During the first day of the 10th Commercial Film Workshop we had the pleasure to attend to a very tasteful talk between Borja Beneyto ‘Matose’ (gastronomic journalist, member of the Real Academia de Gastronomía and Co Founder of Brandelicious) and María José Martínez (owner and Head Chef of the Valencian restaurant Lienzo): ‘Mise en place, kitchen pre-production versus audiovisual pre-production’; which was moderated by Néstor Costafreda (Post-production Manager at HARRY).
‘Sustainable, close and delicious’, Martínez has not only highlighted the importance of sustainability, but that of using key products like honey: showing how important pollinators are. The hardships that they face in order to maintain the quality and professionality while caring for the environment. These are big challenges and part of Lienzo’s DNA.
On the other hand, Matose visits an estimated amount of 350 restaurants per year, and tastes a total of around 4,000 dishes. About them he says:’the most beautiful thing of it all is the creative process’. This is something that he has pinpointed several times during the talk, as these processes keep changing al -l the time.
‘The aesthetic is also really important, since you need to choose a narration and a message. The intangible aspect is how the chef gets inspired, the values and attributes that differentiate it from the rest’ says Matose. Every single project has a materialisation that depends on what it is meant to evoke. This also gives personality to the audiovisual projects, helping to differentiate them.
However, apart from organisation, it is necessary to know how to act in the face of unforeseen circumstances. It is clear that time is a decisive factor, in the kitchen as well as when producing, knowing how to react to changes is a necessity.
Matose points out how important the narrative is. It exists in a film, as well as in a menu. The first minutes are key, you need to catch the attention of the viewer, make them stay seated and watching. Both follow a rhythm, from contrast to rhythm… A perfect analogy between both of them.
