 While still in the army, L'Herbier wrote two film scenarios for other directors, and then accepted an official commission to make a propaganda film about the image of France, which was funded by Léon Gaumont.He produced "Rose-France" (1918), a highly original and poetic film using many experimental camera techniques, which proved too fanciful for many but which established his reputation as a talented innovator.After making another more commercial film for Gaumont, "Le Bercail" (1919), he was offered a two-year contract with the company which gave him the means to choose more ambitious projects.