Interview: Julien + Adrien on Camouflage
The duo speak about their Paris Now! film that mixes cooking and music
In advance of Red Bull Music Academy Paris 2015, Paris Now! is our first foray into fiction film, and it gathers a diverse group of five directors that we’ve given carte blanche to explore and examine the creative pockets and reverberations of Parisian culture.
In Camouflage, French directors Julien + Adrien set up an intense onstage battle between two artists who share an intense focus and technical approach to their craft, gourmet chef Atsushi Tanaka and modular synthesizer master Etienne Jaumet. It showcases the ways in which making music and food are more connected than you might think.
How did you settle on Atsushi Tanaka for this project?
Adrien
Finding the right chef was the hardest thing ever. Not because they didn’t show interest in the project, but more because our schedules were incompatible. They are superstars, always on the move, it’s hard to reach them unless you prepare ages in advance, and sometimes not even then. The first chefs we approached, well you couldn’t even get them on the phone, even to talk about the project.
Julien
Well, they’re not all open to creation either...
Adrien
When we met Atsushi Tanaka and told him that Etienne Jaumet was part of the project, he was on board straight away, as he already knew about the music Etienne made with Zombie Zombie.
And why did you choose Etienne Jaumet?
Julien
Etienne’s name stood out straight away, there’s something so unique about his music and he’s capable of improvising with all of his machines.
Adrien
We’d thought of Rone too, but his live act is less visual. We needed something organic, something textured.
How did their first meeting go?
Julien
We all met up at Atsushi’s restaurant. Etienne gave him one of his records as a gift and we discussed culinary creation. Atsushi showed us some photos and told us he’d use them as a starting point. Because he’s a vegetarian, Etienne asked not to be associated with meat or fish. So Atsushi suggested an adaptation of a dish he usually makes with fish, Camouflage.
Did you spend time with Atsushi Tanaka in his kitchen to prepare for the film?
Adrien
I went to see how he worked. It was important, otherwise we wouldn’t have known what to shoot. We selected the parts that were interesting, visually. You really had to get to know the way he worked by heart.
Julien
All of his ingredients had been prepared beforehand, so that we could concentrate on the important stages.
Adrien
Yes, especially as if we’d filmed the whole process, it would’ve taken two days! You need about 12 hours of preparation per dish.
Over the last ten years, there’s been this overload of really disgusting cooking images on TV.
Is he a chef who is used to performance? Does he have an open kitchen in his restaurant?
Adrien
No, it isn’t open, but he’s a real performer. He loves it. We could have filmed in as many takes as we wanted.
And Etienne Jaumet, how did he approach the exercise?
Julien
Etienne reworked all the John Carpenter film soundtracks, so he knows how to compose for an image or following an action. He quickly sussed out what would be adapted to Atsushi’s working rhythm.
Adrien
On set, we filmed them both simultaneously but also by themselves. And that allowed each of them to watch the other work. I think that when Atsushi saw how Etienne moved around, he no longer worked in the same fashion.
Whether it’s music or cooking, these worlds are highly codified as soon as they are filmed. Is this actually something you wanted to avoid?
Adrien
Over the last ten years, there’s been this overload of really disgusting cooking images on TV. It’s precisely to break these codes that we originally intended to tackle this field. By letting the chef be freer to create, without all those close up shots of all the different stages of preparation, by following him with an over-the-shoulder camera, we ended up with something much lighter, more cinematic.
Julien
There’s a film I often mention when I’m asked about filming music, and that’s the documentary on LCD Soundsystem. It’s footage of their latest concert, but it’s also a real film.
And what exactly is a Julien &+ Adrien film?
Adrien
Good question. In all our films, we’re trying to tell a story. We often mix Steadicam and handheld shots, which gives our films this floating feeling, but also makes them very lively. There are always two long, contemplative shots at the beginning and at the end. Just to make things more cinematographic and not just to document things.
