Tradition and sustainability go hand in hand in 'Rules', a Fashion Film by Deyi Living shot with Canon cameras

In recent years, Fashion Films have become a trend in the fashion sector, constituting in themselves an unprecedented genre halfway between cinema, fashion and advertising with a very attractive formula that fuses video marketing with storytelling. Now, Deyi Living has trusted the cameras EOS C300 Mark III y EOS C70 of Canon to film Rules, a fashion film that is a whole movie in itself.

This design studio was born from the hand of Adriana Cagigas, Pauline Ferrières y Zhang Xing, tres profesionales convencidos del poder del diseño ético como potenciador de cambio de nuestro futuro y el de las próximas generaciones. En abril de 2019 comenzaron a viajar por el suroeste de China para construir una red de artesanos locales comprometidos con la preservación de su patrimonio cultural. Hoy, son una referencia mundial con su propuesta de un nuevo modelo de vida sostenible, inspirado en la filosofía y las tradiciones chinas.

Esta filosofía ha quedado plasmada en Rules, un potente trabajo audiovisual donde la artesanía y la tradición se unen para reactivar nuevas oportunidades en el campo del diseño contemporáneo.

Rules It is a work in which each and every one of those involved intends to reflect on the meaning of “being”, what this “being” process is like and how this process is carried out through all the imposed codes and rules. A perfect work in terms of the philosophy that Deyi works on, going back to contemporary tradition.

Deyi Living commissioned the production of this fashion film to Plenty Of Time Entertainment which has had the support of Canon Spain. At the head of the management we find Claudia Diaz-Pines, a 28-year-old young woman from Madrid, who has embarked on her first audiovisual project as a director. As for the careful photography, it is the work of Pedro Vendrell con Jaime Martinez as camera operator and Sergio Farago y Alberto Martinez as assistants. Lourdes Ramirez has been in charge of the assembly of this interesting work.

Rodando with Canon

The director of photography Pedro Vendrell has worked with the cameras Canon EOS C300 Mark III and EOS C70 to capture that mix between tradition and future, culture and nature that proposes Rules.

The feeling when operating with the Canon EOS C300 Mark III is “being in front of the little sister of the EOS C500 Mark II, with whom I have worked on other projects with excellent results. When operating it is very intuitive, everything is in its place and you get used to it quickly.”

In what ergonomics It refers to highlighting that "it has improved compared to its predecessor. The construction of the camera is robust and solid as well as light, as is usual for Canon. A reliable tool for filming."

As for the EOS C70, it meets all the aforementioned characteristics, but in Vendrell's opinion we are faced with "a much more compact camera format, being a little larger in size than a 'mirrorless' but with many more advantages than the latter for this type of audiovisual productions."

This shoot also made the most of the Canon EOS C70, the smallest camera in the EOS Cinema range. "During pre-shoot meetings, director Claudia Díaz-Pines expressed the need for stabilized moving shots in certain sequences. These shots should be done with 'Steady Cam' work or stabilizers that supported a heavier camera setup, but due to the collaborative nature of the project and a budget limitation we could not consider this option. The EOS C70 has allowed us to mount the camera on a lightweight stabilizer, in this case the brand's Crane 2S Pro Zhiyun, and using Canon's Dual Pixel autofocus along with RF optics to make the camera movements that the director needed for the Fashion Film narrative.”

He Dual Pixel AF autofocus, along with Canon's RF lenses, played a key role in the production of Rules since, as the director of photography states, "in jobs where for certain reasons you cannot count on certain technical positions such as the camera assistant or focus puller, the autofocus system can help you a lot to solve shots that would otherwise be impossible to do, and with the RF lenses you can work ensuring the shot is in focus at all times thanks to the Canon Dual Pixel. When you work with cine lenses, which are manual, the focus guide helps you see that it is in focus at all times, being a better focus assistant than 'speaking' for example."

Another aspect to highlight in Rules is the continuum game of lights and backlights. Both the EOS C500 Mark II and EOS C70 are equipped with a 4K Super 35mm sensor with DGO, which offers a much greater dynamic range with more than 16 stops latitude.

"Both cameras provide a quality raw material, with a lot of latitude. In a shoot like this where we only have natural light, without being able to rule out certain hours of the day to shoot, we had situations with great contrast. The latitude that these sensors provide us makes the work in post-production much easier, allowing the image to be brought to the appropriate levels both in terms of exposure and color," highlights Pedro Vendrell.

Stretching dynamic range

It is also worth mentioning that the function Canon Log que incorpora la gama de cámaras de cine EOS permite aumentar el rango dinámico hasta en un 800% con resultados increíbles.

Vendrell comenta que “aún sabiendo que la gama Clog2 es la que proporciona la mayor latitud, decidimos elegir la gama Clog3. Optamos por ella puesto que la exposición en Clog2 es más comprometida y teniendo un escenario donde no tenemos control absoluto sobre la luz decidimos sacrificar esos stops de más que proporciona. Otro de los motivos fue que no íbamos a contar con una postproducción de color exhaustiva para aprovechar ese extra que proporciona la gama Clog2″.

En lo que al uso de lentes respecta, el rodaje empleó una combinación de ópticas Sumire Prime de Canon en la EOS C300 Mark III y lentes RF en la EOS C70. Pero lejos de preocupar las posibles diferencias cualitativas entre ambas, el equipo de rodaje jugó con ellas con un resultado, que como admite Vendrell, “resulta apreciable en la definición, en el bokeh, incluso en la colorimetría. Y aunque ambos juegos de lentes comparten la misma esencia y funcionan como buenos compañeros se necesita algo de trabajo en postproducción para mitigar esas diferencias”.

Por último, la herramienta False Color that Canon Cinema cameras incorporate, such as the EOS C300 Mark III or the EOS C70, has been a helpful element when it comes to exposing the images. “Personally, I find it very useful and I frequently use it along with other measurement tools, so I think it is a good addition to the cameras,” Vendrell acknowledges.

A cry for independence

Díaz-Pines recognizes that "one day I felt the need to capture an anguish, a frustration, a vision without a horizon, a thought tired of a reality that seems to blind us for seconds. Where are we going? Why do we look like ghosts looking at a screen? Rules narrates the arrival into the world of a new norm, whose power is activated by the old norm under the blow of a gon with a sound whose vibration elevates you and that dresses in black because it attends its own funeral. The new norm is the one that influences, the that sets the trend, the one that drives the inexpressive souls that do not question why. We reflect on it and it on us. But the story has a hopeful ending when someone reveals themselves and decides to detach themselves from the mass and search for their questions. That is why Deyi Living fits perfectly into this story. "It doesn't work with sizes or genders. Everything for everyone. The oriental touch of the video is due to the brand's inspiration and love for China."

The director emphasizes that she wanted to "capture the frustrating vision of often feeling that we are managed in thousands of ways. Advertising, which inflates us with clichés and seems to mold our brains with invisible giant hands. We have become accustomed to turning our heads and seeing an advertisement. It is unbearable. We live under a terrifying bombardment of 'information'. Do this like this and like that. Fit into the mold and do not believe that your 'freedom' is a lie. Try to run alongside technology and win the race if "You can, if you stop to breathe, you lose. I feel that there are many hands molding us and it seems that we find it the same fun as when someone tickles us. The problem is not 'them' who listen to us, it is us who do not listen to ourselves. I think we should stop and rethink our direction. Give nature the respect it deserves and ask ourselves new questions."

This trendy film project evolved over many months, getting bigger and bigger. "He has been shaking hands with people who wanted to create something with freedom, makeup, sound... the premise was 'don't do something you don't like, let's be a team and work with enthusiasm'. It has been a collaboration of creative minds, who without receiving anything in return, have invested a lot of time to see this story become a reality. It has been the fruit of an unexpected quarantine. An idea that began with being proposed to two people and suddenly became more than thirty," concludes Díaz-Pines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv9fEZ6MzD0