Le Magasin: Giving Objects a Presence on Screen
In February 2021, I helped create the video version of Le Magasin at Théâtre de la Ville in Longueuil, handling cinematography. Conceived by Odile Gamache and Philippe Cyr and produced by L’Homme allumette in co-production with Usine C, the project let me explore another way of telling a story with a camera.
Here, objects took centre stage. The creation relied on neither dialogue nor performers: it revealed a world of materials, movements and transformations. The project also questioned the place of shops and their evolution in the age of online sales, offering a digital experience around a very particular store.
For me, this visual work was stimulating. When an object becomes the subject of a scene, the perspective changes: framing, proximity and duration become essential to what we perceive. The camera had to find its relationship with the scenographic proposal and allow viewers to enter that world.
The creation brought together a multidisciplinary team. Odile Gamache created the scenography, Philippe Cyr the stage direction, Julie Basse the lighting and Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux the music and sound design. My video work was part of that meeting between ideas, objects, light and sound.
The February emails bring me back to working days in Longueuil and a team gradually seeing the work take shape. On March 16, Philippe announced that the online store would officially open the next day. He praised the group’s work and generosity: a lovely message to rediscover after all those days of creation.
The digital version was presented at the thirty-ninth International Festival of Films on Art in 2021. This memory remains connected to a distinctive collective experience: taking part in a work bringing theatre, scenography and video into dialogue, and discovering what images could contribute to a world without human characters.
View the project:https://www.guillaumelanglois.com/en/portfolio/le-magasin
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