometimes it is a little complicated to integrate all these formats but it is another evolution and we must adapt. It is very Darwinian: We adapt in order to survive.
I am a storytelling type of director. These technologies have yet to be widely used in my realm of film making.
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