If you haven’t heard or seen Netflix’ Club de Cuervos, where have you been?
Club de Cuervos is an original Spanish-language Mexican comedy drama television series produced by Gary Alazraki (Nosotros los Nobles) and Michael Lam. It premiered a full first season beginning on August 7, 2015 on Netflix. The story centers on the soccer club Cuervos, based in the fictional city of Nuevo Toledo, Mexico, and the power struggle that follows the death of its long-time owner and patriarch. It is already being tagged as “binge worthy” by critics, and for a online series, that is high praise. The production has been likened to the Emmy darling, Orange Is The New Black also on Netflix.
And while the talented cast, lead by Luis Gerardo Mendez who plays Chava Iglesias and Mariana Trevino as his smart yet overlooked sister Isabel Iglesias, carry the story beautifully on camera, it is the writing that is being singled out as a major contributor to the success of the series. Alazraki and former USC classmate Michael Lam are the creators, and they put together a team of writers and headed out to Mexico to shoot the series.
It is the job of cinematographer Isi Sarfati to capture to capture all the magic on camera. And as, increasingly, cinematographers are becoming superstars in their own right, Sarfati is one more name that is aspiring to be listed among the DP superstars, Here he gives us insight into what went on behind the scenes of Club de Cuervos cinematically.
Latin Heat: . How was the experience of working on Netflix’ first series totally shot in Mexico?
Isi Sarfati: Fantastic Experience. Netflix is known for good quality TV shows and of course Club de Cuervos was expected to be at that level, therefore the pressure was on. The experience of being released in over 50 countries at once was great. People from all over the world have been writing, letting me know that they´re watching Club de Cuervos on Netflix. Films and tv shows are produced to be seen and it is rare when an opportunity with such a large audience appears, in which people all over the world can watch my work, the entertainment we have created, in so many places at once. Best of all is that people are loving it, and this is great satisfaction.
LH: What was your biggest challenge as a DP in Club de Cuervos?
Isi Sarfati: Big challenges came by the dozen every day in a shoot like this, specially since I had never shot a fiction TV show before.
Normally in TV series there are several cinematographers and several directors. Here, Gaz Alazraki was the director and I was the cinematographer of the complete series, except for episode 8 directed and shot by Carlos Armella. Normally in a film we shoot 3 to 5 pages of the script in a day. Here we had an average of 10 pages and in some occasions we went all the way to 18, which is A LOT. So speed and quality had to be achieved and this became a strenuous challenge. It is known that some projects start great in the first episodes and then quality starts dropping. Here I did not allow for this to happen.
My proposed aesthetic vision had to be maintained, regardless of speed and budget limitations. In order to do this, I had to plan out my lighting designs pretty accurately around our camera setups, while allowing myself to be spontaneous. The other challenge was working at this rhythm for over 3 months and keeping a relaxed, peaceful atmosphere on set. I think that shooting with a crew for so long is in a way like formalizing a relationship with them, in the set. So, at points it’s easy to get carried away, everyone has good days and bad days. We all really did a great job in keeping mostly good days.
Lastly, I think the biggest challenge was adapting to the story and the director I’m working with. Every story is totally different, and every director envisions a film in a different manner. So, coming from shooting Los Parecidos, a Sci Fi film with director Isaac Ezban, and prior to that A los Ojos, with director Michel Franco (winner at Cannes this year with another film called Chronic), I am suddenly in a way bigger project, with more of everything, and with a Hollywood style. So what used to be great in another film will now not work in this film, what another director liked, this one hates. So, as the cinematographer, being responsible for the visual storytelling and style to be captured, I have to be able to etch every project with my style, with my own artistic “perfume”, and yet be chameleonic to each project’s needs. That is a huge challenge.
LH: Tell us about the special light you created for this shoot.
Isi Sarfati: Every shoot is different and one thing that I love about being a cinematographer is inventing tools to work with. Many times these tools are invented, and sometimes you have the budget to get them, and sometimes you don’t. Sometimes these tools have not yet been invented and when I have an idea of what I want to do, I will go to every corner of my imagination to cristalyze them.
In Club de Cuervos, many of the locations where small, plus we had to shoot at a very high paced rhythm. When I proposed Burn after Reading (shot by Emmanuel Lubezki and directed by The Coen Brothers) as a reference for the lighting style for Club de Cuervos, Gaz turned to me and said “Are you sure you’ll be able to keep up with this throughout the shoot?” I was positive then, but by the time I got home I realized the mess I might have gotten myself into. That lighting style (generally speaking) required big spaces and lots of big lights. Burn After Reading of course is a totally different movie and the style is different, but we, as artists normally get different refferences and incorporate them to our project with our particular vision.
I was thinking for days how could I solve the lighting style issue with speed, space, and still keep up the looks all the time. I remembered of a colleague of mine named Chuy Chavez who had once showed me a still photography lamp adapted to film-making needs. So from that idea I started building a lamp that would normally be used in still photography and filled it up with different kinds of bulbs from a regular lighting store, even some garden bulbs as well as dimmers and color or diffusion gels. All of a sudden I had come up with a light that was smaller, quicker, cheaper and that I could control instantly in terms of intensity and color. Oh boy did we use this fantastic light!
LH: What are your goals as a cinematographer?
Isi Sarfati: My goals are quite simple and complicated at the same time. Just the way life is. I basically want to keep growing as an artist, exploring the world of Cinematography and giving back to it. I would love to shoot more great films and tv shows, with content that I like and people that I enjoy working with, hoping that each project will take me to the next one. Telling stories through moving images is about patience and perseverance, and I do have both.
LH:. Describe a regular shooting day during Club de Cuervos
Isi Sarfati: Every day was so different, that it’s impossible to describe one day… all I can say is: tons of work, tons of concentration, tons of planning, tons of patience, tons of executing.
LH: What was your reaction when You were named One of the most important men in the world by Deep Magazine?
Isi Sarfati: I thought that they were exaggerating. But it felt good. It feels good to be recognized for the work I do, especially since it’s such hard and vital work when shooting a project and cinematographers are not normally recognized. Most people don’t know what we do. So it’s great for our audience to get to know that there is actually an artist behind the camera, making films get their own look and to be felt through images.
LH: You have been featured by American Cinematographer Magazine – do you have plans to work in the USA?
Isi and creator producer Gary Alazraki
Isi Sarfati: I do. As mentioned before, I want to keep on shooting projects I like and to keep growing. It is definitely in my plans.
LH: Who are your mentors?
Isi Sarfati: Cinematographer Gabriel Beristain has had a big input in my life. He’s a very talented D.P and his friendship and availability have passed the test of time. He is the kind of guy that will help out whenever I’ve been in a struggle, and his knowledge is so vast, that his advice has saved my behind several times. Other cinematographers that I look up to are Chivo (Emmanuel Lubezki), Rodrigo Prieto, Roger Deakins, Christopher Doyle and the list can keep on going. There are so many talented artists in the craft of cinematography that it’s hard to just say a few.
LH: Tell us about how you met cinematographer Gabriel Beristain in Prague. It’s a long story and I’ll try to make it short.
Isi Sarfati: I was 20 or 21, a couple of years back I had been backpacking around the world for a year, living with the Maasai Tribe, Bedouins and many more people. When I was studying filmmaking in London at LFS, I got the number for Gabriel. I had no idea who he was… I barely knew what a cinematographer did on set. It sounded great that he was shooting Blade 2 and called him for weeks and weeks, once every week. I believe that he got so tired of me calling him on his cell phone that one day he said: “OK, come to Prague, here’s the address!!”. I got a plane ticket and flew right away. I arrived at the studio and was allowed my way in. When the day finished Gabriel approached me to say hi in a very nice way. After some talking he asked where I was staying. For me, after travelling that year, it was quite normal to just stay in someone’s couch, living room or wherever… So here we have one of the biggest cinematography names shooting a studio film and me, a persistent probably annoying stranger standing in front with a luggage on the side… and what do I reply? “Well, I thought I was staying with you… isn’t that right?” I will never forget his face of total shock. He made arrangements for me to stay with the camera assistant and our friendship keeps growing to this day.
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