16/07/2014 - The movie will be called Bianco; the first stage of production involves aerial shots that will be used to create a virtual set in which the actors will perform

On Monday 14 July, the shoot began on Mont Blanc for the new film by Daniele Vicari (winner of the Audience Award at the Berlinale in 2012 with Diaz – Don’t Clean up This Blood [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniele Vicari
film profile]), called Bianco. The first phase of production, which will wrap in December, comprises aerial shots, with no actors involved. The second stage, which will begin in March 2015, will see the involvement of three Italian actors and four French ones. The casting process is still ongoing.

Bianco is the story of a great mountain-climbing adventure undertaken in the early 1960s by seven brave and determined young French and Italian men who decided to go beyond their limits and not have their lives ruled by their own fears. Among these individuals was the legendary Walter Bonatti. Their challenge was to climb a huge overhanging cliff face, considered impossible to climb: the Central Pillar of Freney, a 750 m vertical surface that plummets down into a glacier.

The film will be made using the technique of digital compositing: “Shooting a film in that location is a real technological and artistic challenge, not to mention in terms of production,” Vicari states. “An important benchmark for me is the production of the great film by Cuarón, Gravity [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]”. This first phase will involve conducting high-resolution video and photographic surveys of the whole route intended to be used in the film, using an aerial photogrammetry system. A 3D model will then be created from these shots – an authentic virtual set that will serve as the basis for creating a digital storyboard and the scenery elements in a studio. Once the model has been completed, along with the required shots, the real-life actors will be free to perform within it.

Bianco is an Italian-French co-production and is produced by Francesco Virga and Gianfilippo Pedote, of Mir Cinematografica, together with French outfit Aeternam; it is being developed with Rai Cinema, with backing from the Valle d'Aosta Film Commission. Based on the novel Freney 1961 - Tragedia sul Monte Bianco, by Marco Albino Ferrari, the screenplay has been written by Daniele Vicari, Massimo Gaudioso, Francesca Manieri and Marco Albino Ferrari.

(Translated from Italian)