Today, France 2 is broadcasting the first episodes of “Rivages”. But where was the series led by Fleur Geffrier and Guillaume Labbé filmed?
This Monday, January 6, France 2 launches the broadcast of Rivages, an ecological thriller carried by Fleur Geffrier and Guillaume Labbé.
This six-episode mini-series directed by David Hourrègue (Germinal) follows the story of Abigail, an oceanographer sent by IFREMER on a mission to Fécamp to investigate the inexplicable sinking of a trawler and the disappearance of its sailors. fishermen.
But as her research progresses, new mysterious phenomena occur at sea. Abigail will then understand that these disasters could have their origins in an underwater presence capable of upsetting the fragile balance between man and nature… And if the cause of the disturbances ultimately corresponded to nothing known?
Where was the series filmed?
If Jonathan Rio, one of the writers of the series, had imagined the story in Dieppe, it was ultimately on Fécamp that the choice fell.
David Hourrègue, the director, explained on this subject during a press briefing: ” When I arrived in Dieppe, I realized that I was looking for something much more family-friendly and intimate. In Fécamp, these two cliffs enclosed this small community. I had an obsession: that all the settings be located within a radius of one kilometer maximum to create a universe that was both very coherent and very tangible. And for that, Fécamp was obvious“.
For two months, David Hourrègue's cameras were stationed in Fécamp and its surroundings to bring to life the story imagined by Jonathan Rio and Monoca Rattazi. But if the story takes place in Fécamp, the scenes which were filmed underwater were filmed elsewhere.
Corsica and Belgium for the underwater scenes
For all the underwater scenes, a small team went… to Corsica.
“It was quite memorable“, explains Fleur Geffrier before continuing, “We had just returned from two months of filming in Fécamp and its storms. When we arrived in Corsica, the weather was magnificent. It took a weight off our shoulders“.
It must be said that the water of the English Channel is much darker compared to that of the Mediterranean. According to David Hourrègue, “You can't see two meters under the Channel. It's very opaque. When I saw that in Corsica you could see 20 meters underwater, I had the impression of having a friendly sea“.
If a large part of the underwater scenes were filmed in Corsica, another part was filmed in Brussels and more particularly at Lite, the largest aquatic studio in the world.
A necessity given the special effects that certain scenes required. Even though David Hourrègue had long considered filming them in the open sea, he ultimately changed his mind for reasons of safety but also practicality.
“In the last episode, we had sequences that involved heavy special effects and quite heavy electrical equipment. So we spent three days at the Lite studio. It was a military rhythm with long working days. We had to pay close attention to the health of the entire team, monitor the management of decompression stops and the oxygen level. That didn't stop Fleur from finishing with a little extra oxygen.“, says the director.
And added, “The Lite studio is an absolutely wonderful tool. It's incredible that we have this on European soil“.
Discover the first two episodes of Rivages from 9:10 p.m. on France 2.
