Name: Ricardo Alejandro Coll
Age: 50+
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Current base: Montgardon, Normandy, France
Occupation: Lighting Cameraman
Current assignments: In France, I’ve been shooting
some new spots for Luxe TV
UK… all shot with Canon EOS
5Ds & 7Ds. In Eastern Europe,
mainly shooting commercials
in Romania and Ukraine in
35mm. And a feature film in
Morocco: HDV to 35mm – my
first experience with digital.
Shot on two Sony Z1s, blown up
to a 35mm answer print. Looks
good!
Have you been busy?
Very, as I’ve also been restoring
our 17th century farmhouse
between jobs – a great
pleasure and a very satisfying
enterprise with a steep learning
curve.
Shooting where?
Paris, Nîmes, Monaco,
Cannes, Morocco, Romania,
Ukraine… I’ve shot in a lot of
places all around the world at
one point or another. But there
are a lot of places I’ve never
shot, let alone been to: Russia,
Chile, and New Zealand come
to mind, as well as Papua New
Guinea, where I always wanted
to dive around Port Moresby.
What types of productions
have you mostly shot?
I started producing music
videos in the 80s. Eventually
I shot a video myself that
was seen by a Hong Kong
production team setting up
a feature film in London and
HK. I was offered the film and
jumped at the chance. That
brought in another HK feature
film and commercials.
You shoot underwater: what
sort of kit do you use?
Hydroflex and custom made
housings for Arri 3’s but I’ve
not shot U/W for
some time. However,
the new Canon
cameras would be
a joy to shoot with
underwater.
Using a Normandy
base, what are the
pluses and minuses?
Good quality of life
begins where stress
finishes. Waking up
in the morning in the
quiet countryside of Normandy
cannot be beaten; as far as
I’m concerned, miles of empty
beaches and having hardly any
traffic around makes for a real
break from filmmaking.
What was your first shooting
job?
A TV programme about the
yearly Farmers’ Expo at Earl’s
Court in London shot for ITV
on 16mm. The cameraman
became sick and they called
me in. On that day
the Queen Mother
inadvertently took
me to be someone
she was supposed
to meet, so she shook
my hand. Then I had
to shake the hands
of all the entourage
that followed,
which I found rather
funny. The director
thought I had stolen
the limelight –
some people have no sense of
humour!
I got a job as location scout
for the Club Tropicana video for Wham from a producer
who knew I spoke Spanish.
The production team was over
keen to get to Ibiza where we
were to shoot, and left London
without checking in the camera
equipment. On the flight we
got a call from Samuelson’s
in London asking where the
camera gear was supposed to go
to, as it was still sitting in their
depot!
From doing a scout I ended
up taking over production,
location managing, and acted as
focus puller… all this led me to
continue producing jobs for the
production company.
Most recent, interesting
assignments?
Three Orbit commercials in one
day in a Ukrainian studio w/o
pre-light.
Started at 08:00. The
production company had hired
in a Movicam because of cost.
Soon we discovered the Arri
swing and tilt lenses did not fit
so had to get an Arri 535 at the
last moment. Thank God it was
the weekend so it was available.
We waited for the camera all
morning, which gave me time
to pre-light. Started shooting
at around 12:30pm and shot
straight till 12:30am, turning
around and lighting three
different angles of the same set,
one for each commercial. The
director and I were back at the
hotel bar by 2am that morning.
Best thing about your job?
The people you get to work with
and meet in each assignment.
Some great technicians, always
dedicated, each with their
different stories and approaches
to excellence. It ends up being
like a family away from the
family and it truly makes our
work the pleasure it is. Nothing
is more satisfying than travelling
around the world with a team
you know well to attack a new
project, in new surroundings. All
is new, fresh, exciting. Work hard
and party harder.
Worst thing about your job?
Sometimes I have to work with
people with no sense of humour,
and an enormous ego – I call
them ‘mushroom heads’. The job
gets done but certainly not to its
best potential.
Dullest assignments and why?
Toy commercials. Small sets to
light, in tiny cramped studios,
usually motion control studios
and very, very hot because of
the depth of field needed. Not
the best job to do but even
these can be fun.
Hairiest/scariest assignments
and why?
While filming the end shot of a
music video in Miami we were
hovering in a helicopter next
to a 15 storey building ready to
shoot, when over the radio came
the news that the artist did not
want to come out to the balcony
as he was unhappy with his hair
and wanted to have a haircut;
that was pretty hairy! In the end
a haircut was done, so we had to
reshoot two days’ work.
Another time we shot a music
video in Japan where we had
storyboarded shots of the bullet
train with Mount Fuji in the
background. All was well until
we arrived to scout Mount Fuji
and were told that one can only
see Mount Fuji in spring and
Autumn, as it’s mostly foggy
the rest of the year! No one had
bothered to tell us during prep.
Luckily, the shots did not involve
the band so we shot them
locked off to put Mount Fuji in
later from a still.
How much 16:9 do you shoot?
About all of my work is 16:9
nowadays. I shot a commercial
in Romania where they insisted
on 1:33. We couldn’t believe it,
but then most of their TV sets
were still in that format. It was
like living and shooting for the
middle ages…
What country would you most
like to shoot in?
Chile, as it is such a long country
it must have all kind of amazing
locations and I have always
admired the Araucanos, fierce
Indians from south Chile.
Favourite food?
Poached oysters with foie gras,
pears and pear brandy.
Contact details:
Ricardo Alejandro Coll
W:
www.ricardocoll.com