March 3, 2022
Some of our offices and Partners are resuming business and the following status shows where it’s possible to shoot under their respective safety & security protocols during COVID-19. Those measures will change gradually and some countries begin to allow the staggered entry of other nations.
PORTUGAL
With a Landia office operating since 2019 to provide production services to our offices and other production companies, in Portugal it is already possible to carry out filming in private locations, studios and public spaces that will be allowed in the next weeks, with the appropriate permits and safety restrictions, so medium scale live productions are able to move forward.
Remote shoots will be considered for agencies and clients and for all those participants who prefer not to be physically present during filming, as in most countries that today allow shootings / transportation of the entire local crew by the production house, with a maximum of 4 people per vehicle respecting the suggested distances with a total maximum of 25 people for crew (including Agency and Client) and 15 in total for Talent / implementation of e-casting and e-scouting until obtaining permits by the authorities / All crew members must be tested 2 days prior to the shooting and their temperature will be also monitored on set / it is suggested to have a back-up crew and talent in case of any Covid symptomatology of any of the fundamental participants / constant hand sanitization and equipment disinfection on set, in the transport vehicles and in all the spaces involved / in the first instance the catering service will be limited by packaged individually, in addition to individual water bottles or liquid containers.
SPAIN
Spain has the approval of its APCP Safety and Hygiene Protocol that allows us to keep cameras rolling and provide production services in studios and private locations, with up to 25 people for the crew and 15 Talent in total.
URUGUAY
With its heatlh & safety protocol already signed by all the unions and the Ministry of Labour, Uruguay is enabled to shoot both in studio and private locations as well as in public spaces and streets.
Shoot via streaming for agency and client from abroad with permanent contact so they can see and comment on what is being shot / productions with few talent, simple lighting and art in order to reduce risk / filming with reduced crew depending on the project (between 25 and 35 people in total) and respecting distances of 1.5 meters / ventilated transport for all areas, respecting the distances and using all latex gloves and face masks / disinfection before and after of the set and all the elements present / casting in the first instance will be from their own homes and callback stage will be via streaming or video call / recommendation of scenes with few talents and respecting the regulatory distances / during the wardrobe test there can only be two people from wardrobe in presence / shooting in studios or exteriors or spacious interiors, controlling hygiene and ventilation permanently / before the shoot a doctor will establish individual contact with the participants in a private and confidential way to evaluate the convenience or not of their presence on the set / individually packaged food / lunch breaks will be respecting the regulatory distance and ventilation.
James Massiah’s music video “Natural Born Killers (Ride For Me)”, directed by Ian Pons Jewell and shot by Mauro Chiarello has been awarded in Camerimage, Ciclope Festival, El Ojo de Iberoamérica among other pretigiuous Awards. Congrats to all the team involved!
– Little Black Book (LBB) –
The veteran director on working with James Massiah on his new promo, street casting serendipity and having a reputation for being sweat-obsessed.
With mind-bending recent work for Beardyman as well as James Massiah dropping within the same week, it’s been a busy time to be Ian Pons Jewell.
The director’s latest work with the South London poet, for his track ‘Natural Born Killers (Ride for me)’, is hypnotic, showcasing a world moments from extinction as the sun expands and engulfs the last vestiges of humanity. But far from grief and sadness, the Landia-produced film is weirdly uplifting with characters experiencing a ‘dopamine rush’ in those final moments before the end. And that’s before one of the characters dissolve into an egg-like substance.
To (almost) make sense of it all, LBB’s Adam Bennett caught up with Ian.
LBB> What was the casting process like for this video, and what were you trying to achieve with it?
Ian> I had worked with some of the cast before. Carla Rincon Velit, the girl lying on the bed, is an incredible actress who was in my Michelob spot. Then there’s also Matias Viera, he’s the guy in Michelob running across the cars like a gorilla. But mostly it was just amazing casting sessions with Casting Saigon in Buenos Aires. The casting was focused a lot on finding people who could do the specific movement we worked on with the amazing choreographer Charlie Mayhew. I imagined all the people dying in this heat, but as they are, they get this dopamine rush as if they’re coming up on pills. This was the atmosphere we needed to nail.
We also street-cast which turned up some incredible people. When waiting at the petrol station for the location manager, I saw this guy at the till who I couldn’t stop staring at. It’s the guy at the start and end of the video, he’s called Ruben. He has this beautiful face with strong brows and moved like a dancer when he walked through the shop. So I asked him if he would be up for coming to casting and he said yes. He was going to just be a smaller character, but it grew into much more with him. Then another person we asked was Sergio, he’s in the fruit shop watching the guys in the freezer. Both Ruben and Sergio have this pure and innocent energy that just draws you in. There’s some others too who were street cast like the guy walking into the football stadium, and they all nailed their performances. I hope to go back and work with all of them again on something else.
LBB> Where did you shoot, and what made that the right location to tell this story? What kind of location did you have in mind when you planned the narrative?
Ian> We shot in Buenos Aires for a few reasons. I knew I couldn’t do it in London due to budget and weather, but also wanted it to feel unfamiliar, whilst still keeping a London feel. Another reason is the cast. There’s superb acting talent there – having just done Michelob, I knew I could use a lot of the movement artists I’d worked with before. Also, Argentinians have a strong European heritage, so you can cast a real diverse set of looks that isn’t unlike the sorts of faces you would see in London.
As for the location specifics, I needed somewhere that would give me a strong frame. The guy in the centre, with some structures left and right, so that the sun would be framed in the middle. I wanted it to feel religious in some way. So when I saw that estate, I was blown away. It was beyond what I imagined I could find. I couldn’t have designed something better. We then worked with it and added the tower scene. Before, it was meant to be someone looking from a window. The tower also happened to have a crucifix on it, further adding to that religious element, by total coincidence.
Then, most importantly, it was the support of Landia who I just joined a month before. They were absolutely incredible. They got behind the project and invested in it, along with Reset and Time Based Arts. Landia made the incredibly ambitious project a reality.
LBB> With regards to aesthetics, did you look to any other dystopian-style stories for inspiration?
Ian> We actually looked more at street photography than anything else. To get a real edge to things. But a lot of it is instinctual through the collaboration with the DOP Mauro Chiarello. He’s a genius and his attention to detail on light, colour, texture, is incredible. We’ve worked together for a few years, almost back to back jobs and there’s a base style we build from essentially. But yeah, Mauro is really key to the look of the piece, it’s mind boggling how he creates what looks like paintings from very minimal lighting setups. What blew me away the most was the apartment scene with Carla, both when she’s in bed and when she gets up at the doorway. He just rolled with the light that was available, then tweaking a few things here and there. Obviously, loads more thought went behind it than that, but he’s working in a tiny little space with minimal crew and equipment and got the most incredible images.
LBB> On a practical level, how did you make everyone appear so sweaty? And from a directorial standpoint, how did you coax them all to feel this intense heat in their performances?
Ian> It’s funny because the make up artists I work with regularly know me for being sweat-obsessed. I use sweat even in scenes that you wouldn’t imagine it for. It’s a way to subvert things a bit, in the commercial world I mean. But yeah, it’s just great make up from Lucrecia [Fontana] and Magdalena [Wust]. Generally it’s about a glycerin base, then water sprayed on top. If you just spray water it feels wet rather than sweaty. “More sweat” is one of the first things I learn to say in other languages when shooting abroad!
For the performance, Charlie our choreographer was key. She did research back in the UK first with assistance from Joss Carter and Emily Thomson-Smith and sent me these amazing videos. I wanted it to feel like they’re rolling on MD but also dying from the heat at the same time. It was a really particular thing to nail, which she did tenfold. A lot of the tweaks we did on set was always bringing them back to breathing and keeping all the movements slow and heavy. Anything too fast and you lost it.
LBB> What were the biggest challenges during production, and how did you overcome them?
Ian> Weather. Good light is something we always strive for as filmmakers, but I’ve never shot something in which the entire concept relies on it. That shit me up pretty badly. I was constantly checking the forecast. Production then made miracles with the budget and added an extra day, to give us breathing room. So we ended up shifting the shoot a tiny bit to fit the weather forecast, then bet on the final day being the best for sun. So all our exteriors were shot on the last day. Low and behold, the first two days had rain, cloud…. then we had our third day. Cloud. Totally overcast. I was spinning. But then we would get these little pockets so we just became this military operation shooting as soon as the sun came out for a few minutes, sometimes just going with one take. Then the clouds all blew away and it was glorious for the last two thirds of the final shoot day. It goes without saying that Mauro Chiarello, the DOP, smashed it out of the park.
The car was then a bit troublesome too. The actor we cast to drive it couldn’t drive well, so we then switched to the owner who totally nailed it. Then, just as we got to the exterior shot of the car going past, the car broke down. So the amazing crew just pulled up their sleeves and took a big run up and pushed the car into shot and let it glide past with the engine off. I like to believe it’s symbolic of me, James and Jon all still not having a driving license.
Then of course the VFX. But we had Thiago Dantas from Time Based Arts supervising and leading the project. We were constantly coming up with ideas on how to do the different shots. At one point we were looking at prosthetic, but then found workarounds. It was a constant process, one which he and the rest of the geniuses at TBA continued on after in post.
Movement direction should have been a challenge, but I had Charlie Mayhew on that and she’s a genius. I first worked with her for my Michelob spot and was floored by her work. So it was such a perfect collaboration to repeat.
LBB> Any memorable moments?
Ian> The whole shoot had too many to mention. But wrapping was definitely a joyous occasion. It was also amazing to get to edit another music video with Gaia Borretti, who I’ve worked with for a decade now. Our first was in 2009, so it was amazing to hit 10 years for this one.
To read the full interview, go to LBB here!
– SHOTS –
With Autumn/Fall now upon us, the thought of bringing back the toasty weather of weeks ago is somewhat tantilsing.
That being said, it’s unlikely we’d like it if the heat were taken to the levels displayed in Ian Pons Jewell’s sweltering new promo for London-based poet, musician and artist James Massiah.
Shot in Buenos Aires through Landia, in association with
Reset and Time Based Arts, Natural Born Killers shows the end of the world in the midst of its final heat wave, one that brings about a rush of dopamine as the inhabitants of the city sweat out their final hours.
Saving its shocks for the final moments, the promo’s slow burn (pun intended) and steamy performances are enough to have even the chilliest viewer looking for their fan.
– NOWNESS –
James Massiah: Natural Born Killers (Ride for Me) Directed by Ian Pons Jewell
Situated within an apocalyptic heatwave, British musician and poet James Massiah joins characters drowsily seeking respite from a sun-scorched city.
Ian Pons Jewell directs a sweat-flecked music video that acts as a perfect accompaniment to Massiah’s hypnotic vocals.
Natural Born Killers is taken from Massiah’s upcoming EP of the same name, to be released 18 September on Levels.
Our team is back home now. Thanks a lot for another wonderful Cannes Lions, it was great seeing longtime friends and colleagues and new ones as well! Amazed by all the Talent we were able to enjoy during this week. Adn rosé… and epic parties. See you next year!
