Zeppelin Filmes' Rodrigo Pesavento Talks Extreme Sports And Beyond
Earlier this year, Zeppelin shot an impressive ad for the perfume brand Kaiak in the North of Brazil. We were fascinated by director Rodrigo Pesavento's talent and passion for the subject, so spoke to him about the Kaiak film, 'Sorry' and his ability to excel in both long- and short-form.
There is little more thrilling than watching (super)humans risk life and limb for our entertainment. The Ancient Greeks knew it, Red Bull knows it, that bloke who tightrope-walked between the Twin Towers knew it and the excellent Zeppelin Filmes from Brazil most certainly know it!
Earlier this year, Zeppelin shot 'Natura', an impressive ad for the perfume brand Kaiak in the North of Brazil. The film was an extraordinary montage of famous sportspeople parachute jumping from high canyons, sandboarding in the dunes, skating on the road and (in a world-record-breaking scene) kayaking down a waterfall!
The director, Rodrigo Pesavento, is one of Zeppelin's stars – an auteur with a passion for surfing and skating and the ability to capture exciting scenes in-camera. Indeed, Pesavento doesn't just focus on commercial projects, with his short film 'Sorry' (a tale without a single line of dialogue) receiving prizes around the world, and still participating in important festivals in Europe and Latin America.
We were fascinated by Rodrigo's talent and passion for the subject, so spoke to him about the Kaiak film, 'Sorry' and his ability to excel in both long- and short-form.
How did you get involved in the KAIAK project?
Basically in Zeppelin we're a group of people who love skateboarding and surfing, so much so that we used to have a quarter-pipe on the third floor of the production company! On the other hand, we love shooting so much that whenever we have free time we bring a camera along to shoot performances. So, over the last few years, I made some documentaries about extreme sports. Some were quite good and achieved success internationally. Because of this, the path to make Kaiak was pretty natural - I'd already knew some of the athletes and I had a great team to work with me on this project.
The film showcased a number of gorgeously shot, high-octane sports. How did you get so close to the action?
As I mentioned, I had a great production team who had already done extreme-sport documentaries with me before, so we were all very close. This team is different from the team who work with me for normal TV ads - it's a concise group of agile and active people, which allow us to follow the athlete in all of the adversities that nature and weather may offer. And we also need to be in tune with each other in order to not lose the 'moment of action'.
For shoots like this, does the director dictate the action to the subject, or does the sportsperson tell the director what is possible?
It's team work, no doubt. I analyse the performances and their potential and then talk with the athlete, so together we create an idea of what is possible. We study risks and difficulties as a team – cameramen and producers included. First, we plan, and then we execute it. We try to push our limits, searching for new and creative angles.
Do you think that it's important for a filmmaker to be part of the extreme sports 'world' to be able to capture it properly on film?
Yes, I do. I practice some sports myself - surfing, stand up paddling, skating and trekking. I also regularly watch documentaries about extreme sports to keep me up-to-date on the subject. It's like a hobby that I can use in my work as well.
You guys don't just make commercials, as your award-winning short 'Sorry' shows. The film is a pretty brutal tale of mistaken identity. Where did the concept come from?
'Sorry' is a work made by many hands - that's why we sign it as the collective 'The Wolfpack'. To start it, I asked my friend, the filmmaker Sebastián Borensztein (director of 'Un Cuento Chino'), to give me an argument between two characters inside a 'place'. It had to be cheap! In the original idea, we thought to shoot it inside a bathroom, but, by luck, we had already constructed a kitchen inside our studio, so we adapted. The kitchen turned into a butchery… and this is the result!
You use cutaways to violent images to heighten the actions in the film. What made you choose this technique for the project? Are you a particular Coppola, Eisenstein fan?
I studied Eisenstein and some Russian filmmakers at college, but… bingo - the reference I used for the final scene of the killing was Apocalypse Now. We searched the underworld of YouTube for scenes to increase the tension. The final scenes before the credits roll are mine, ones that I had shot during an autopsy when I was at college. I had kept them for years! Editing means a lot in a filmmaking. I take my editors with me, they're very precious! Sometimes I even put their names beside mine on the clapperboard.
You've worked in advertising, short film and longer format projects. Do you have a preference?
Advertising is a routine, it's an immediate job. The deadline is always yesterday! It's a straight shot. On the other hand, documentaries and fiction have more time. They involve you much more, they absorb your attention much more, they take much more time to be done and they have no expiration date. I love shooting ads, but I always have others projects in parallel.
What's up next for you?
I'm planning to shoot a doc about extreme sport in Antarctica for next summer(s) - 2015/ 2016 - and my first fiction film (long format) is in the shooting phase. I also have a DVD of a singer and a skate installation.
However, my phone can ring any time and someone may have a new idea… we never know…
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