The Film
From the vision of a King…to the biggest current discoveries.
350 years ago, in Versailles, the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, ordered the creation of the Paris Observatory! To celebrate this date and to illistrate that for 350 years, the passion of space research did not ceased to shine in the institution, we have decided, with the support of the Paris Observatory and the Chateau de Versailles, to make a 3 minutes film presenting this epic scientific adventure. The film will be part of the communication campaign current launched by the Paris Observatory, including this website.
The History of the Paris Observatory is fascinating and for its most part unknown to the public. This year, the Paris Observatory will have been pushing the boundery of space knowledge for 350 years, an unrivalled longevity for an Observatory.
Since 1667, the institute hasn’t ceased to measure time, space, and distances in the Universe, starting with the dimension of France, then Earth, the Solar System, and finally the first measures of the distances with stars, then the speed of light, until recent distances between galaxies. Still today and since its very begining, the prestigious institute is part of numerous international projects, exceeding the royal ambition of its origin. Some of those projects include the Extremely Large Telescope in Chili, the Cassini-Huygens and Rosetta-Philae missions in the solar system and atomic clocks even more precise than Earth rotation.
In order to celebrate this event and to share it with the greatest number, an international symposium gathering the best wortld experts in Science History, Astronomy History and Architecture, will be open to the public and held on June 21st and 22nd 2017 in the Chateau de Versailles and the Paris Observatory.
To reach an ever larger audience, and to ensure that the remambrance of this even will last, we have imagined the writing and shooting of a short film, telling the fascinating history of those 350 years, from the signature of the decree by the King in Versailles creating the Observatory, to the exploration of invisible lights, black matter and distant universe by the Observatory’s today astronomers. A film that we will maybe be watched in 2367, in 350 years!
By the director, Emmanuel Rondeau.
“What I would like to do with this film is to reveal the reality of this mysterious and unknown institution. Not only the Observatory is the result of one the most notable character of the History of France, Louis XIV of France, but it is also the place where for the last 350 years some of the biggest astronomic discoveries have been made. It is this consuming passion for discoveries that I would like to share with the audience. Full of mystery and tension, the film will reconcile History and Science in a dynamic and deep way, without dialogue but mainly guided by the music and the presence of some titling on the screen. The film will rush the public into 350 years of History.
The starting point of the film will be shot in the Chateau de Versaille, shown on an unusual way, not like a place of entertainment and festivities, but as the place where the kingdom strategy is decided, and where science is placed at the center of this strategy. It is on this scene that we will see the hand of Louis XIV signing the decree officialising the creation of the Paris Observatory.
As soon as this signature is affixed, we will then alternate between the past and the present, previous discoveries allowing current scientist to make new discoveries.
The film will feature current researchers of the Paris Observatory and will name them on screen to show that those are real scientists and not actors. Those characters will create the link between the past and the future since they are representing in the same time the current reality of the Observatory, but also its heritage since they are using past discoveries to unlock new ones. The anniversary film will play with those characters, placing them in ancient and grandiose places, and then on very modern ones.
Finally, the film will use CGI to show current discoveries like the cartography of billions of stars, and the current search for the 9th planet of the solar system.”
The funding will directly fund the production of the film.
Writing : 1000€
Shooting : 8100€
Fees (travel, management) : 1500€
Editing and grading : 1500€
CGI : 2400€
Musical rights : 500€
TOTAL : 15 000€
The project is conducted by 3 partners : production company White Fox Pictures, responsible for creating the film, and the Paris Observatory and the Chateau de Versailles Research Institute, as scientific advisers for the film.
Below an example of a film made by White Fox Pictures for the Paris Observatory as part of the EuroVenus scientific project.