Some projects challenge us, encourage us, beat us, threaten us to throw us aside and take you to a point where you can only have clear ideas.
I personally do not believe in any project I’ve never regretted to fail, if I feel I followed the conviction that led me to accept the challenge.
“Die Insel ” was a promotional video , a low budget production that was destined to be a project without been noticed, but the ambition led me to turn this project into something exciting . Hence, an idea came to film something romantic, in an extreme situation , described in an intense way . The customer inicially proposed a video trailer but after first considerations we went for a small micro history that tried to convey the main theme of the book.
The author accepted but the Publisher gave a little budget and we were looking for alternative ways to help get more funds for this project. The budget was not enough even to pay adequate housing for the camera. It was a co-production with LF Photoagency who, in order to please the customer , offered them a free making of video.
The shooting was one of the worst nightmares I’ve lived in a set.
We had four hours in a pool, where I had never tried to shoot with that camera , in a horrible light conditions, with the actors. They were four hours to prepare the set, rehearsing with the actors, setting equipment, and film all the shots of the script, with only support of a diver who watched over the safety of everyone and assisting us at times to fight gravity underwater .
Framing closeups underwater is not easy, the actor’s bodies are moving , there is no reference in space as the background was dark, the camera floats, and as if we couldn’t manage any more difficulties we kept our breath under water. This resulted in the most dynamic work I’ve had to do, especially the holding your breath under water part.
At the end of the four hours, we were only able to complete half of the shots, and even those shots could have been qualified as poor quality videos.
I Immediately admited the shooting as a defeat, an impossible mission. Came the day of reflection for my team , because for me there was no return , that was filmed or filming , regardless of the economic profitability of the project , and that it gave my benefits cover all the additional costs of a second day shooting in any pool.
The problem is that now the time and date was an added problem comes as we overcame the delivery time for a presentation in a few days.
He never wanted to go through it, and at first I refused to admit another similar time shooting conditions. I needed at least two hours to breathe during filming, even without stop running. I had not.
We ended up feeling lucky because we return to stop filming in that pool and I was not sure whether to accept the dangerous challenge of facing a shoot again with half hours needed .
I do not want people to think I exaggerate when describing the dynamics of shooting. Since entering the pool, there was a time 10 seconds where he could sit or stand to think . The realization and the camera work had to come home miss . I felt like a quiz show . Actors , athletes working as physical exertion combined with the emotional involvement we had agreed at a meeting days before the study .
They did very well and fully delivered , as everyone got into that pool with me.
Thanks to my friend Alam , that is documented in the “making of” here I leave .
Now to not bore you , I will say that my time is up , still still filming the plane last , waiting for the pool attendant came to get me , with actors outside the water and being changed to leave the premises , and closed even personnel .
I was serious , a concerned but I did not feel dejected . The first viewing of the material to confirm it the next morning . The story could like it or not, but at least could try count.
All I can say about this project is that it has been hard, but marked a before and after, because in a little piece of ass went .
On our website you can see the director cut . Here you have the “making of”.
Making of Die Insel_Subtitulos en español. from MODE on Vimeo.
We could fail, but was not allowed to leave , not when the involvement in the project transcends the professional.
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