THE BACKSTAGE
The production crew consisted of more than a hundred people and forty or so different roles in order to achieve the desired result! The work began more than a year before starting to shoot: writing the scripts, casting the actors, recruiting the technicians, finding the scenery and the shooting locations…
Very quickly, the members of the production crew and the actors became close friends. The loyalty of the crews throughout the seasons saw the birth of the « Saint Tropez » family. The relationships have lasted over time..
Account: artistic producer
Stéphanie Chartreux
The artistic producer is a sort of maestro. She is the link between the teams working in Saint-Tropez and the TF1 channel and the production based in Paris.
Stéphanie took part in the reading meetings, with the director, the script supervisor and his team as well as a representative of the TF1 channel, where each episode was reviewed scene by scene. Once the text was validated, preparation could begin with the other departments, staging, stage management, set design, costumes, etc. It was a team effort.
She followed the whole process of episode production: from writing, casting, shooting to post-production. When the shooting began, every day the team received the previous day’s work. Then comes the last phase, the viewing of the edited episodes.
The film director is responsible for making the film and has both a technical and artistic supervisory role: choice of framing, costumes, sets, lighting, music, etc., management of the actors, involvement in the editing of the sequences, etc. ….
Through their artistic choices, they impose their own style and their interpretation of the script.
Stage direction – Secretary of production
Their close collaborators assist the director on a more technical and logistical level with the various departments and the production. They ensure that the director’s vision can be implemented within the given budget and act as a link with the different branches.
The production secretary (often a female role) is the director’s right-hand assistant, observing everything that happens on the set, scrupulously noting the slightest inconsistency and serving as the living memory of the film as it is being made.
The Stage Manager
The stage manager takes care of all the logistics and starts their work several weeks before the shooting. He or she is responsible for selecting the shooting locations and ensuring that the crews can be accommodated. They must be prepared for any contingency and take care of each team.
He or she welcomes the actors, takes care of the shooting permits, arranges for the canteen to provide meals for the entire technical and artistic crew, handles the equipment, the dressing rooms, obtains the electrical supplies, etc. It’s up to him oer her to manage the day-to-day running of the sets so that everything runs smoothly.
The scriptwriters
Throughout the seasons, writing teams of several authors have worked together. After a brainstorming session, they put the ideas into practice and wrote the dialogues.
The actors could make suggestions for adjustments to their dialogues when they thought it was more appropriate.
Musical direction
The musical choices set the rhythm of the series.
Casting
Casting has been essential to the success of the series.
Sound
The sound technician must be as close as possible to the actors without being visible in the frame.
Hairdressers, make-up artists, stylists, costume designers
Often women, they followed the actors and adapted to the constraints of filming and deadlines.
Scenery: decorators, set designers, builders, location managers, prop makers
Canteen
The quality of the meals and the hospitality were essential when the working days were long and exhausting. Conviviality was the first rule of these breaks.
