Shademaker is an unmitigated success - for a zero budget not for profit production, that is ! In the last adventure from a trilogy of James Bond tribute films, 007 again faces is sworn enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The story is a free adaptation of Ian Fleming novels The Spy Who Loved Me and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Even a James Bond tribute movie is a long-term undertaking. Other projects from the Studio had to take a back seat. For all of those productions waiting is almost over. We are proud to present the Final Trailer for Shademaker. The movie will be released in a fortnight. We hope you will love this adventure of Agent 007, designed as an appetizer for the eagerly awaited blockbuster Spectre. Viva James Bond !

Two new Constellation Studios videos are now available. Full Mental Retard is a new short comedy in French language after an original idea from Patrice Gaudin, our great Charles Chaplin imitator in A Day In The Park.

Latest update about Constellation Studios projects :
 Shademaker (our third and final James Bond tribute film) has a couple of new scenes that were shot in the French Alps last month – a chase with mountain vistas in the background and a great fight next to an abandoned chapel in the same environment.
 Überstar, our new comedy, should begin production before the term is out.
 Ekstasis, a science fiction tale, should also begin soon, after a few delays. We remind you of Auntie, our latest comedy (in French language) released at the end of 2013 with the marvelous Minoche Walle and our usual suspects Luc Le Clech and Philippe Lombard.

I waited for someone to find out about this. Hurray, Gregory Bertrand for finding out that William Jackson Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire features in our James Bond 007 tribute film Shamelady. Turner’s masterpiece is my favorite painting and I digitally inserted it in Moneypenny’s office. All this was done five years before it was featured in the latest James Bond blockbuster, Skyfall. I also inserted Goya’s Duke Of Wellington in M’s office years after that famous portrait was stolen from London’s National Gallery - supposedly by Dr. No in the first James Bond movie. As a gag the end credits mention that this painting was on loan for our picture by the Julius No Foundation ! As I loved inserting these references in our tribute movie - an obvious fitting place for them - Goya’s Duke Of Wellington also makes a second appearance (this time painted by Serge Rotelli) but with Roger Moore’s face at the end of the final fight with the villain ! For Your Enjoyment Only. - Eric Saussine

AT LONG LAST ! Five years after Shamelady, our second James Bond tribute film Shatterhand is available for your viewing enjoyment.

In this time of French presidential election, it seemed somehow appropriate to introduce the main authority giving orders in a spy story i.e. the French President himself. That honor goes to the current incumbent - who might or might not be reelected - Nicolas Sarlozy. This movie shot mainly in the Caribbean in Easter 2011 has a rather incredible backstory - It could never have been produced. It was written in one day during holidays in the Gulf of Mexico and shot... in two days. Three scenes filmed in France were later added to augment footage already shot under the sun. As its title might easily suggest Punta And Cana Go To The Beach is a comedy featuring barely competent spies on a strange mission in a dream place. The whole thing is as light as a soap bubble and aims at nothing else but to keep you smiling. We do hope that this mission will be a success.

After "Punta & Cana Go To The Beach" last month - the film is not ready and you will understand why - here is our second surprise movie these days ! "Kill B - First Kill" is a two-minute tribute to Quentin Tarantino. When Matthieu Pariot told Eric Saussine about the existence of a contest entitled"Do Your Tarantino", they started scratching their heads and found a story idea. A few days later, Eric put it into script form. Two days after finishing writing, they were shooting it with Eric behind the camera and Mathieu behind... actress Lilly Swann, to prevent an (un)happy Philippe Lombard (as great as ever) from being tramplened on in a memorable massage by foot scene. We hope you will find all this good fun and you can watch it here !

Surprise movie ! When Antoine de Villaseca and Eric Saussine fly to a seaside resort in Punta Cana for three days’ rest, those two cannot keep their hands away from a camera. Nothing unusual then for them to wonder : "What if we were to do a short film here ?" Nothing unusual as a matter of fact to write a script in one day and to shoot it in two. Nothing unusual. Of course, there would be no other equipment than the two guys’ faces, the splendid scenery, the holiday camera and a bit of madness. The rest would be done in post-production. That thing’s name ? "Punta And Cana Go To The Beach", no Russian tragedy as you can guess. You will soon be given some news regarding this production that surprised even us !

Somber Heroes is the third film in a line of comedies started with Picnic and Bluff. Same director (Eric Saussine), same writer (Philippe Lombard), same producer (Luc Le Clech) and the last two mentioned in a marvellous duet in front of the camera. Yet it is a trio we are talking about here - Yannick Guigneux joins them after his memorable role a total moron in Bluff. John, Jack and William - desperados living in what can be called the Golden Age of Westerns - are just old-time transpositions of Paul, Raoul and Norbert. Yet rest assured : they are still incredibly stupid. Click on the following link to watch this French-language film.

A few pieces of news from the Shatterhand front, our second James Bond tribute film :
 Two senes have been totally color-corrected so that they could have a more cinema look : an intimate scene shot in broad light now looks... more intimate and another scene in which Bond escapes through a large vault now has a night blue look that is better-suited than the original neon-greenish one.
 The villain’s End-Of-The-World-Machine and its destruction now exist thanks to special effects. Only a handful of sound effects remain to be created to finish the sequence.
 Our film had no MI6 scene. That is no longer the case - Bond watches some MI6 data on a computer screen - not unlike The World Is Not Enough. Computer animation is also done. (M and Moneypenny do not appear in this opus).
 James Bond now travels on the Japanese coast thanks to new pictures of a car having a pleasant drive through the country.
 The Main Title Sequence, though unfinished, has moved forward considerably and its visuels are mostly Japanese-themed, since Japan is the our story’s main location.
 Final filming on Shatterhand was on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March. Extras populating the villain’s base were filmed in front of a green screen.

Constellation is proud to present its new production, Nocturne. Born from an order to produce a teaser trailer for... a novel (La Plume et l’Envol, written by Sophia Balestri, published by Le Manuscrit in 2008), Nocturne certainly has a narrative albeit one reduced to its simplest form. It is more of an exeperience for the senses with visual references to fantasy worlds akin to what is presented in movies such like Peter Jackson’s the Lord Of The Rings.

An ever-recurring topic for Constellation finally gets closure this month. A splendid trailer for a Star Trek movie that you will never see and a hilarious short parody of this franchise giant are available at long last on the Star Trek Monument page.

Upcoming movies and introducing a new section... Shatterhand is still in post-production (Bond fans, don’t despair !). A new short film entitled Nocturne, sylvan and contemplative, soon on this website, as Somber Heroes, our third French-language comedy, written by Philippe Lombard and directed by Eric Saussine (after Bluff and Picnic) also to be made available soon.

A new section "Music Videos, Friends and Miscellaneous" appears on this website. Projects running parallel to Constellation, or including personel from Constellation, plus miscellaneous music videos produced within our studio. Artwork from Serge Rotelli, our James Bond himself, is now presented by

Some people reported difficulties to download Constellation Studios movies, including the still popular Shamelady. Our server broke down. It should be repared very soon. We are sorry for the inconvenience. EDIT : website fixed !

A new great addition to our resume is coming this month : I Hate You written and directed by our in-house photography expert Frederique Remy is released for your viewing enjoyment. It is about a cheap movie’s filming going awry and the actors were more or less playing themselves — rather more than less. It is great, it is lively and we hope that you will enjoy it. I Hate You can be seen on this page.

Constellation Studios is proud to present its new production — and a first for us — a musical video. As a matter of fact we shot the famous French Rock band, Les Figurants (The Extras) and have coupled our footage with one of their tunes entitled "Paradis parallèle" (Parallel Paradise). The shoot took place at the end of 2007 and editing lasted until April 2008. You are invited to discover this new piece of work on this page.

With 80% of this movie shot last Summer, work has begun on editing the first pictures of Shatterhand, our second James Bond adventure. On other fronts, Constellation Studios has launched two new projects. For Les Figurants (The Extras), one of the great French rock band, we are producing a video. We also started production on a very trash short film entitled W.C. Killers, directed by Matthieu Pariot. Deep Down The Cellar, which we talk very little about, is still in the works.

The work on the sound for Shamelady is moving forward, though it is slower than planned. It is a huge undertaking to make it sound totally professional and we underestimated this because of our lack of experience in the field. New sound effects have been added in the car chase, music cues have been changed and dubbing the entire film is 75% finished. Following a wave of enthusiasm among and outside the Shamelady crew, we have decided to renew the experience and have launched the production of a shorter and hopefully more spectacular second Bond 007 film. It is titled Shatterhand. The idea of making a Bond adventure with that title was born a long time ago. Our more pressing goal is to finalise and finish Shamelady, to be released in 2007. However we started shooting Shatterhand, to be released in 2008 to celebrate Ian Fleming’s hundredth birthday, in February 2007. we filmed a ski chase for the new pre-titles sequence. The main shoot will take place in July 2007. Once again it will be directed by Eric Saussine and production will be supervised by Philippe Crave and Pierre Rodiac.

A new trailer ("Action Trailer") is now available in Shamelady’s Downloads. Thanks to Satorious for compressing the video. There will be a Final Trailer. It will be made available some time before the film is released on the Internet. Though a few shots remain to be filmed, post production is now going full-speed ahead. The car chase’s editing has been reexamined for better efficiency. Its color scheme has been seriously worked on and it now offers an Aston Martin DB5 in all its glory. In the same way, a scene located in Irak has now its own peculiar color scheme. And hats off for Serge Rotelli, who has worked again for the production and created beautiful paintings and posters !

Constellation Studios shot a melancholy scene and two action scenes for Shamelady in the past 30 days. On September 30 a convertible Sunbeam Alpine - the model driven by Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962) - made a special guest appearance in front of our camera on the roads of Normandy and on D-Day beaches. On October 13 a small plane took off from Toussus-le-Noble airfield, south of Versailles, for a major action sequence that shall be completed with special effects. On November 17 a beautiful black Alfa Romeo driven by two killers terrorized the streets of Paris. Shooting is nearing conclusion on the project !

The shooting of the bigger scenes is over. We now dwelve into a string of smaller scenes and transition shots. A few special effects have been produced, with more to come. The greatest miracle - though it was one we kind of awaited - came from the first dubbing session for our two main characters, James Bond and his adversary Jacques Descarpes. Luc Le Clech dubbed himself but Serge Rotelli (Bond) was dubbed by Benoît Grimmiaux, whose voice was closer to what is expected for the character and whose professionalism was a sight to behold. His talent has suddenly lifted the level of our production. Many thanks to him !

The last big scenes for Shamelady have been shot. It happened during the long week-end of the Ascension. Thursday (Ascension Day) : we shot a car chase between Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and one baddie’s Jaguar XJS. The team thanks Mr. Lamy who enabled us to get the legendary vehicle and piloted it for us, as well as Mr. Michaut, the owner of the Jaguar. These scenes were shot around the Château d’Esclimont near Rambouillet. Friday : the team is back in Château d’Esclimont’s gardens to shoot Bond’s first appearance in the film. Other backgrounds around the castle were used, this time for the ending of the film. Saturday : we shot the final mano-a-mano fight between Bond and the main villain. Porch House Manor in Chantilly — where A View To Kill was shot — had kindly authorized us to shoot in their living room. Sunday : Irina Bogomolova looped all her scenes. It was a wrap for her as well as for Serge Rotelli. We thank both of our Geneva actors who put so much enthusiasm into the production.

The Shamelady project continues to progress rapidly. The Main Credit sequence has just been edited, complete with all its special effects. We can proudly announce that the resulting three minutes are worthy of the official 007 movies. A teaser trailer is in the works and should be available on this site by next month. Production resumes in May with the shooting of Aston Martin scenes and the shooting of the final fight between Bond and the main villain, Descarpes. New pictures are also available.

Since the launch of the Constellation Studios website and the announcement of the Shamelady project, production on the James Bond fanfilm has started. Three quarters of the picture were already shot between August 2005 and February 2006 and editing has already begun. Special effects and sound effects are also in the works. The pre-credit sequence was also shot against a green screen. Reactions from fans everywhere are enthusiastic ! Coming soon : news, pictures, videos, everything to know about this promising fanfilm !

The website for Constellation Studios, which has been under construction for a few months, is now online ! This studio’s Internet pages and the films related to them aim at having its members’ works reach a wide audience. Up to this day, the films presented at this web address, either original works or tribute films, are entirely non profit. Some are available on the site — please drop a word and let us know what you think about them. Enjoy !

22 February 2005 : looping day. Heater noise, technician walking on a microphone cable, cracking caused by a non functional jack, recording machines left on the "off" position, everything conspires against a good sound take during the shooting of a film. Angélique and Cookie, actresses in Star Trek Monument, Eric, actor and director, Cyril, sound engineer, have gathered at Jean-Régis’s place. The actor’s flat was kind of turned upside down after consoles and microphones were set for action. The entire afternoon was spent on re-recording some irretrievable dialogue or sometimes forgotten voiceovers to be compiled on a digital cassette so that Eric was able to resynchronize everything. This did not go without a few laughters, as on the sets of the real Star Trek !

Rodolphe - our new digital special effects craftsman - joins Cedre to help him with his task. Rodolphe was a member of the staff of the French Constellation 3 Convention (www.constellation-conventions.com) and gravitates in the harsh realm of 3D Studio Max, the famous software that will make the Enterprise fly within incredible environmements.

After the summer hiatus, Eric starts to work on the soundtracks and comes up with a first rough mix in order to list all the elements that will have to be rerecorded later on. Seven elements are to be reworked. Parallel to that, he creates the main bridge computer animations. The process is simple : create as many pictures as there are motions in the animation. That’s how animated movies used to be done ! A long process perhaps, but an efficient one.

At the French Constellation 3 Convention (www.constellation-conventions.com), a rough edit of Star Trek Monument is screened. Eric is worried that the acting might be terrible and discreetly leaves the screening. But the audience is thrilled by this work-in-progress and greets the piece with an enthusiastic ovation. Von Flores, a Canadian actor once on the main credits of a sci-fi TV series entitled Earth : Final Conflict, is impressed by the technical qualities of the movie and reassures Eric about the performances - worse acting has been witnessed sometimes on professional television.

Cookie is back to the studio to finish her scenes, but it is Angélique Majchrzy, a great young lady but with limited availability, that made us choose this new shooting date so that she could portray the ship’s second in command. She is by far the most talented amateur actress of the bunch and she plays the part splendidly. A star is born. The day ends with a few voice-overs and the final scene of the movie between the Captain and his Number One.

First shooting day at La Potinodière Studios in L’Isle-Adam, France. The greenscreen has been erected on the entire width of the room. The lights are set up, making the place warmer than it usually is. The 500 W babies are targeting the aluminum roof because they are too powerful for the actors to face them. Cookie is made up as an Andorian officer. Eighty percent of her scenes are shot on that day, including technobabble-heavy dialogue.

Second day in the woods. Frank Mikanowski takes Lionel’s place and also serves as a very professional set photographer (link to Photo Galleries). Most exterior scenes are in the can. The first day’s training was useful, leaving the three staffers the cool feeling that the movie is really moving forward.

First trials in the woods with Eric Saussine as Captain and director, Cedre Teilhard operating the camera and Lionel Sanchis as the rehearsal coordinator. Only a couple of shots ended up in the final cut of the movie.

Change of objective for the project. 90 / 100 minutes for a non professional project is way too long when the actors are no Marlon Brandos. Eric Saussine uses the same thematic material (the responsibilities of the Captain when he faces adversity) and rewrites a much shorter 14-minute project. As a consequence, the movie’s title also changes and the project is now known as Star Trek Monument.

We acquired a greenscreen whose color now conforms to what is used by professional special effect studios. Our first attempt at a greenscreen was a tad too dark - when we removed the green color to composite our digital backgrounds the process sometimes tended to eat up the other dark colors. The teasers available on the websites show that you still can get very satisfying results.