Mexico. Engaging all the senses on a one-dimensional plane requires incredible talent, a vision and a dash of Blackmagic. Through cinema, director Jorge Díaz Fernández, photographer Daniel Zanco and producer Mariano Bravo achieve the impossible, planting the seed of a commercial idea and taking care of it until it blossoms into a story.
All three are co-owners of Aima Films, an agency that forgos the traditional filming method in favor of marketing through art. Their aesthetic bond is what distinguishes these young entrepreneurs. Each of them bring their own experiences to their work, whether it's a passion for the horror genre or an aptitude for costume design, and hold weekly brainstorming sessions to incorporate into their artistic project rehearsals.
"We do a lot of experiments with these art elements, and if they work, we apply them to our commercial projects," jorge says. "But first, we try to make the real-life 'mistakes' so that the experiments eventually become the things that fascinate our customers the most."
By pushing the boundaries of creativity, they have achieved worldwide recognition as the next generation of artists. Large-caliber companies including Sears, and Condé Nast publications such as Audi, GQ and Vogue regularly consult the team with their business investigations. Recently, Aima Films concluded a spot for Levi's new jeans campaign, "Live in Levi's." The project brings together celebrities, artists and designers from around the world and shows how they work and express their style by wearing Levi's jeans. When Levi's contacted the team to shoot their Mexico commercial, Jorge felt he wanted to shoot it with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera.
"Working with Levi's is refreshing," he says. "He has a rebellious and open-minded personality, so we used a lot of our experiments in those videos. They turned out very spectacular. We shot with reference to the American videos, and we were trying to get the sloppy look of grunge. We specifically chose Blackmagic to achieve this. It was the only camera that would support the kind of color correction and graduation needed to get that specific look."
The team has added to their experience with the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera an Alfa Romeo editorial for Life and Style, which is currently in the editing room. "Filmmakers face a lot of conditions for shooting outdoors and on the streets, and for filming monuments and landscapes, so the Pocket Cinema camera has helped us successfully create those kinds of shots," he says.
At Aima Films, even quick shots require an enormous amount of thought and care. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema supports this workflow, allowing the team to observe each shot from all angles, with full capability, before shooting. According to Jorge, it makes him feel like he's in a professional cinema environment everywhere.
