Mauro Herce receives the Goya for best photography for 'Lo que arde', shot in photochemical

“Oliver cannot conceive of filming on anything other than film and I think it's great because I love the colors, the contrasts, the images and the textures it gives,” says the cinematographer.

The relationship of Mauro Herc with the director of the film what burns, Oliver Laxe, goes back many years when the latter was studying film and audiovisual communication in Barcelona and they met in the University library to have long talks about film. This long relationship has been key so that in this third work by Laxe the understanding between the two is completely refined.

Herce is very satisfied with "the reception this production has had, which already came with several international awards but was missing some recognition here. The Gaudí from a few weeks ago and the Goya today are the definitive accolade for this film of which we feel very proud."

The camera that was used to film what burns was a ARRI 16mm. that, as Herce explains, “Oliver cannot conceive of filming on anything other than film and I think it's great because I love the colors, the contrasts, the images and the textures it gives.”

About the process of development and laboratory, the person in charge of the photography of Lo que arde explains that "although there are few laboratories left, it is a beautiful process because it is going back to what has been done throughout the history of photography and cinema. You do not see the final result until much later, and that waiting time until the images arrive is something very exciting and beautiful. Furthermore, it almost always surprises you for the better. Of course, for many days you are worried about whether you have exposed well or whether everything you had calculated will be resolved. Obviously this does not happen. with the video.”

Herce adds that "sometimes small mistakes are made that have not become serious, but we have encountered more than one scare. It is true that there are not many people who work in this way anymore and the practice has been lost a bit. In general, I have not had any major worries than in other projects, although all of them always keep me up at night because they are a bit overwhelming when one imagines possible problems that will surely not appear later."

One of the complications of this film in terms of photography was the issue of low lights and contrasts. "The fire itself is very contrasty and is difficult to film because the flames are extremely bright and as soon as you move half a meter away from the fire, the intensity drops. Furthermore, in this case we only had the brigade members' flashlights. We found a working method with three reference diaphragms depending on the amount of light there was and depending on the rotation of the camera it was compensated."

Mauro Herce is not only in charge of the photography direction, but also has his own filmography as a director. Dead Slow Ahead It was his first feature film with which he won the special jury prize at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival, among many other recognitions. Lonely Rivers is his second production, which just premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2019. He is preparing a new feature film, Slaughterhouse, which will be filmed in Uruguay with a large part of the team from what burns.