Une enfance retrouvée
In Une enfance retrouvée (A Found Childhood), follow Victoria, a young orphan, as she prepares to leave her family home and live independently for the first time. Without any memories of her parents or childhood, she receives a mysterious object that reveals more about her family and life than she could ever have expected.
In our second year at BUT MMI, we produced and directed our first short film in teams. The narrative had to revolve around the theme of the real and fictitious worlds.
For our project, we chose the concept of time travel. Our scenario approaches the dreamlike journey via objects, particularly souvenir photos. In Une enfance retrouvée, the main character, who lived in the '80s and '90s, travels using her mother's vintage photos. This creates a representation of old Paris based on archive footage from 1950 to 1960.
The short film uses a dual point of view: we see through the eyes of the daughter, who immerses herself in her mother's vision of Paris.
After completing our scenario, we started shooting the film ourselves. It was shot entirely using just two sets: a bedroom and a green screen. We also used an iPhone and a stabiliser to film it.
The fictional part of the short film required extensive compositing and VFX work to insert the mother into the archive scenes. I was responsible for the audio and video editing.
Both the images and the soundtrack were carefully crafted. The addition of sound effects makes the scenes more immersive and dynamic, particularly during transitions.
Directed and produced by
Thomas PANG
Madhvi HETTIARACHCHIGE
Hayrunissa ACAR
Lola BENETEAU
Film shooting team
Thomas PANG
Madhvi HETTIARACHCHIGE
Hayrunissa ACAR
Lola BENETEAU
Video and Audio Editing
Thomas PANG
Creative Direction
Thomas PANG
Casting
Jane, the mother — Iris ATIL
Victoria, the daughter — Hayrunissa ACAR
Adoptive mother — Madhvi HETTIARACHCHIGE
Narrator — Thomas PANG
Music and Sounds
Musics are provided by Pixabay
Sounds provided by Freesound and Pixabay
Archive Footage
SNCF - DE FILS EN AIGUILLES
SNCF - LE MAGAZINE DU RAIL N°22
SNCF - PARIS LILLE
INA Archives - 1965 : Vivre dans le 13e arrondissement
INA Archives - 1967 : Quand Paris devient désert
INA Archives - 1975 : Le vieux Paris qui disparaît
Nestor Almendros - Le jardin public
A Ivry, vague de chaleur : aux Tuileries, Agence de presse Mondial Photo-Presse, 1932
Clément Dorval - Ville de Paris / Archives de Paris
Commission du Vieux Paris
With the support of
Université Gustave Eiffel
IUT - Marne-la-Vallée — Université Gustave Eiffel
BUT MMI - Champs-sur-Marne
Movie made for academic purposes, all rights reserved to their respective owners.