Filming “Cat’s Eyes” proved to be an immense challenge for both the actresses and the production teams. After several months of waiting, TF1 viewers were finally able to discover the first two episodes of the event series, taken from the cult 80s manga by Tsukasa Hôjo. A high-flying entry on the scene since one of the three novice thieving sisters, in this case Tam (played by Camille Lou) finds herself chased by the police in every corner of the Eiffel Tower. However, this spectacular sequence was achieved thanks to a clever mix between “natural and studio settings”, as Alexandre Laurent explained during a press briefing given at the La Rochelle Fiction Festival.
“We are not allowed to dance in Versailles”
This immersion in the most emblematic monuments of the City of Lights will continue at the Palace of Versailles, during the third episode, broadcast this Monday, November 18. But here too, and contrary to appearances, not all the scenes were filmed in the main residence of the kings of France. And this for a very simple reason. “To protect the floors, we are not allowed to dance in Versailles.” revealed Benjamin Dupont-Jubien, the co-producer of the series, to our colleagues at “TV Mag”. “The castle is suitable for filming, they have everything necessary to protect the floors because several period films and series have been filmed there but they prohibit crowd movements, particularly dancing.”he adds.
The “Cat's Eyes” teams therefore had to find a solution to meet the requirements of the scenario, stick to the architectural harmony of the Palace and create an illusion. They therefore fell back on another castle, that of Vaux-le-Vicomte, in order to recreate the masked ball featuring the three heroines and their court.
Several obstacles encountered during filming
When the production managed to gain access to the capital's high points, other major obstacles presented themselves, such as the Olympic Games and its security challenges, or the unforeseen circumstances of capricious weather. “These constraints constituted our greatest challenge, but also our greatest satisfaction“, nevertheless underlines Mehdi Sabbar, also at the origin of this adaptation.
And their efforts paid off since the launch of the 8-episode mini-series garnered an average of 4,56 millions of curious people for the first two parts Monday November 11. This is the best historical launch for a TF1 series on the 15-24 year old target, with 49% PDA, and the best launch for a series since “HPI” on the FRDA-50 targets (39.3 %) and 25-49 year olds (37%).
