JOHAN'S CREW
WOUTER WESTENDORP, CAMERAMAN
How did you find this style for the film Johan Primero?
Johan is during the whole film in the same spot: behind the steering wheel. Doing his rounds.
This meant another approach than a movie where you can follow the actors and where you can think of a mise-en-scene that matches the movements. We thought that the repetition in his life should be seen by repeating the camera positions all the time. The same repetition we used in the dialoque scenes. Most of the movie is people talking and for us it was clear that we needed to be as close as possible to the people. They take you along the story and by being so close to them, you start to relate to them and hopefully love them. We also made a very unconventional choice to have the actors looking into the camera. This was exactly what the film needed: a very clear and own form in the so called point-of-views.
Is it true that the film is shot on a really old camera?
We shot on an old Bolex 16mm, that sounds like an Expresso-machine. To be honest, we didn’t make it easy for ourselves.
Before each shot, we had to put lots of blankets over the camera
to reduce the noise. But it gave us images that have such a nice warmth and intimacy, that fit so much with the sensitivity of the story. In a time where most films are shot on super sharp HD cameras, we were interested in making a film in the style of filmmakers from the sixties like Godard. We looked at a lot of his movies and loved for example the colors in Pierrot le Fou. The good thing about shooting with a Bolex is that it forces you to a simple way of working. There’s no video-assist, so the director is much closer to the acting and there’s less crew, which creates a more intimate way of shooting.
Did this way of working work out with your crew?
It did. The collaboration with the crew was very much influenced by the Bolex. As I told before, there were no monitors. We just had to trust our own eyes. This creates a more awake kind of shoot, with everyone very concentrated and focussed. This approach also works very well with the beliefs of director Johan Kramer.
He’s always on the look out of doing things differently. He trusts people to take their own freedom and to be confident to do great work. This search for unexpected things to happen works very well with the organic way of shooting with the Bolex. You will discover
in the movie itsself. To me, this is a modern fairytale.
ESTHER DE UDAETA, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
How did you get involved in the Johan Primero project?
I think Johan gave me the script of his new film in mind just the day after we had finished with the shoot of the film sing for darfur in barcelona. We talked about the script about a year and then at some point Johan was determinate to do it, got support from Pupkin and then I jump on it as well to organize the production
How did you do the production?
The main think was getting a crew made of people that we usually work together and like sharing projects. Once we were close to the "ideal" crew we tried to keep it simple and tight, talking a lot with all the departments and having everybody very involved. For a long time we focussed a lot on the casting and the acting, and allowed a lot of time for rehersals with the main actors specially.
What was the biggest trouble in the production?
I remember that the first idea of shooting in this neighbourhood was quite a challenge. It is a particular place, narrow streets, lots of noise, special neigbours, we thought they would be less friendly than they actually were. Mainly, we were worried because we never had a clear answer from the authorities and at a point we realized it was a must. We were not able to speed the process for an answer so that remained an issue through almost the whole pre-production. Also it was very difficult to fit all the scenes in only 15 shoot days. That was a huge concern. Another thing was the choice of Wouter and Johan to shoot with the Bolex.
We were worried about the sound. Also the grip system ... Ja, ja ja many troubles that were solved come to my mind!
How was the collaboration with the director?
Great. As I was saying before each head of department had a lot of responsability and "problems". Johan was aware of all of these issues and always tried to bring ideas to move forward. He really values and respects other people’s crafts. He doesn’t like hierarchy and tries to involve everyone, even motivating the runners and production assistants, so they feel part of the family. Furthermore, he helped from "recycling" the extras to an unbelieveable point, he helped in doing as many sound tests as necessary as requested by the sound artist, grip tests, giving lots of freedom to stylism, being aware of all the budget problems in depth, talking constantly to everyone... I could give examples for every single department.
What's your favorite scene?
The return from the beach... You can feel the tension amond the main characters and you really want to know how the story will unfold.