Screen time

Michael Hedges - July 30, 2007

Love it or not, media showing moving visual images continues to evolve. As the most widely used form of media expression, the directors and producers art reflects, distorts and pushes reality, constantly feeling its way. When ftm asked film and television director/producer Joaquin Lira about trends influencing his work he talked about finding the right color, local influences in globalized media and rediscovering the creative leaders.

Joaquin Lira is president of Fuego Worldwide, a commercial production house based in Dallas, Texas. His producer and director credits include film, television and commercial production. He has worked across the United States, Latin America and Europe, was educated in the UK and lived, for a time, in Switzerland.

The time people spend before big screens (cinema), little screens (mobile handsets and games) and those in between (laptops and TV sets) shows every indication of overwhelming our every waking hours. Terrestrial television may well disappear in a decade, as CME’s Mike Garin told the recent discop conference in Prague. Screen time, however, rules. It rules advertising, consumer trends and the world’s agenda.

ftm: Where do you see visual styles going and why?

Joaquin Lira: This is a big question to answer, especially because you will only know if your answer was the right one, when you look back and see your own work as part of what may be referred to as a particular style. When a style begins to be recognized as a trend, it is surely already on its way out. Those that helped establish it are most probably moving on to something different.

At present, we are going through what seems cyclical behavior. Where artistic and intellectual groups discover or rediscover certain influences, and incorporate them in their own work. Today that predominant influence is Latino. There are many things that are pushing this saturated style all at the same time. There are both internal and external influences in play.

Ever since the runaway production of the late nineties, early 2000, more and more productions are venturing to travel to different parts of the world. There has also been an exponential growth of Latino production, and the search for location, talent and cost efficiencies has encouraged travel to places like Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. It is impossible to visit these places for production, and not be touched by the influences around you. Anything from what you see in the streets, to what each member of the crew brings to your project. It all seeps in. There is a cross pollination, all illuminated by the lushness of Latino light. This discovery of light cannot be underestimated.

ftm: Is this not a reflection of an increased worldliness? Is it vicarious escape for viewers, albeit a reaching out, as you suggest, for a richer visual experience?

Joaquin Lira: There is an increased worldliness in the viewer, in his ability to accept new things. There is a constant need from the viewer for new visual experiences, they have grown accustomed to style being an important part of what they see, and this increased demand for new things, generates a stimulus in the creator to look for new and fresh approaches. The broader scope of sources, the web and games, for visual experience has necessarily added to the thirst. We could add to this access to niche productions, where art houses and the web have allowed wider distribution of film and video beyond the usual channels, giving much broader access to the old and the new.

ftm: The impact of local talent and local crews is, I think, under valued. Can you expand on that thought?

Joaquin Lira:Our 'first world' arrogance may make us think that we are discovering frozen water. But you would have to make a very big effort to isolate yourself from the influences of the environment that surrounds you when traveling. Sadly, some actually manage.

If you are, for example, unable to travel with your Art Director and require local talent, this talent will inevitably influence the way you approach the project, even if it is just through their interpretation of your instructions and the utilization of local materials. I have seen time and time again, where we do not appreciate the work or style of somebody else, until it is presented to us by a name we know and respect.

An example is what Tarantino has done for Chinese cinema. His interpretation of the styles that have existed for a long time, contributed to opening doors to more of this style of production. This is equally true for other styles and latitudes.

ftm: I couldn’t help but notice the number of Cannes Lions television advertising awards this year going to Southern Hemisphere producers? Yes, Argentina, Chile and Brazil but also South Africa, Australia and India. Talent, ‘new eyes’ or a mix of both?

Joaquin Lira: Definitely a mix of both. Just think, with the millions of people doing film in India, and the difficulties they have to overcome, they have to be twice as good, exceptionally good, if they want to break out.

When looking at this from an American perspective, production in the Southern Hemisphere is often a joint effort between key crew coming from the United States, directors and so forth, and mingling their efforts with local crew.  In other cases, primarily talking about the burgeoning US Latino advertising market, the whole production is given to a local production company, with only executive production traveling. Both options equally open the doors to a shared aesthetic. The Southern (Hemisphere) attempt to create an acceptable US aesthetic, or the US attempt to get the best of the Southern (Helisphere) influence to create a fresh perspective.

"Presently there seems to be a re-discovery of light, where we see visuals inundated by a lush scene of sensual color"

Returning to the thought on India: the most grossing foreign film industry in the United States is from India. It is already over $100 million. This is driving the quality of the productions, and is surely influencing the market and the aesthetics. As the market matures, you know that American entrepreneurs will quickly find ways to get their cut. And who knows, their approach may find their way into the mainstream as telenovelas have.

In Europe, especially Britain you can see the influx of India, not only as in the United States through increased screening, but also through the ‘rubbing of shoulders’ when they shoot on location. Indian producers have recognized that one way to attract crowds abroad is by an increase in use of international locations, especially Britain. This helps their stories become more relevant to the international audience and capture the attention of generations born abroad. I am sure that the multiplicity of productions happening there every year is leaving some impact.

Some creative minds seem to be going through a process somewhat similar to what happened to David Hockney when he decided to settle in Los Angeles from a more monotone England. As he experienced, when you discover rich light and color, it instantly broadens your palette into a world with room for ample exploration. Presently there seems to be a re-discovery of light, where we see visuals inundated by a lush scene of sensual color.

There was a strong euro period in the commercial scene, which I think we will never totally get over, where many wanted their film to look washed out and colorless, for their work to have a European flair. I think many creative professionals never stopped to think that the grayness, softness of light, grey skies, washed out colors were not as much a stylization as they were simply imposed by the fact that it was what was available. There are many overcast days in Europe, and the sun just shines differently, that is just a fact, and it affects film, color, wardrobe, and mood.

ftm: Is Europe just too dark…unless you really need to be dark? Or are we in times when ‘dark’ is all around and ‘light’ is necessary?

Joaquin Lira: There is a certain pessimism that looms in the European mind set, that bleeds into the aesthetic realm. Those areas that are prone to getting some light and color in spring and summer, are also sources of influence for interpretations of light and color.

‘Dark’ is all around right now, especially in those countries directly being affected by conventional and unconventional war. There are certain things that are now taboo when looking at advertising, especially noticeable when dealing with humor; all due to the grown sensitivity. There seems to be a need to be ‘cheered up’, positive messages of a better future. It feels that this has increased the use of humor, color and light. Anything that can be interpreted as negative or threatening is quickly rejected. Just look at what at other times would have been seen as a clever ad, the auto manufacturer machine laid off work and suicidal, today it had to be pulled off air and re-edited to suit the present mind set.

ftm: I must say, the Cannes winner from Germany for the Smart car was dark in every respect…dark humor.

Joaquin Lira: This is very particular to the audience you are going for. This is a spot targeting most probably first time buyers of motor vehicles. This is a film and video game driven generation. That is hooked on violent movies and shooting games. They are much better able to interpret the humor in this, especially because they are far from seeing it as an actual threat. It is very far from what could be their reality. I would like to see the reaction of this commercial in countries where car-jacking is a reality. I am sure the response to the spot would be much less of a chuckle.

The American response to this audience can be seen with the Coca Cola spot, where a violent video game is turned into a “do good – feel good” spot. This is able to capture the ironic youth that the German spot captures, while also the concerned parent with a positive light  - terrified parents that are being told by the media that their child is going to start shooting his peers because of his gaming habits.

There is a positive growth of everything Latino, from the music, to the fashion and lifestyle. Words like Mojito are now a familiar part of the world vocabulary. Through the rediscovery of food, music and fashion, the warmth and celebration of light and style seeps into the mainstream. Latino talent that has been able to cross cultural barriers and jump into a more universal arena, generating an influence that seeps through and opens people’s appetite for something a little more exciting than the norm. Shakira at the World Cup in Germany was definitely a sign.

ftm: The telenovela! It’s everywhere. I understand that Mexican and Brazilian telenovelas are major television events in the Middle East – translated, of course. Again, is this the ‘flow’ of visual culture?

Joaquin Lira: The telenovela is something that had been discovered by the rest of the world long ago, and it seem that only recently has the US audience begun to discover it’s virtues. The Latin American novella super stars are frequent guests in Spanish talk shows, many staying to make a life in Madrid or Barcelona. Countries like Lebanon have long been translating novellas and enjoying them. To that point, novellas have been written with multi-cultural perspectives; Mediterranean families in Latin America and vice – versa. People may forget that there is also a Latin American melting pot, and here you can see that the aesthetic flow goes both ways.  All you have to do is look at Shakira. Where do we think that hip-shaking dancing comes from? It isn’t Sweden for sure.

The increase in international acceptance of the telenovela has certainly contributed to the sharing of influences. It is showing in the US market, where English language channels are making important efforts in imitating the genre to the point of adapting Latin American scripts. Just look at the record hit Ugly Betty, originally known as Betty La Fea. The US market isn’t mature enough for straight dubbing, so a full new version has to be filmed, unfortunately losing much of the richness of the original, but it cannot be underestimated as a huge step for both stations and the audience.

In the United States a deep cross-pollination has been going on for a long time between the urban Latino and the African American, influencing the urban experience that tends to be the innovators that guide popular tastes. This can be traced as far back as you like: from the Puerto Rican exodus, to the Mexican ebb and flow, and the Cuban experience. All of this peppered with immigration from all over Latino America by people of all walks of life. Couple this with the return to the urban centers phenomena that the USA has been enjoying, putting people in closer contact with the urban Latino, and their influence, and you get a delicious visual cocktail.

ftm: Isn’t this more “American” than global? I mean, Europe is an urban culture and Asia is quickly moving in that direction. Neither Europe nor Asia have experienced the kind of cultural mixing – now generations deep – found in the US…at least not for several hundred years.

Joaquin Lira: This is global. The Americans may be ahead of the curve due to the open society it has been for so many years. But other countries are quickly playing catch-up. You can look at the internationalism of London, in some ways the NYC of Europe. Or the creative engine that Barcelona is. You can even see the kind of creativity that is coming out of places like Shanghai. The ‘monopoly’ the West thought it had on creativity is over, and mainly just due to distribution, we get to see more of what is coming out of other markets. Agencies have opened their branches all over the world, and the interaction with local and imported talent has been bearing fruit for quite a while. We just need to look at the great creative coming out of Singapore and other places that seemed off of the beaten path. The way that international demand is raising quality levels in Chinese and Indian cinema is also affecting the international market place of advertising.

ftm: Now, my point is – Europe is going through a major cultural upheaval. It’s easy to see in France after generations of North African and Mediterranean influence. What’s new is East meeting West. Polish filmmakers aren’t making much of a dent in the West yet but Czech animators are. Will that kind of convergence become attractive or is it still too distant, remote or – your words – dark?

Joaquin Lira: I disagree that it is that new. In many ways we are just re-discovering it. Czech animators have been on the map for decades, there was a Kandinsky kind of simplicity to their work that was very characteristic. It just wasn’t main-stream, and definitely not commonly used for advertising.

Creative minds will in the same breath compete, imitate and share, a la Picasso and Matisse. We have been borrowing from the east for a long time. We probably see an increase just because the market is helping. It is very fashionable to shoot in Prague. Why? Well, if you want to get an old Europe look, with world class crew at bargain prices….where else can you go? Lots of feature films are shot in Prague, and as many commercials are too. When there, of course, you will naturally be influenced by the environment and what is available. Besides location and costs, the look given by light is part of the package that is often looked for. You can especially see this in premium brand car manufacturers that know that in the American psyche, European is still equivalent to sophisticated.

There is a sociological resistance to the excess use of color and light. You really need to know how to use it. You can quickly become cheap. Think of the standard black of New Yorkers vs. the explosion of color of Miami. The first is associated with knowledge, worldliness and education, the latter with nothing is taken seriously, party city. So the language chosen is intimately tied to the product and the message. Both for film and advertising.

The influences come from all the arts, but are most easily recognized when you look at the music industry and cinema. Latino music and culture is enjoying a renewed explosion,  a growth that runs parallel to the population growth, and its influences in urban culture. This cross-cultural mix in those areas where the true melting pot manifests itself, many times works as a bridge for the Latino flair to work its way into the mainstream, and broaden its influence. I think we will see a growth in the Latino influence, especially in that search for celebration of the urban experience and media’s constant pursuit of trends. Recent music styles where we can clearly see the cross pollination of Latino beats and others is with hip hop, where it manifests in genre’s like freestyle, Latino hip hop and reggaeton.

When looking at cinema, one of the clearest influences in recent years was with the mainstream acceptance of directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Cuarón and Inárritu. As Latino directors are given broader access to the silver screen with their work and passion, this fresh vision of life, light and color transcends and inspires. A solid example of how an influence can evolve is Amores Perros, a production of early 2000, which spread on both sides of the border. It made Mexican production richer, grittier and real, as it also contributed to some of those aspects on the American side of the border, helping it also spread internationally. The Latino influence seed of this generation was planted, fed also the growing acceptance of international cinema within the United States, and how it is being made more accessible through many new art houses that are solely dedicated to screening independent production. This accessibility accelerates the growth of international influence and thirst for new perspectives.

Visual trends are often generated by the melting pot of urban life, street language, arts, music and other manifestations that represent the heartbeat of the youth at a given time, at a given place. These tastes and styles will spread underground until they become mainstream. The Latin and African cultures have always been close together not only due to Spanish colonization, but also in recent times through immigration and their close quarter concentration in urban areas. This cross pollination seems to have produced representation in each generation, most easily remembered in the music scene from Perez Prado to Sergio Mendez, Ray Barreto and Ritchie Valens to Carlos Santana, Maná and Shakira. These influences peppered with what is coming from abroad through Cinema and the vision of Latino Directors in the music video, commercial and feature world all add to the culture baggage that produces the present trend that favors all things Latino.

Latino is cool again, and its savory mix with the African-American in the common ground of the Afro experience has fed the explosion.  We add to this what could be defined as the discovery of light through travel and international influence, and we see how the trend has spread to the international arena. This is just another benefit of the cross-cultural phenomenon that we are seeing in all metropolises: New York, London and even Barcelona. Places where the artistic energy feeds upon itself and is not afraid to celebrate something new. We will see multiple perspectives grow in influence, and the flair for light and life that comes from other latitudes find more and more opportunities for expression and influence.

ftm: Give me your view of the influence of music video. Everybody under 25 has lived with MTV their entire life.

Joaquin Lira: I think that music video has given a huge number of influences, let me attempt to enumerate a few.

The youth who have grown up with music videos are much more demanding and savvy of the image. They are used to a fast paced bombardment, and the free use of visual metaphor. They have also become accustomed to loose story lines, where the image and the music intertwine, complementing each-other with most often very simple messages.

Music videos have created a demand for directors and new talent, opening a platform for a very large variety of visual and story telling styles. And along with this, the constant search for the next best thing – the new bling. Many directors that cut their teeth on music videos, as they mature they jump into the commercial and even the feature world. This has been also true about other talent and crew.

"...the bombardment of image and style is a reflection of not knowing what you are doing"

The pace of TV and cinema used to be much more relaxed than it is today. There used to be a constant concern that too may cuts would confuse the story line and lose the viewer. The newer generations are able to absorb higher volumes of information at a much faster pace, opening the door for more editorial freedom. They are really demanding a faster pace and much more things going on in order to be able to capture their attention. “Give me more, faster, and don’t make me think too much.”

The ever shrinking attention span. Many have felt the need to excite the senses by bombarding them with more and more action and images to secure the attention of the youth market. And also in a need to look youthful just by the technique itself. I believe that this has reached it’s point of saturation, where style cannot continue to be more important than content and although many continue to use this as a resource, it is comforting to actually see some venturing back to simplicity.

I think that the bombardment of image and style many a time is a reflection of not knowing what you are doing. But this naïf approach can quickly become a style, and it is imitated even by those that know better in order to feel contemporary. An easy example to visualize is how the urban mural and it’s typographic techniques and uses of color invaded the film and  design world.

Music video - the name states it - began as a low cost video production. Many times a live capture affair, where bands that could not afford a full blown film on 35mm shot of their shows, would have it filmed on video. The ‘full focus’ flatness of the media, forces the creative talent to find other ways of making it look better, jazzing up the transitions, saturating the colors, chopping the edit so that we don’t have too much time to look at a single image and notice the weaknesses. These ‘masquerading’ techniques often become a style and are expected. Producers and directors begin to add detail as the financial growth due to demand allows, they add more story telling, style, and the media continues to mature. Eventually music videos become “music films” because there is enough demand and money being invested, that they can use the more expensive media. We should also note that the demand for video and its equipment also helps the media improve and mature, and prepare the ground for reality TV.

ftm: Following from that…do you think we’ve come to the end of “reality TV” as an influence…or just the beginning?

Joaquin Lira: Reality TV is entering a phase of maturity. At first it was new, fresh, raw. It was the expression of a young film maker, a technique created by absence of access to bigger crews and better equipment. In some ways a spin off of the same thing that was discovered with the music video,: cost effectiveness. When you work with non-professional talent, you have to roll lots and lots of tape in the hope of capturing a good moment. This is not possible with film. Reality TV can also just be seen as a new spin on documentary style journalism. Nothing is from a single influence; these are just some.

"New ways of distributing content are being created on a weekly basis, trying to catch the ever-evasive eyeball"

Now, we have seen so much of it, that it is being reinterpreted. The voyeuristic element that it gave us the feel of un-orchestrated reality is not enough any more. And so we are finding new expressions of it that take the best of both worlds, like American Idol.

I think we will grow tired of Reality TV as we know it, and variations will come to substitute what we are seeing today. Efforts that are being focused in this new phenomenon will return to more controlled settings that are able to express the visual and story telling sophistication of more traditional forms. There will continue to be one hit wonders, but there will also always be a market for seasoned professionals.

The big change in all this is not necessarily the production techniques and styles, but more of the change that is being provoked due to media distribution. New ways of distributing content are being created on a weekly basis, trying to catch the ever-evasive eyeball. Some catch on, like YouTube, others we seem to never even hear about.  Corporations are battling with the distribution of their media dollars, and trying to determine the effectiveness of each new approach. The ‘Dove’ phenomenon just pours lighter fluid into the fire, putting all those in the industry against the wall. But I think a lot of this will settle down after the rush, somewhat like the aftermath of Blair Witch Project that was supposed to be the beginning of the end of the film industry as we know it. Unfortunately it will take those with the money longer to understand that this kind of phenomenon cannot always be repeated with ease. An approach that many advertisers are taking is through branding content, and this is spurring a whole industry of it’s own.

ftm: One more question – and almost totally disconnected: Some people think there are two related video trends that will overtake the world. One is the super-size screen; not in the cinema or the living room but on street corners – sites of shared experience and exposure. The other is the super-tiny screen; the mobile devices – intensely personal. Do either of those resonate with you?

Joaquin Lira: The super size screen has been a dream for a long time, best expressed in the film Blade Runner. Times Square has played with people’s imagination, and technology is finally catching up. Places are sprouting all over the world with bigger and better images. But as with all media, the question is how do we use these, and how do we generate income in order to sustain them. Where do the media dollars come from, something has to give. There is not a bottomless bag of money in the corporations’ hands, the offerings of goods and services, where all this media can feed from. We will need to pick and choose which media is most effective to expose specific content to the public. Those investing in building these new outlets will have to find ways of financially justifying their existence. It will be a survival of the fittest, and the most ROI effective will prevail.

The large screen has its bigger than life use and seduction. The small screen has its practicality and immediate gratification. Different individuals will favor different sources of entertainment, and depending on who you are going after you will need to choose which one better fits your objectives.

The advantages and limitations of screens, big and small, and how they impact media are a whole extensive conversation of their own. To be able to draw a conclusion, we will need to learn more about them, find a financially viable use for them, and let natural selection do a bit of its work.

Personally, any media that has an audience, and opens an opportunity to inform and entertain, is a media that I am interested in. As long as it enhances their experience and isn’t something that badgers the viewer invading their space. But if I had to choose, the giant screens are much more seductive, not only due to their bigger than life visual impact, but also the architectural element of how they interact with the landscape.

We do need to remember that at the end of the day, it is all about the quality of the content, the distribution technique can be very cool, but if the content isn’t able to capture my attention, not even a sledgehammer over the head will help.

Reach Joaquin Lira/Fuego Worldwide through Don Sundeen or +001 972.404.0605

ftm Follow Up & Comments