Beatriz Sastre — Creatiview

Beatriz Sastre is an award winning cinematographer from Spain. Currently based in London but working worldwide.

Curator’s note: You’ve probably come across Beatriz’s work before and if not, you’ll definitely be familiar with the clients she has produced it for. Beatriz has lensed dramas, commercials, music promos and documentaries, spanning all types of industries including fashion, tech, the arts and music, to name a few. It’s fair to say that whatever might be in front of the camera, with Beatriz behind it, the film will no doubt come out looking stupendous. Here we flip the focus on to Beatriz herself in a bid to unravel the script to her career thus far.

Going back, would you say there was ever a ‘sliding doors’ moment that kicked off your creative journey? For example, what encouraged you to study Film & Media at University?

Throughout my upbringing, I was surrounded by creatives as part of my family works in theatre. One of the few who doesn't is my mum who’s a psychologist, so conversations about art, feelings, new screenplays etc were all part of my day to day.

I guess that I always knew that when I grew up, I would want to be involved in arts and culture somehow. It felt like an organic move for me.

My parents would always make sure there was a new book or a good film to watch at home.

As a child, I was obsessed with films, the ways different directors and DOPs (Director of Photography) would establish a unique atmosphere for their movie was something that really attracted me, back then, in an unconscious level. I eventually understood that I wanted to do that, a job that would somehow lead me into creating an atmosphere through a visual language.

Did you enjoy your time in education? Would you recommend it to other potential students?

I did a 5 years BA in Audiovisual Communication in Valencia/Sweden and a 2 years MA in Filmmaking/Cinematography in London.

In general I always felt those years were great for me to explore, watch and read a lot. To learn about myself, what I liked and what I didn’t. To have a better understanding of the theory of filmmaking and to build a mental encyclopaedia of films that I can use now when researching references for current projects. That was great for sure but I always felt that during my years as a student I was lacking of practical experience.

Once I finished my masters and started my first job in film, I realised that I had no clue. I was working as a camera trainee and on my first day I understood, petrified, that I had no set etiquette or any idea about what I was supposed to do. This was a shocking for me, taking into account that I had spent 7 years studying film.

I worked as a camera trainee for almost two years, doing British TV Dramas and the learning curve was the greatest I’ve ever experienced. It’s a tough job (it can seam a bit like military service at times) but I would always recommend it to anyone who wants to become a DOP.

During those years I would always try to shadow the DOP and understand his way of lighting, of covering a scene through camera angles, I would observe his relationship with the director and the way they collaborated…

At the same time, I started working at a rental house as a camera technician. This was a great as well as I had never been a technical person. It gave me the chance to try and test different cameras and lenses without the pressure of time.

GARAGE in partnership with GUCCI presents WATA. Directed by Joy Yamusangie and Ronan McKenzie.

How come you chose London as the city to embark on your Masters degree? How did you find the cultural differences between Spain and the UK?

I come from Valencia, a relatively small sunny city in the east coast of Spain. It’s a beautiful place, perfect to have a slow, good quality life but maybe not that exciting for a young person who wants to discover new ways to creatively express in a vibrant environment. In Valencia, ten years ago most of the people who were involved in arts knew each other and the scene was pretty small.

Therefore, when I turned 23 I decided to move to London, I had already lived in Sweden and Prague and was eager to discover this new exciting city. I was attracted to its cosmopolitan character and the idea that there were always lots of different things happening at the same time.

I wanted to meet new people that could open my views and explore new ways of expressing myself. The MA was great as an excuse to come over here, to set foot for first time in London, meet new people and understand the British way of working.

You’ve worked for a host of clients spanning all types of industries, from fashion to tech to the arts to music… How do you approach these different types of projects?

I don’t usually put those kinds of labels on a project when I’m approaching it for first time, I kind of start them all in the same way. I read the treatment and try to understand the concept to then figure out what’s the best and most interesting way to express it visually.

I don’t really mind if we’re doing a tech commercial or a music video, in the end for me it’s about the same thing: collaborating with the director to create a unique look for the specific idea.

Would you say there was a stand out project that first marked you out? If not, how did you first get into the type of excellent work you do now?

I remember there were a couple of studio projects that whilst doing them, I realised that I was jumping to the next level. Not so much for their creative approach but for their size. I was coming from doing small short docs for magazines like Dazed or i-D to then suddenly being at a big studio space with a lot of clients, large crew and a lot of toys to play with. It was great but then at the same time really scary. One that I fondly remember was the River Island commercial I did with Phoebe Saatchi and Stink.

What types of films did you start off making? What came first? Was it scripted shorts, documentaries… music videos?

I loved camera assisting but at some point I had also had enough. It got to a point where I wasn’t really enjoying it and wanted to jump directly into doing a creative job. So even if back then I had managed to establish some kind of security through the assisting job, I went back to my film school to shoot graduation films for free. All I really wanted to do was to apply everything I had learned assisting into a film I could shoot.

From there, I started doing short docs or profile videos for online magazines. The first thing I learnt there was to relax. Not everything had to be perfect. Beforehand, I was trying to make every frame and each lighting setup perfect. Then I realised that if you let the shoot flow and have a more relaxed approach, interesting things will can come up and the result will have a more personal feel to it.

Later on, that lead me into commercials, music videos and documentaries. For a while I stopped doing narrative but as of a few years ago I’ve picked it up again and I love it.

NIKE x Azeema Magazine. Directed by Nadira Amrani.

You’ve worked with a selection of artists particularly that many would be pretty star struck by. From the outside at least, it would seem pretty glamorous! What’s it like working with these famous names, the likes of Jorja Smith, Solange and FKA Twigs?

It’s great! I mean my approach and attitude is always the same independently from the artists we are working with but obviously it’s amazing to be able to shoot these striking looking people. Established artists usually have a lot of experience in front of the camera, they know what to do or how to pose in a way that will look better, so that also helps my work massively.

The only down side of it is that usually you get less time to shoot when you’re working with famous talent. I remember once we flew to Italy to shoot an Adidas commercial with football player Paulo Dybala. We had almost a week to prep but with him, we only had 15 minutes to shoot in his own house. We weren’t able to scout the location priorly so production had to rent another apartment in the same building to get an idea of how it would look. I feel agencies and labels can get a bit nervous when working with stars so everything gets more complicated and there’s a tense atmosphere. It’s good to remember they’re just people with the same aim as you, to make the best possible video.

When it comes to a project like your recent work for Nike, which is beautiful by the way, how much creative control do you tend to have? How big is a typical team on a brief like that and is there often much back and forth with the client?

Thanks! In this project we actually had a lot of freedom. This is not that common in commercials but in this case the project had a social message and the client and agency really trusted the director Nadira Amrani, who was emotionally invested in it. There was quite a bit of negotiation and back and forth during the treatment stage and the edit but not so much during the actual shoot.

We shot in film (16mm) and in loads of different locations in a short amount of time (including underwater). We had a tight budget so in terms of crew, I only had a focus puller and a loader, as well as a drone operator. No lighting crew but we mostly shot everything with natural light.

It was hard work but also really exciting and enjoyable. The whole team got together and it just worked.

The Japanese House - Something Has to Change

Can you talk us through the ideal relationship between yourself, the cinematographer and the director? How does that relationship typically work for you?

An ideal relationship would be the one based on equal trust and respect. Obviously the director is the ‘boss’ and they will always have the last word, but I think you can get the best out of a project when you both collaborate and put ideas on the table. When the DOP and the director are excited and creatively invested on a project, collaboration comes up and very interesting things can happen.

My relationship with directors is one of the most important things for me. I would say finding collaborators that I ‘click’ with and are able to feed off of each other is crucial to the evolution in my work.

When it comes to longer form content, such as some of your documentaries for example, how meticulous are you in terms of the planning process?

People tend to think the opposite but I would say that actually it’s in documentaries where you need to prep a lot because you need to be ready for the unexpected.

I’m currently prepping for a feature documentary that is going to be shot over a long period of time in many different countries. We are creating a kind of visual bible that specifies our visual language and the universe for the project. That way, if we find ourselves in situations that we weren’t expecting or where we haven't had time to prep or scout a specific scene in advance, we can always go back to this document and follow its ‘guidelines’. This will hopefully help to make the film feel rounded, to gain a coherence throughout the project when it’s finished.

*Still from ‘Further Together’ for Rapha. Directed by Paola Morabito. Produced by Knucklehead.*

Where do you drawer inspiration from? Are there any specific filmmakers who are a big inspiration to you?

I draw inspiration from everywhere really, from films, photographs, art, music… but also from day to day situations. London is a beautiful place and sometime its lighting conditions (both natural or artificially created) can be stunning and enough as a source for inspiration.

Is there anyone who you would love to work with? Be it a person or a brand.

I would love to work with Somesuch. I did once ages ago when I was starting… I shot the behind the scenes video for a commercial they did. Apart from that I’ve never had the opportunity to properly work with them and it would be amazing. I really enjoy the content they produce.

Long form wise, a dream for me would be to work with Xavier Dolan and Isabel Coixet.

Would you say you have a particular style that you’re conscious of? If so, is this something you try and own or would you instead adapt depending on the brief?

When I read a new script or a treatment, I approach it with my first instinctive impulse. I usually go with my guts. Whatever visual atmosphere and mood I imagine, I try to point it out and put together some visual references based on that.

As I get more experienced, I’m more familiar with what I like and what I don’t. What angles, colours, levels of contrast I feel are pleasant/interesting to the eye. I guess in that way you can say I’ve got a style.

However I feel it’s very important to adapt and try to produce the best possible visuals for the needs of every specific project. That should be more important that leaving a stamp of your own work as an author. Still, a level of taste and subjectivity will of course always remains in the finished product.

‘Tangle Teezer’ - Directed by Luke Brookner. Produced by Sticker Studios.

Looking to the future, is there anything in particular that you would like to achieve? What are your ambitions for what lies ahead?

For me, the perfect work situation would be having a good balance between doing interesting short content (such as creatively challenging commercials) and independent feature narrative work. That would be the dream!

Finally, how has the current climate impacted you and your work?

This crisis has completely impacted my work, I think the same as everyone else that works in the creative industry.

In April I was supposed to fly to Spain to shoot a couple of commercials and to then start a feature film for Spanish TV.

The commercials got sadly cancelled and the feature has been postponed a few times now and no one knows exactly when we’re going to be able to pick it up again. It’s a shame as I can’t wait to start working on it but since it’s a period drama that revolves around some political issues, loads of extras are needed. Given the current situation and the social distancing policy, it might be some time until we can start making this happen.

Apart from this I have to say that, independently from the unavoidable worry that we’re all dealing with, this forced stop has been good for me. For the first time in a really long time I’ve got a routine at home, I’m having time to go through projects slowly, look deeply into references and generally enjoy this slower way of life.

You can view more of Beatriz’s beautiful work via her website: beatrizsastre.com. Or, if like us, you’re itching for immediate updates on what Beatriz and her camera produce next, go follow her on Instagram. Hopefully we will see some content from that Spanish feature film in not too long!