In this post I will like to change things a bit. Other than talking about  general photography in the project, or how well it went,  I will like to focus on Color Grading, the importance of shooting right  and how we managed our workflow. As you know this days we are constantly shooting with cameras that don´t allow us to play much in post. ( HDSLR´s )  For me it was a good thing to shoot and professionally learn and grow with them. ¿Why? Because they taught me how to do things the right way ON shooting, not relying on  post.  So you have to  put yourself together and get things right, there is no room for error.

As you know the importance of reaching as close as possible to the final aesthetics is crucial with this cameras, and as an emerging cinematographer that is the best thing that can happen to you, ( in my opinion) to push you further and deliver in camera the best possible result. This  gives you the advantage to  color grade and enhance aesthetics,  not fixing problems.

This project  was shot on my  1D mark IV, which by the way I sold yesterday, yes im buying a 5D mark III, but thats worth another post for explanation.   The 1D mark IV is an excellent  camera that responds great to low light situations, ( I love to work with low light, for me it  just gives me more control with light). But its heavily compressed output video is something to be careful about.

Forma Pro Film Company in Latvia called and asked me to shoot a sample film for presenting producers  and search for financial approval for a film.   In this project I got hired  as a Production Designer as well as a Cinematographer.  Its kind of funny but this experience taught me  to do better my job,  as a Cinematographer   its crucial to really  open wider and work the  production design in a project. Here in Europe is not common to have that specific figure on a project, so  you just have to do it, you have to design everything that reflects light and comes into your lens and shoot it right. For you to get as close as possible of what you imagined in your head.

Below you can find some stills before and after color grading.  We edited in FCPX which by the way  i like a lot,  ( It just works great and fast). And color graded on Da Vinci Resolve. One thing I like about this mixture is that you can work directly with the h264 codec of camera, without any compressions, so you edit on FCPX,  send XML to  Da Vinci Resolve. Do color grading, and then go back to FCPX for Subtitles or any aditional work without loosing a generation in every export.

Director Valery Savonof was very happy with results, I think the whole crew did an amazing job, and working with Forma Pro Films is always a pleasure, great work, fun and talented people.

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This video was produced by Riot Cinema Collective for a renowned Design Firm  in Madrid. Unfortunately we cannot give a lot of details about what´s the spot about or which is the Firm we are talking about, but we can show some captured frames from the video.

We shot the spot on studio, working with 6 2k tungsten  diffused by a 6x6mts frame hanged from the studio ceiling. I wanted a very soft light to lit the objects we were ment to photograph. Sometimes I used some extra power from a 4bank kino flo  to fill or to give some direction to light depending on the frame. My gaffer Adan Martin made an excellent job building the whole thing and making it work.  On some shots  we needed  the lights to interact  with some  camera movements, travelling action  that discovered lines, shapes and design.

Directed by Bruno Teixidor and Produced by Carola Rodriguez, this spot definitely is one of our best work while working together.

This video was produced  by Riot Cinema Collective for Movistar.

Joyn makes everyday mobile to mobile communications more engaging, brings you closer to the people in your mobile address book by combining all the ways you want to be in touch – talk, chat, share videos, photos and files.  Joyn is mobile phone and network aware which means it automatically ‘knows and shows’ the ways you can share with any of your contacts – via chat, video, call or files – at any moment in time.

The spot was directed by Bruno Teixidor and produced by Carola Rodriguez.  Two days shooting, working fast and accomplishing clients product perception Joyn is a great spot for a great product.

The official trailer of my first Feature Film  as DOP, “The  Cosmonaut“. Is an upcoming Spanish science-fiction feature film directed by Nicolas Alcala and produced by Carola Rodriguez and Bruno Teixidor. The first feature-length project of Riot Cinema Collective, it is notable for its use of crowdfunding techniques and Creative Commons license in its production.

A SCI-FI feature film about a soviet cosmonaut lost in Space (and Earth), produced by lots of people (like you) starting from 2€. It’s Creative Commons-licensed so that you can edit, copy remix and share it as you wish. Free.

Working with the guys of  Formapro Films (http://formaprofilm.com) is  always an amazing experience and adding in the mix a brilliant Director such as Bruno Teixidor ( Riot Cinema Collective) (http://www.riotcinema.com/) was just the perfect mix for an excellent result.

This Videoclip was shot for Russian Singer Svetlana Surganova, in Latvia. Bruno had this idea where he wanted the background to change while Svetlana wondered in an abandoned house. The shoot took one day  inside an empty house, we filtered all windows and lit the place with 2  4Bank kino flo and one  1k HMI with Chimera window. The shooting turn out really quick and simple, having in the camera department  Operator/Steadycam Paco Serrano and  Gaffer Denis from Formapro Films helped to work faster and efficient.

XS Studio serviced camera rental for the videoclip, Cinematography and Color grading.

Trabajar con el equipo de  Formapro Films (http://formaprofilm.com) siempre es una excelente experiencia. Si a esto  sumamos el talento del director Bruno Teixidor ( Riot Cinema Collective) (http://www.riotcinema.com/)  los buenos resultados están asegurados.

Este videoclip se rodó para  la artista Rusa Svetlana Surganova en Latvia. Bruno tenia esta idea en donde  los fondos cambiaban mientras la cantante recorría una casa vacía.  El rodaje duro un día dentro de la casa, se filtraron todas las ventanas  e iluminamos con 2 kinos de 4 tubos 1,20 y un 1k HMI con Chimera. El rodaje fue rápido y sencillo, teniendo en el departamento de cámara como Operador/Steadycam Paco Serrano y al Gaffer Denis del equipo de Formapro Films ayudo a que las cosas fueran rápidas y eficientes.

XS Studio hizo el service de alquiler de cámara, dirección de fotografía y etalonaje.

Starting from the point that working with Formapro Films (http://formaprofilm.com) during the Film “The Cosmonaut” was one of my best working experiences  and that this spot had a great script,  great director, I was pretty sure this project had a  promising future.

While maintaining a low-budget and a great creativity we manage to deliver excellent quality. It was meant for broadcast distribution, in the end the clients were so happy it ended up in cinema projections in USA.

The spot was shot in the beautiful city of Riga which by the way is a UNESCO world heritage site.  Director Stas Tokalovs contacted me  and told me about his idea, I found it great, flew over there immediately for pre production and scouting. We shot for one day, edited  and color correct in 2 days = everything sweet, well done, and fast.

XS studio serviced camera rentals, cinematography, editing and color correction. Reducing costs to the client while maintaining excellence in quality.

Trabajar con el equipo de Formapro Films  (http://formaprofilm.com)  durante la película “El Cosmonauta” ha sido una de  mis mejores experiencias laborales.

 Este spot tenia un guión estupendo, un director talentoso y un equipo de producción muy efectivo detrás.

Se rodó en la ciudad de Riga, que como curiosidad es patrimonio de la UNESCO. El director Stas Tokalovs  me contó su ideay  me pareció genial. Al poco tiempo me encontraba ya haciendo el scouting y  pre producción en Letonia. El rodaje duro un día, se edito y etalono en 2 días, todo fue sencillo, rápido y bien hecho.

El  spot inicialmente estaba destinado a TV,  el cliente estaba tan satisfecho con los resultados que ha sido distribuido incluso en cines en EUA.

XS Studio hizo el service de alquiler de cámara, dirección de fotografía, edición y etalonaje. De esta  manera al cubrir gran parte de la producción,  los costes se mantuvieron bajos mientras manteníamos excelencia en calidad.