Discovering the ''Inception'' filming locations in Paris - Part 2 - Bir-Hakeim

Russian version.

Welcome back!
For today we would be discussing the second "zone" of shooting the epic film called "Inception" in Paris. Film was made in 2010. Director - Christopher Nolan.

The first part of this article is here:
Discovering the ''Inception'' filming locations in Paris - Part 1 - Rue Bochut.

This part is about the locations around the Bir-Hakeim bridge ( (fr.) Pont de Bir-Hakeim ). This bridge lays connects the 15th and 16th parisian districts. "Bir-Hakeim" metro station is the closest station to the Eiffel Tower, which is easilly noticeable from this bridge. The film crew obviously have used it. But maybe the reason of choosing this place as a filming locations was the unique design of the bridge. Those steel pillars were so ideal for the required impression, that I am getting lost between guessworking about was the way Ariadna had created that bridge the original idea at an early pre-production stage, or the screenwriter (J. Nolan) was adapting it after knowing about the location already? Again, I have no chance to guess it right. But I can observe. Join me. And bring some chocolate against the dementors, because in my dreams there is something more around than only filmmakers. ;)

Discovering the ''Inception'' filming locations in Paris - Part 1 - Rue Bochut.

Russian version.

Hi!
Here I am. At the heart of Paris, discovering the real places of shooting the mindblowing film called "Inception" of 2010 year (dir. Christopher Nolan).

I was on my vacation, far away from visual effects & compositing stuff, but the professional interest in on-set vfx-supervising gave me the huge desire to crack those scenes from one of my most favourite movies.

My goal was to imagine how the shooting material could look like, and to compare what at the end  in those shots was a real footage or a computer graphics. But I am not trying to discover the way those visual effects were achieved. Because I enjoy on-set job more than disappearing behind the computer around some magical stuff. I am looking for the clues, allowed the crew to make the film footage acceptable for such complicated kind of visual effects. It is important to prepare and hold the shooting well, because no vfx-studio would take the film in a processing, if it is made below their quality standarts.

I was studying scenes frame by frame, disappeared at Google Maps, discussed my theories with colleagues, but it was still not enough. The verdict was simple: I need to drive at the location and to take a look in live. And I did it.

I am pulling your attention, that this blog article is not an instruction for beating the path along those streets. Pay some respect for the residents, for whose those locations are the home, and if you would ever get at that place, please, be quiet. This post is just a note about the observations and impressions for self-education purposes in filmmaking. It is also assumed, that you, dear visitors, already have watched the movie, and are not afraid of catching any plot or visual spoilers about it.

So, let's expand some boundaries of that well-known dream...

Film poster.