Frank Verpillat
Encyclopedia
Frank Verpillat, born in 1946 in Lyon
, France, is a French director, inventor and artist. He died October 10, 2010
. In 1980, he was awarder the Prix de Rome
of Cinema (Villa Médicis Hors les Murs).
Beginning as a programmer and manager in Parisian cinema theatres (the Ranelagh in 1970, the Studio des Acacias), he then moved into distribution and production, working as assistant director
and head of production. He directed 4 fiction shorts and one medium-length film (Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été in 1979), and the first full-length feature shot on video, with Michael Lonsdale
and Daniel Mesguich
, musical score by Michel Fano). He was then co-author, along with Alain Robbe-Grillet
, of the adaptation of La Belle captive
in 1983.
In France and in the USA he produced or co-produced seven full-length features (including La meilleure façon de marcher
by Claude Miller
, and Alain Robbe-Grillet's Le Jeu avec le feu) as well a dozen fiction shorts.
Co-founder of the Filmoblic corporation in 1974 (with Pierre-Henri Deleau, Jean-François Dion, Hubert Niogret and Hugo Santiago), he was founder of the corporation "French 75" in Hollywood, in 1975
In 1977 he was nominated for the César Award
in the category "Best Fiction Short" for the film La Nuit du beau marin peut-être (1976).
TV
Since 1980 he has written or produced over fifteen hours of television programs and documentaries (including European Masterpieces in the USA), Wotan (preparation for the adaptation of the France 3
tetralogy) and, since 2001, for France 5
.
TV programs
In the 1990s he directed HDTV programs for France Télécom
in multplex (for the Auditorium of the Louvre, and for medical congresses in Spain, Morocco and Switzerland), filming surgical procedures in 3D TV.
Following his first encounter with François Lanzenberg, he directed a number of programs for France 5 television.
And in the series "Portraits de la France":
Communication and in-house films
Since 1978 he has produced or directed about two hundred programs (mainly for Citroën
) : in-house shorts, billboards, multi-screens, 3-D films, internet communication sites, etc.
Towards the end of the '80's, in association with avec Bernard Deyriès, he was script writer for the main attractions at Planète Magique.
machine in the world and conducted extensive research leading and development in the fabrication and manipulation of 3D images.
He collaborated in numerous 3D and multi-screen programs for theme parks (Parc de la Villette
, in France) and in 1992 for the French paillion's "Exposition Universelle" in 1992 in Seville
.
He is the original creator of the "Diachronic Holoscopy" software.
Virtual editing and interactive narration
In 1980, due to financing by "Image du CNC" (Michel Fano), Frank Verpillat was able to formulate the first prototype of a working non-linear editing system
which he called "virtual editing". The apparatus uses an Apple II
and two Philips Videodisc
players which both read rushes transferred to videodisc (software created by Gilles Bloch and Yves Languepin).
Too innovative for the period (at the time, videodisc images were analogue, digital images still being in the experimental stage), this technique remained under-utilised until the explosion of digital imaging in the early '90's (with the exception of the imposing "droid" in Lucasfilms which was developed soon after, using 81 betamax).
Nevertheless, as so often happens, new technology leads to unexpected developments and the editing machine proved to be an excellent tool for a different application : interactive narration, hitherto unknown. Positive public response led to a completely new region via different paths. Experiments were conducted in association with Philips
, Thomson
, and (more indirectly), with MIT.
Frank Verpillat's ideas played an important role in launching the Interactive Scripts competition organised by Ina in 1983.
"Pulling", 3D using a single camera
At the beginning of the '90's, only Pierre Allio was conducting experimental research in the field of four-channelled polyscopy, using lenticular filter screens ("Aliospcopy", created in 1987). As far as the rest of the world was concerned, at that time (the early '90's) stereoscopy
meant the use of elaborate and complicated props: two synchronous cameras (silver-based or video), with paired and coordinated zooms... A real Rube Goldberg affair!
By analysing the Pulfrich effect (the effect of certain one dimensional images observed through a smoked lens placed over one eye, thus creating the impression of a 3-D image), he understood that, under certain conditions, a time discrepancy could allow as many points of view as necessary.
By means of this technique, which he called "Pulling" (from Pulfrich effect
and tracking shot
), most of the existing images taken from the side door of a helicopter become 3D.
Before the end of the 20th century, at a time when the calculation of synthesised images was still long and onerous, Pulling would be used to create synthesised 3D images (the same images were able to be used twice, three times, or even four or eight times, depending on the type of 3D utilised).
Diachronic holoscopy
At the end of the '90's, Frank Verpillat refined software designed to create images by mixing the pixels of a film taken from separate photograms: the composite image bringing together a number of diverse elements photographed at different times.
He had thus succeeded in producing "an apparatus for photographing space time". When the original images are chosen astutely, this software is able to create an astonishing array of source images. Among them, we might find distorted versions of cubist or surrealist paintings surréalistes (Salvador Dalí, Bellmer…).
This work has been made possible thanks firstly to Cyril Cosenza and also to Colin Auger.
Since 2002, he and Dr Jacques Bady have been working together to perfect a Method of e-learning for medical training.
Dimanche, Télérama
, Encyclopædia Universalis
, Video News…
Between 1985 and 1995 he gave classes in two Parisian universities (Dauphine and Censier), while at the same time, conducting a number of audiovisual training courses.
He manufactured screen prints in association with - amongst others - Deyriès, in l'ephémère Groupe Ptyx.
He produced numbered works from 1995, combining shapes created by means of diachronic software.
Since 2008, his work has been almost entirely dedicated to Lenticular High Relief using lenticular networks invented byGabriel Lippmann in 1908. The viewer, by moving laterally, observes, in 3D, a succession of elements which reveal themselves gradually in a sort of "layered" space.
This led to Frank Verpillat's theory concerning the "peripatetic" consumption of his work ("peripatetic", since one is obliged to move in order to see the whole) which he calls "paranoiaque feuilletée" ("strata paranoia") in homage to Dali.
Certain works in High Relief are abstract, some make use of diachronic forms, others are a "repetition" of old classics ("repetition" as used by Søren Kierkegaard
, and Alain Robbe-Grillet).
In 2009 he was awarded the prize of the city of in Saint-Tropez
at the 13th International Salon of Contemporary Art.
He was also one of the presidents of GREC (Groupe de Recherches et d'Essais Cinématographiques), President of the Centre Français des Opérations Territoriales, membre de la Société des Electriciens et Electroniciens Français, of the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), the Société des Auteurs Multimedia, de la Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, of the Francophone Alliance.
Over the past fifty years, Frank Verpillat has exercised a number of martial arts. He met Jacques Normand in 1980, becoming one of his most faithful disciples. The martial arts he has studied include: Bo Jitsu, Iaï Jitsu, Kyūdō
and Aikido
.
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France, is a French director, inventor and artist. He died October 10, 2010
Training
He is an ex-student of ENSAMÉcole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....
. In 1980, he was awarder the Prix de Rome
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...
of Cinema (Villa Médicis Hors les Murs).
Filmography
CinemaBeginning as a programmer and manager in Parisian cinema theatres (the Ranelagh in 1970, the Studio des Acacias), he then moved into distribution and production, working as assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
and head of production. He directed 4 fiction shorts and one medium-length film (Ève avait l'éclat métallique de l'été in 1979), and the first full-length feature shot on video, with Michael Lonsdale
Michael Lonsdale
Michael Lonsdale , sometimes billed as Michel Lonsdale, is a French actor who has appeared in over 180 films and television shows....
and Daniel Mesguich
Daniel Mesguich
Daniel Mesguich is a French-Algerian actor and director in theater and opera, and professor of stage acting school.-Biography:...
, musical score by Michel Fano). He was then co-author, along with Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet , was a French writer and filmmaker. He was, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon, one of the figures most associated with the Nouveau Roman trend. Alain Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on March 25, 2004, succeeding Maurice...
, of the adaptation of La Belle captive
La Belle captive
La Belle captive is a 1983 French drama film directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet. It was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Daniel Mesguich as Walter Raim* Cyrielle Clair as Sara Zeitgeist* Daniel Emilfork as Inspector Francis...
in 1983.
In France and in the USA he produced or co-produced seven full-length features (including La meilleure façon de marcher
La Meilleure façon de marcher
La meilleure façon de marcher is a 1976 French film directed by Claude Miller, his directorial debut. It stars Patrick Dewaere, Patrick Bouchitey, Christine Pascal, Claude Piéplu and Michel Blanc.- Plot :...
by Claude Miller
Claude Miller
Claude Miller is a French film director, producer and screenwriter.-Career:Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his first practical cinematic experience while he was in uniform, serving with the Service Cinéma de l'Armée...
, and Alain Robbe-Grillet's Le Jeu avec le feu) as well a dozen fiction shorts.
Co-founder of the Filmoblic corporation in 1974 (with Pierre-Henri Deleau, Jean-François Dion, Hubert Niogret and Hugo Santiago), he was founder of the corporation "French 75" in Hollywood, in 1975
In 1977 he was nominated for the César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
in the category "Best Fiction Short" for the film La Nuit du beau marin peut-être (1976).
TV
Since 1980 he has written or produced over fifteen hours of television programs and documentaries (including European Masterpieces in the USA), Wotan (preparation for the adaptation of the France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
tetralogy) and, since 2001, for France 5
France 5
France 5 is a public television network in France, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring educational programming, the channel's motto is la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir...
.
TV programs
In the 1990s he directed HDTV programs for France Télécom
France Télécom
France Telecom S.A. is the main telecommunications company in France, the third-largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. It currently employs about 180,000 people and has 192.7 million customers worldwide . In 2010 the group had revenue of €45.5 billion...
in multplex (for the Auditorium of the Louvre, and for medical congresses in Spain, Morocco and Switzerland), filming surgical procedures in 3D TV.
Following his first encounter with François Lanzenberg, he directed a number of programs for France 5 television.
- 1999 : Un rêve de Racine (script with Daniel MesguichDaniel MesguichDaniel Mesguich is a French-Algerian actor and director in theater and opera, and professor of stage acting school.-Biography:...
), - 2000 : Histoire et techniques du cinéma en relief (co-written with Claude Haïm)
- 2001 : Les grands stratèges et leurs chefs-d'oeuvre (with Laurent Henninger and Gabriel Peynichou)
And in the series "Portraits de la France":
- 2005 : 14-18 : le grand tournant
- 2006 : La France dans le Monde
- 2006 : La France et la construction européenne
- 2008 : La Quatrième République, une république mal aimée
- 2008 : La Cinquième République a 50 ans
Communication and in-house films
Since 1978 he has produced or directed about two hundred programs (mainly for Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
) : in-house shorts, billboards, multi-screens, 3-D films, internet communication sites, etc.
Towards the end of the '80's, in association with avec Bernard Deyriès, he was script writer for the main attractions at Planète Magique.
Inventions and technical achievements
In 1981 he conceived the prototype for the first operational virtual film editingFilm editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
machine in the world and conducted extensive research leading and development in the fabrication and manipulation of 3D images.
He collaborated in numerous 3D and multi-screen programs for theme parks (Parc de la Villette
Parc de la Villette
The Parc de la Villette is a park in Paris at the outer edge of the 19th arrondissement, bordering the Boulevard Périphérique, which is a ring road around Paris, and the suburban department of Seine-Saint-Denis.-History:...
, in France) and in 1992 for the French paillion's "Exposition Universelle" in 1992 in Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
.
He is the original creator of the "Diachronic Holoscopy" software.
Virtual editing and interactive narration
In 1980, due to financing by "Image du CNC" (Michel Fano), Frank Verpillat was able to formulate the first prototype of a working non-linear editing system
Non-linear editing system
In video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
which he called "virtual editing". The apparatus uses an Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
and two Philips Videodisc
Videodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
players which both read rushes transferred to videodisc (software created by Gilles Bloch and Yves Languepin).
Too innovative for the period (at the time, videodisc images were analogue, digital images still being in the experimental stage), this technique remained under-utilised until the explosion of digital imaging in the early '90's (with the exception of the imposing "droid" in Lucasfilms which was developed soon after, using 81 betamax).
Nevertheless, as so often happens, new technology leads to unexpected developments and the editing machine proved to be an excellent tool for a different application : interactive narration, hitherto unknown. Positive public response led to a completely new region via different paths. Experiments were conducted in association with Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, Thomson
Thomson SA
Technicolor SA , formerly Thomson SA and Thomson Multimedia, is a French international provider of solutions for the creation, management, post-production, delivery and access of video, for the Communication, Media and Entertainment industries. Technicolor’s headquarters are located in Issy les...
, and (more indirectly), with MIT.
Frank Verpillat's ideas played an important role in launching the Interactive Scripts competition organised by Ina in 1983.
"Pulling", 3D using a single camera
At the beginning of the '90's, only Pierre Allio was conducting experimental research in the field of four-channelled polyscopy, using lenticular filter screens ("Aliospcopy", created in 1987). As far as the rest of the world was concerned, at that time (the early '90's) stereoscopy
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
meant the use of elaborate and complicated props: two synchronous cameras (silver-based or video), with paired and coordinated zooms... A real Rube Goldberg affair!
By analysing the Pulfrich effect (the effect of certain one dimensional images observed through a smoked lens placed over one eye, thus creating the impression of a 3-D image), he understood that, under certain conditions, a time discrepancy could allow as many points of view as necessary.
By means of this technique, which he called "Pulling" (from Pulfrich effect
Pulfrich effect
The Pulfrich effect is a psychophysical percept wherein lateral motion of an object in the field of view is interpreted by the visual cortex as having a depth component, due to a relative difference in signal timings between the two eyes.-Overview:...
and tracking shot
Tracking shot
In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken...
), most of the existing images taken from the side door of a helicopter become 3D.
Before the end of the 20th century, at a time when the calculation of synthesised images was still long and onerous, Pulling would be used to create synthesised 3D images (the same images were able to be used twice, three times, or even four or eight times, depending on the type of 3D utilised).
Diachronic holoscopy
At the end of the '90's, Frank Verpillat refined software designed to create images by mixing the pixels of a film taken from separate photograms: the composite image bringing together a number of diverse elements photographed at different times.
He had thus succeeded in producing "an apparatus for photographing space time". When the original images are chosen astutely, this software is able to create an astonishing array of source images. Among them, we might find distorted versions of cubist or surrealist paintings surréalistes (Salvador Dalí, Bellmer…).
This work has been made possible thanks firstly to Cyril Cosenza and also to Colin Auger.
Multimedia and internet
Frank Verpillat has created a number of interactive programs for CD, DVD, and internet sites, as well as over thirty interactive programs forming part of DVD bonuses. He was also closely involved in the production of the AAsternance software created by Michel Fano.Since 2002, he and Dr Jacques Bady have been working together to perfect a Method of e-learning for medical training.
Journalism and teaching
Frank Verpillat has been a lecturer and journalist for a number of different publications: Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
Dimanche, Télérama
Télérama
Télérama is a weekly French magazine owned by Le Monde S.A. Its primary contents are television and radio listings, though the magazine also prints film, theatre, music and book reviews, as well as cover stories and feature articles of cultural interest. The name is a contraction of its earlier...
, Encyclopædia Universalis
Encyclopædia Universalis
The Encyclopædia Universalis is a French-language general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles of the Encyclopædia Universalis are aimed at educated adult readers, and written by a staff of full-time editors and expert contributors...
, Video News…
Between 1985 and 1995 he gave classes in two Parisian universities (Dauphine and Censier), while at the same time, conducting a number of audiovisual training courses.
Visual arts
In 1980 he exhibited a number of his creations at the Salon d'Automne as well as in assorted exhibitions, either on his own, or alongside other artists.He manufactured screen prints in association with - amongst others - Deyriès, in l'ephémère Groupe Ptyx.
He produced numbered works from 1995, combining shapes created by means of diachronic software.
Since 2008, his work has been almost entirely dedicated to Lenticular High Relief using lenticular networks invented byGabriel Lippmann in 1908. The viewer, by moving laterally, observes, in 3D, a succession of elements which reveal themselves gradually in a sort of "layered" space.
This led to Frank Verpillat's theory concerning the "peripatetic" consumption of his work ("peripatetic", since one is obliged to move in order to see the whole) which he calls "paranoiaque feuilletée" ("strata paranoia") in homage to Dali.
Certain works in High Relief are abstract, some make use of diachronic forms, others are a "repetition" of old classics ("repetition" as used by Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard was a Danish Christian philosopher, theologian and religious author. He was a critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling and Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel...
, and Alain Robbe-Grillet).
In 2009 he was awarded the prize of the city of in Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez....
at the 13th International Salon of Contemporary Art.
Related fields and recreation
From 1997 to 1999 he was Vice President of the Commission Supérieure Technique de l'Image et du Son (CST).He was also one of the presidents of GREC (Groupe de Recherches et d'Essais Cinématographiques), President of the Centre Français des Opérations Territoriales, membre de la Société des Electriciens et Electroniciens Français, of the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), the Société des Auteurs Multimedia, de la Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, of the Francophone Alliance.
Over the past fifty years, Frank Verpillat has exercised a number of martial arts. He met Jacques Normand in 1980, becoming one of his most faithful disciples. The martial arts he has studied include: Bo Jitsu, Iaï Jitsu, Kyūdō
Kyudo
, literally meaning "way of the bow", is the Japanese art of archery. It is a modern Japanese martial art and practitioners are known as .It is estimated that there are approximately half a million practitioners of kyudo today....
and Aikido
Aikido
is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
.