This is Nuit Blanche a short-film by Arev Manoukian and it’s a little gem, nothing more than that: simple in its plot-line, but very clever in the rendering of it. I came across it by chance on a newspaper website and I was struck by it’s original beauty. The 28-year-old Canadian filmmaker plays with the old idea of two strangers in a public place exchanging glances and suddenly yearning for each other. When I watched it, I could not help but thinking of David Lean’s Brief Encounters, but I am sure that others will link it to a countless number of movies dedicated to the same subject. Manoukian plays with that idea of sudden love and turns it with grace and talent (plus the help of Samuel Bisson’s brilliant score) into what he calls a hyper real fantasy: for a fleeting moment the two strangers step into each other fantasies, literally. If after watching Nuit Blanche I was sure that it was a first-rate short-film (it was, after all, the recipient of the $100.000 grand prize at the 2010 LG Film Fest for Inspiring HD Shorts), I was even more impressed when I watched the making of video. I thought: here comes a new James Cameron or George Lucas, but with a heart and a brain. Nuit Blanche is by all means the work of someone who has a great amount of talent; he certainly understands how important CGI can be for films, (and new authors) providing that a movie is not just about visual effects; he has a love for old movies and a penchant for brave choices (i am thinking for instance of the man crossing the street and stopping the car in superman-like fashion). It is a long-shot, but I won’t be surprised if in a few years from now Mr. Manoukian will be up there, not faraway from some of the best directors in the art of movie making (and i am certainly not thinking of either Lucas or Cameron, they are good techies, indeed, but not good directors – in my opinion). To understand fully how good Manoukian’s work was and how clever was his post-production work see the Making of Nuit Blanche (below) and read the article Wired dedicated to it.
Nuit Blanche from Spy Films on Vimeo.
Making Of Nuit Blanche from Spy Films on Vimeo.
Slow-Motion Car Crash Speeds Filmmaker’s Career (Wired Magazine)
Arev Manoukian’s website
Credits
Directed by: Arev Manoukian
Produced by: Stephanie Swedlove & Arev Manoukian
VFX by: Marc-Andre Gray
Music by: Samuel Bisson
Starring: Michael Coughlan & Megan Lindley
Cinematographer: Arev Manoukian
Casting: Jeff Marshall
Assistant Director: Andrew Cividino
Production Designer: Arev Manoukian & Marc-Andre Gray
Art Director / Costumes – Dan Levy
Camera Operator: Jay Pavao
Camera Assistant: Max Armstrong
Gaffer: Alan Poon
Editor: Arev Manoukian
Compositor / Animator: Marc-Andre Gray
Effects Supervisors: Marc-Andre Gray & Arev Manoukian
Additional Compositing: Arev Manoukian
Matte Painter: Pat Lau
Colourist: Andre Chlebak
