An intrepid adventurer. That is Henry Walton Jones, Jr. although he is better known as Indiana Jones. This character is one of the stars of cinema and has left phrases that have remained engraved in the minds of viewers. “It’s not the years, darling, it’s the shooting” is one of the expressions that this character said in 1981 (Raiders of the Lost Ark). If there’s one thing Indiana Jones and the protagonists of this week’s interview have in common, it’s the desire to go in search of adventure… The final destination? For the latter, to create a quality and different spot. Today we have the pleasure of chatting with Vagabond Films, a production company that approaches every job as a new and exciting challenge. They look beyond solutions to discover where and how to make their ideas reach their full potential. This year Vagabond has the chance to be among the winners of the APCP Awards 2023 with three of their creations.
1. What is the essence of Vagabond?
The essence of Vagabond is that it is a service-only production company, we do not represent principals, so we never come into conflict with our clients. Vagabond is a production company that was founded in 1999, and mainly operated and operates in South America, highlighting destinations such as Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. It also provides services in the USA and Switzerland. In 2016, it opened its delegation in Spain, which has been the location that generates the most projects since then.
We work side by side with our clients, and not thinking that they are just clients, but rather that we are partners with the same objective. Trying to achieve the highest productivity with each budget and that our customers get a better benefit, looking for solutions, trying to get the best out of each department.
2. Any tricks you have so that you don’t run out of ideas?
Work, humility, perseverance and never give up a battle for lost.
3. Do you always learn something new from every project you do?
Of course, every day, every project is a challenge in itself, and in every project there are new challenges to overcome, and in every project you always face new challenges where of course you learn something new.
4. What do you expect from the APCP Awards 2023? Are you nervous?
We hope that one of our projects, which we have undertaken with so much enthusiasm and effort, will get the reward it deserves.
5. You are entering three campaigns for the APCP Awards 2023. One of them is ON RUNNING. This is a very futuristic spot, how was the creation process?
It was a very dynamic, changing process. There was a clear objective, but it was not clear how to execute it. It was a field work, together with the creative director and the director, and with all the support of an excellent production is the result of how this piece came to be what you have already seen.
The post-production is something to highlight in this campaign; the shots are different and very expressive; without any apparent dialogue you say a lot? How important is it to take risks or innovate when creating an audiovisual product?
It was a risky bet, a very dynamic, changing process. There was a clear objective, but it wasn’t clear how to execute it.
A lot of thought had to be put into the final product and all the post-production that was involved, but the biggest challenge was to combine the different formats of 360º camera and conventional camera, and to prepare each set for 360º camera, not an easy task.
The logistics at each location were extremely careful as each place had to be prepared for everything to be part of the frame and that takes a lot of logistics and thinking.
I think the key was a great pre-production and the support of an excellent production.
6. What was the most complicated part of the job?
It’s going to sound very frivolous, but it was understanding exactly what we were looking for, how to execute each of the shots we were going to make, what needs were required for each of the shots, because since it was something so new, there was nothing conventional about the form or the way of making this project. The funniest thing was that it was not only something new for us, but it was also something new for the director, that was partly a major challenge, but with a lot of work and effort we managed to do it with the result that you have already seen.
7. What message could you send to those young people who want to work in this sector but are afraid of it?
Well, that it is a profession for the brave, exciting, creative and also very hard but different from any other conventional profession. The most important thing to be in this sector is vocation. Without vocation this profession is not compatible. It is a profession that requires an extra effort, an extra sacrifice and an extra passion and without this extra vocation it is very difficult to endure this very hard, but very exciting job.
Indiana Jones always carried a whip on his adventures. In Vagabond, that whip is exchanged for the camera. Under his hat, creativity. This film character was only afraid of one animal: snakes. However, like a brave man, he faces his fears. Vagabond also faces the challenges that are put in front of them and makes history through his creations.
”Indiana, we just go through history, this, this is history”- Belloq. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Interview by Paloma Garrido.
