In My Skin (Dans ma Peau) (Dans ma peau)

The idea behind the credits…

was to do it like in a classic film.

In part, this means situating the story in a more general context,

A bit like how some American films…

begin with establishing shots of a city…

then of a residential area, then of a house,

In this way, they create a backdrop…

for the setting and later the characters,

So, l thought that l would establish a setting…

that we rarely see in the film, and anchor the story…

in a very modern, urban context.

What l also found interesting with this was to do it in a staggered way…

by dividing the screen…

in order to suggest both sides of things,

l also wanted to create a very barren universe…

which would be in opposition to the discovery of the flesh later on.

If you spend three hours on each sentence, you'll never finish.

So, here was a short scene that would've…,

The story begins fairly plainly…

going straight to the film's conflict…

but l wanted first to create…

a little portrait of the characters…

and especially of the main character, my own,

So, in the prologue, l tried to emphasize…

her ambition…

the fact that she had professional objectives…

that were directing her life at that time,

She's a fairly determined character,

l also wanted to emphasize her romantic relationship…

which presented her character…

as someone with ordinary goals,

This was so that we would identify with her and to create a character…

who is very determined and fairly optimistic…

according to our values,

l filmed it like that…,

There was also this first shot where we saw…

her leg, etc, In fact, this was also designed to present…

her body in a discreet way, because it would be important later on…

and it was presented in a way so that it mixed…

with material that's actually closer to that of the credits,

Material that's barren and inanimate,

And, in fact, the idea was to permanently connect…

our image of the body with the setting,

Just like the leg that is revealed…

blending with the chair on the edge as if it were a hybrid body…

and the ending l had planned, with the computerscreen…

that hangs over the shoulders like a head,

that hangs over the shoulders like a head,

But that didn't work, it ends like this,

Here, it's the same, we come back to this idea of a person…

who is essentially characterized by her professional ambition,

She doesn't have a position…, Actually, she doesn't have a permanent job,

l liked the idea of someone who's trying to find her place…

who isn't simply following a logic of promotions…

and who isn't caught up in a structure that she wants to be part of,

So she isn't marginal, but she's on an edge, a border,

Here, there's another side of the character that l wanted to show,

This curiosity, which leads her to go to this place…

a social place…

with the aim of participating in a movement, a collective project…

which we could analyze as being her professional goal,

At the same time, she wanders…

and she looks beyond this situation,

She's always just outside the most brightly lit areas…

and her curiosity pushes her to explore everything,

In these sequences, like in the prologue…

l never wanted the character…

to be isolated in a shot,

So, there's this rather solitary character…

who, at the same time, isn't isolated, There isn't any reverse shot…

before she is, in her own eyes…

singled out,

Yes, that transfixed me! Seeing her fall, l didn't know what to say!

It's a film that was going to communicate…

a sort of distancing,

l wanted us to feel that her isolation here at the beginning of the film…

relative to her actions…

wasn't being reflected through the image…

but rather that she permanently be associated to someone else in the frame…

so that the rupture would be intensified,

So when she'd be singled out by a close-up of herself alone…

it would be more intense…

and then, the reverse shot in her interactions with the others…

takes on another meaning, it really takes on the meaning…

of confrontation, rupture or distance…,

Of separation! That's the word l was looking for,

l didn't want her to be separated here,

Then, when she does separate herself, she's also separated from…,

When the possibility of filming her face in a close-up, alone, presents itself…

it will oppose the following elements:

the others and the fragments of her own body,

l wanted everything to happen at the same time,

This sequence was shortened considerably,

The interaction with the man in white…

who is played by Marc Rioufol, the landlord…

was much more important,

Still with the intention of applying for a job…

she talks with him he's a friend of the CEO…

and she decides to bank on…

the possibility that he'll be impressed by her professional abilities,

The dancing was also important…

because, as we learn later her leg is injured,

because, as we learn later her leg is injured,

It was important for me…

to confirm the fact that she didn't notice it…

because she just thinks that her pants are torn,

She says, ''l fell, l tore my pants,''

She keeps on dancing, using her body, but as we later realize…

she was probably suffering…

by dancing with an injured leg,

Logically, she was probably suffering while dancing,

It's the same with the dim lighting, which isn't only for the party's ambiance,

l wanted it to be fairly dark,

It's a question of realism, so that the blood…

wouldn't actually grab her attention during the party,

Here, we have the first close-up where she is alone,

What I'm saying is silly, because there isn't a huge crowd in the room,

But it's done like that anyway,

She isn't composed with part of the set, so suddenly…

there is a close-up on her face,

The streaks of blood…

are presented in opposition, like something she's discovering…

which is separate, but finally they turn out to be her own…

but not immediately, That's why l toyed with the idea…

at first of shooting it by integrating the bloodstains…

into part of the set, This had the advantage…

of leaving us to imagine some vague danger…

or something like that,

But that was too clear-cut,

The connection between the blood and her would've been too obvious…

if they'd been in the same shot,

Here, the idea of this change, which is very simple, just a trick shot…

a little jump, an awkward connection…

it was meant to show…

a little ellipsis, even a mental one,

She's lost in an unspecified thought…

which shows that something is happening inside her,

In my mind, she hadn't decided to not tell her friend…

on the contrary, she wanted to speak with her,

Then, since her friend tells her that she found the blood…

and that they looked, suddenly, it takes on new meaning,

Plus, there's an immediate link with something criminal…

which leads her to instinctively hide it,

Maybe she saw that her friend was upset…

and suddenly, it felt like a bigger deal,

and suddenly, it felt like a bigger deal,

And it was discovered by many people,

Then, suddenly, her reflex is to conceal…

something she may have otherwise confided,

This is one of the most important scenes for me, because it's the one…

where l was able to formulate…

even explicitly, in the dialogue…

which for me gave meaning to the whole situation…

and to the character's subsequent search,

Notably, for the viewer…

in my view, what significance should be given…

to what happened before,

It's the only moment where, for me, there's something…

along the lines of an interpretation of the character's problem…

and almost an explanatory passage, Or interpretive anyway,

What we learn here what l wanted to be understood, is…

that it isn't completely normal that she didn't realize,

The distress that she feels…

when she realizes that she hurt herself and that she didn't feel it…

that she only realized when she saw the wound, a few hours later…

l wanted to emphasize that her distress was justified,

This does happen, There are traumas…

that go unnoticed…

but despite everything, given the depth of the wound…

there was something strange about the fact that she felt nothing,

It shows…

that there is already a weakness in the character's relationship to her body,

Even beyond what might be troubling about this event…

as plausible as it is, physiologically…

beyond the natural alienation…

there was already something a bit odd,

l wanted to highlight this distance…

and highlight that the doctor, the young intern played by my brother…

did notice this,

l wanted to show that he was a bit taken aback and unsettled by the…

slight yet surprising distance…

between the character and her body and this wound,

The positioning of the body was important for me,

l put her on her side…

even though, logically, she wouldn't have been placed like that at all,

Because l wanted her to turn her back on her wound,

At the very moment when we're talking about the distance…

with this wound that she discovered…

she is already in a position where…

it's the doctor who is in direct contact with the wound,

She abandons it to him and turns her back slightly on h' er leg…

since she is partially turned, There's also a sense that she's removed…

from this moment from this fragment of leg,

A fearful attitude…

frightened and anxious when faced with this event…

that awakens something vague inside of her…

which feels threatening,

On the whole, l wanted the character…

to be, on one hand, sunny and happy…

and focused on the positive goals that l mentioned…