How did you get into the field and start working as a Director of Photography?
I started my career back in Mexico City working as Photographer and Videographer for different companies, fashion brands, and music festivals. That led me to work for a company called Planetarios Digitales, they constructed Planetariums and they started to create content for them with the support of the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). I was in charge of the Creative Direction and then moved to the Cinematography department, that’s where I fell in love with the craft.
After that, I decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue my Master’s Degree in Cinematography. I wanted to start doing bigger projects and have experience in narrative films.
How has your background in Documentaries influenced your work as a cinematographer?
When I arrived in Los Angeles I already knew the process of being in a Production, the roles, the process in every stage of production, and how my role as Cinematographer was involved in it.
It helped me focus to learn about the craft and get to refine my skills and network in the industry.
What is the most rewarding production you have worked on so far?
I shot my first feature film called “Sugar Beach ” produced by Zoe Manzotti and directed by Noely Mendoza. It was a very challenging project that we shot in almost a month but it was a terrific project.
I have a lot of experience in short films, commercials, and documentaries but the first feature is always a different experience where you get to learn and experiment a lot. But also pushes you as a Cinematographer to work in a very different rhythm than in other projects. The project is currently in the post-production stage and as Cinematographer I’m still involved in Color Correction so it is very rewarding to get my first feature done.
What were some of the challenges, individual or collaborative, you encountered working on Sugar Beach?
I think the time was the most challenging part of everything, in the script there were more than 20 locations and big setups in big locations and because of COVID, we had a lot of restrictions so as a Cinematographer I had to think about how to maximize every location without compromising the look that we wanted.
And also when you do a feature you have a different kind of coverage, you have to be able to tell a longer story, fill more screen time and keep the angles and look interesting so the audience like the whole product, it’s another level of production so I had to push my work to another level and keep track of more thing than you normally do in a short film.
How would you go about setting the mood for a script?
I read the script several times, always understanding the story as much as I can to have a bigger picture in my head. Then I have extensive talks with the Director to understand his point of view, what he is trying to say with the story, motives, and more. My job is to get inside his/her head and translate thoughts into visuals.
After having those talks I go into a deep search for references based on that, it can be from photographs, other movies, short films, commercials, and even music.
That will help me to show the Director how a scene will look, how the transition would feel, the tone overall of the script, the look of the actor, color, and mood.
In the end that’s the Cinematographer’s job, we have to translate from the script into a visual product. And setting the mood for a script is based on my talks with the Director, my research, and also my creative choices and what I want to show on the screen, always serving the script and being attached to the mood we want to portray.
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