claire & max turn the city of paris into a fake movie set

claire & max turn the city of paris into a fake movie set
all images courtesy of claire&max

have you ever imagined that the entire world around you was a movie set? the 1998 hit film ‘the truman show’ gave viewers a glimpse at the surreal possibility of this fabricated universe, where actor jim carrey, the movie’s protagonist, lives within a highly-controlled and meticulously-staged environment. 

filmmakers claire & max apply a similar set of circumstances to the city of paris, one of the most beloved destinations on the globe, visited by millions each year, and featured throughout film and art throughout the ages. for their recently completed cinematic production titled ‘apparences’, the duo have isolated the façades of the city’s iconic architectural sites and recreated them as two dimensional ‘props’. edited in ultra-HD, the film takes viewers on a strange walk through a city that is both familiar and disorienting at the same time. recalling the photographic series of isolated building façades by zacharie gaudrillot-roy, claire & max’s film similarly toys with the ways we perceive and engage with our built environment. 

the city’s iconic architectural sites are recreated as two dimensional ‘props’

a half-built vision of the eiffel tower is propped up on supporting scaffolds as if the prop for a film

paris’ landmark architecture is transformed into a series of scaffolded structures built for film sets 

the famous notre dame is carefully dissected into multiple freestanding parts 

the streets are paris appear as familiar sights with a hauntingly disorienting effect

the absence of people in the scene adds to the effect of the city’s transformation into a film set 

paris’ usually busy streets and sidewalks are vacant in the film by claire & max

the scenes toy with the ways people perceive and engage with our built environment

the façades of buildings along the river are isolated amongst their surroundings