In Action: Behind the scenes with Moby finalist César Demian

Interviews • Written by Genero

We love it when our filmmakers take us behind the scenes, and so it was a pleasure to watch this recent video from Mexican director César Demian and his team, a throwback to their submission for Moby’s ‘Almost Home’.

Combining forces, they produced their video in just one week with a small budget, a skeletal team, and the best available light they could procure. All things considered, they did an excellent job!

The video features a time-lapse through their impressive production process, stunning outtakes, as well as the playful interactions between talent and crew. We caught up with César recently to talk about his experience on set and as a professional filmmaker.

Hey César, thanks for chatting to us! When did you start making films?

Professionally, almost 3 years ago – in 2013 – when I started producing more serious projects, like the short film “Trasfondo”, and music videos for several bands, yet my passion emerged when I was 5 or 6 years old for I would always spend time filming with my family’s camcorder. Such a cliché!

Not clichéd at all! It’s great that you were filmmaking and being creative as young as 5 years old. We think your entry for our Moby – ‘Almost Home’ brief is really beautiful. Where did you source your inspiration for that video?

I got inspired by what I perceived in the song’s environment, lyrics and art from “innocents” to create the different stories of the video that addresses topics like the human vulnerability, universal fears and consumerism. This process made me remember when I was about 8 years old and listened a lot to this cassette my sister used to have and, for a very weird reason, always got me surrounded by deep thoughts.

You had a small budget to work with, so what gear did you use?

We filmed with a Canon Mark III with the Magic Lantern firmware installed and the Technicolor’s Cinestyle profile to create a look that was as cinematic as possible. We also used a Canon T3i and, for the slow-motion shots, Twixtor in After Effects. When it comes to lightning, we only used a 160-LED mini-panel and homemade blue-filtered lightbulbs.

What have you been up to since you produced and submitted that video?

I’m now on a master’s degree in direction and film production, organising ideas, complementing my photography portfolio, and writing the script to my first feature film and trying to learn from every production (even if it’s good or not that good). Because in the end, the most important thing for me is to acquire new experience from this infinite audiovisual field that is always in constant evolution.

Here is the final product César and his team submitted for the official brief, which was selected as a finalist. Well done, guys!