1000 miles

A tiny camera + hitch-hiking from France to England = 1000 miles, a documentary road-trip as you've never seen before !

On the road (again)

The wait by the road sides, the conversations just to break the ice or to remake the world, the adventure, all the sharing, drivers who just want a presence but don't feel like talking, some who drop you right in the middle of nowhere, others who buy you a coffee... confidences exchanged in the wee hours of the night... crossing on foot industrial areas to get out of cities under the rain...

Hitchhiking is a means of transport but also a real experience outside the box. And people often reveal themselves without "filters ", encouraged by the proximity in the interior of the car and the fact that they will probably not see each other again. (To learn more, read the first part of this excellent sociological brief on hitch-hiking, and especially Chapter 4, which serves as my unofficial statement of intent).

After hundreds of rides (France, England and some in Greece and Turkey), I'd like to document the spirit of hitch-hiking, and pay homage to it in a film. That's why I need your help !

Mini cam, wide ideas

The idea is that the camera do its best to be forgotten, so it can collect as intimate a speech as possible, à la I'm sleeping over tonight and Paris Dernière (with a touch of Strip-Tease). I opted to buy a device that offers an excellent compromise between image quality (HD, 720 and 1080p) and discretion, with a remote control to trigger recording without attracting attention, and mounts so it can be fixed almost anywhere - in this case, on my cap. I am currently researching and testing to record the best sound possible.

What will it look like ?

A 100% POV road-trip, since the moment I leave home (a few miles from Marseille) to my arrival at York, roughly 200 miles north of London. Why York ? Because I know the place. Because one needs an excuse. Actually it's just a McGuffin, for we must keep in mind that I have little time and physical constraints, and I may as well go as far as Scotland... (there are a few whisky distilleries I absolutely NEED to visit) as long as I still have spare SD cards and I still can charge the batteries. The goal is to bring as many encounters and conversations as possible, in order to complete a documentary feature film.

1000 miles,an original story featuring mainly conversations in cars, but also including moments of hassles, waiting by road sides, at services, where you'll see contact with people. I'll show you some human and urban adventure !

Between two "how far are you going ?" and "What do you do ?" we should hear about political events (French presidential elections are getting closer), Ze meaning of life, cultural differences between frog eaters and subjects of Her Majesty... The English part will be subtitled for the French - and vice versa. I will work a 52 ' version (common format for the TV) and feature film version for festivals, and I confess that the idea of making a documentary web series suits me well. See the test below (NB: I have since made ​​sure that we do not see the cap)

Be kind, be curious !

Let's push the philosophy of sharing further : support the film, and have a say on its content !
 

Un : vote to decide if I should take the highways or side-roads. By the highway ? The trip is likely to go much faster, drivers usually travel longer distances (especially lorry drivers), speech is favored by more time spent together. By side-roads ? Travel may be longer, tougher, and contain many more lifts on short distances. When all is said, we're talking about two different movies.

So, each contributor will be given one vote from 5 to 20 euros in donations, 3 votes above 20 euros in donations, 5 votes above 150 euros. At the end of the subscription period on Ulule, I do the math, and let you know...

Deux :send me cultural, historical, social, or just unusual questions to ask the englishs (or the frenchs) during my lifts. It may be whatever you want ... provided that this does not contravene morality - mine in particular. I do not guarantee I'll be able to ask them all, but I will try. Very strongly. Everyone can participate, including "simple" fans of the project.

Now it's up to you, and remember: the first support, is to pass the project around.

I'm 30.

As a film student, I directed a 20 min short feature, produced by one of my university teachers (see below - in french).

My cat's name is Pocket Rocket (or Aces in poker).

I drive a 1988 vintage Golf.

I like good scotch and casgiu, stinky corsican cheese.

I've been part of Envrak.fr team since 2007. Here you can read (in french) my feelings towards soccer, why I don't trust the Iphone or learn more about my ideal movie – something between Transformers 2 and Lars Von Trier.

Excerpt from "Papapapou" (2004) with Franck Libert and Poline Faugère

production Daniel Salles - Juste Une Image

When his fiancée asks him to commit with a baby, a young man decides to spend one day with different children to see if he has what it takes to be a father...