'Nacional 106': a thriller with an air of a Castilian western filmed thanks to the agility and ergonomics of the Canon EOS C500 Mark II

Directors Arturo Artal and Juan Carrascal focus their short film 'Nacional 106', shot outdoors, in an oppressive and suffocating environment.

National 106, a road that does not exist, but could equally be any road anywhere in Spain. In this setting of a modern western set on a back road, the directors Arturo Artal (Zaragoza, 1978) and Juan Carrascal (Valladolid, 1979) they filmed in the Pinar de Antequera, on the outskirts of Valladolid, this short film that starts when a car abruptly leaves a road. A Civil Guard patrol sees it and prepares to help, but it is something more complicated than a simple mechanical breakdown. The Civil Guard corporal, Julia García, will then have to decide whether to lie to her sergeant to help the owner of the vehicle or follow the rules.

The thriller, released in the latest edition of Valladolid Film Festival, after winning the competition the previous year SEMINCI Film Factory, has begun its journey at the main film events with great acceptance.

In National 106, Artal and Carrascal, who have formed a creative tandem since they met at the Community of Madrid Film School, present the story of a victim who may seem guilty, but who finds someone who believes her and saves her from her aggressor.

"This short film is an invitation to reflect on the situation of abused women and the way in which we all as a society approach this problem. Given the proliferation of speeches that deny sexist violence, we wanted to be clear: the abuser is the only one to blame. To do this, given the sensitivity of the subject matter, we have had the collaboration of a civil guard agent and a psychologist who is an expert in victims of gender violence in the development of the script," says Carrascal.

The story is reminiscent of the duels to the death of classic westerns. In the first part, a psychological duel with three characters flies over the story: Julia, María and Telmo. In the second, the duel acquires physical violence with the appearance of the abuser.

“For the staging we took as a reference works with themes and narratives similar to our history: the stark rawness of the Cohen brothers in Fargo; the classic elegance of Ridley Scott in Thelma y Louise, or the expressionist mannerism of Sergio Leone's westerns, among others,” the director acknowledges.

The fifth character of National 106 It could be said that it is the very place where the short was recorded. Carrascal highlights that "the magnificent pine forests that surround Valladolid are one of the most beautiful landscapes we have in the province. Although the story narrates an oppressive and suffocating situation, National 106 It is shot entirely outdoors, which visually decompresses the drama we are telling.”

"This characteristic, this fifth character, is very interesting for the selection of the short film at festivals, since this year 2020 the pandemic has kept us locked up and the majority of works that have been made during this period are shot indoors. Looking at a hard and real story outside the four walls can be a differential value in the journey of this short film," he adds.

Photography and post-production

For personal photography National 106, Artal and Carrascal trusted Victor Hugo Martín Caballero, who has worked on numerous occasions with the Canon EOS C300 Mark II. On this occasion, the camera used was EOS C500 Mark II, equipped with sensor 5,9K Full Frame.

Regarding the camera, Martín Caballero emphasizes that "it is surprising how the body has changed, there has been an improvement in agility and ergonomics in the design of the camera. On the other hand, at the workflow level, you work with more security, since being able to record in raw gives you more confidence to be able to take risks in certain shots that before you could think twice before shooting, says Martín Caballero.

In his opinion, "the new body used by the Cinema range shows an evolution and an adaptation to the new ways of filming that are being imposed in recent years in audiovisuals. Improving image quality with very good codecs for working in post-production and facilitating compatibility with new supports such as drones or stabilizers."

Taking into account that National 106 It was shot entirely on location. y camera on shoulder, the new camera body Cinema EOS Much more compact made the task easier while helping to capture the psychic instability of the characters through camera movements. "For this purpose the EOS C500 was perfect, due to its weight and size. The operator and the camera assistant were very comfortable working with it and conveyed their good feelings to us with the handling, quick access buttons, menus...", acknowledges Martín Caballero.

The recording took place in XF-AVC 4k 10bits 4:2:2, since according to the director of photography, "the filming was outdoors in a natural setting, so material downloads had to be as few as possible. We had previously carried out tests to compare the Raw with the incredibly good on par with any RAW, achieving the desired aesthetics in the images.”

Despite filming outdoors to achieve an overwhelming atmosphere in which you can almost feel the heat in the middle of summer, the color profile was key and after considering whether to use C-log2 or C-log3, the filming team finally decided to use C-log2. “All the dynamic range that could be obtained with the C-log2 came in very handy on certain occasions where the lighting conditions were difficult for the image,” he emphasizes.

One of the great advantages that the EOS C500 Mark II provides is the False Color, a feature that, according to the DOP, "helped me a lot when exposing, it was a tool that speeded up filming. I used to expose for each shot and then check between takes with the false color, making sure that the actors were well exposed. A help for every director of photography."

But there is no color without a lens, and for National 106, Martín Caballero opted for fixed cinema lenses Canon Sumire. "I am used to working with the CN, and the truth is that being very similar in appearance and handling, the combination between the EOS C500 and the Canon Sumire optics seemed excellent to me, they seem to be designed to work together. I especially liked the 50mm, about 70 percent of the shots are made with that lens. Most of the time we had a T2.8 but even putting the Sumire in trouble, opening the images we had at 1.3 we got were very good,” he highlights.

Finally, already in post-production he dynamic range of the EOS C500 Mark II, which exceeds 15 stops, facilitated the task that was carried out in Elora by part Iván Martín Ruedas, with whom the DOP of National 106 He has graded most of his works. "We get texture from very dense areas, with blacks that are quite underexposed, and we recover skies that in other circumstances would have been impossible to do. We also got the color we wanted for the actors' skins, something that is not always possible and which is the most important thing in this type of work and you often end up frustrated in the grading room, but with the EOS C500 there was no problem in achieving it," concludes Víctor Hugo Martín Caballero.

The music

Music and sound are a essential narrative element in any cinematographic work. In this case it could not be less by helping to create an atmosphere that draws on the references of the spaghetti western.

To create this sound environment, the short has had Ruben Brown, guitarist and member of the Valladolid group Arizona Baby, who has composed music that brings tension, suspense and rawness to this thriller with Castilian western overtones.

The heartbreaking main theme that accompanies the credits, Coward, is composed of Machita, stage name of actress Rosalinda Galán in music, actress who plays in National 106 to Julia, the corporal of the Civil Guard.

https://vimeo.com/501540105