London-based Spanish director Chino Moya went to Bulgaria to shoot this compelling combination of Soviet-era bleakness and weird psychological sci-fi, for new Spanish band Supersubmarina.

Intriguing, haunted characters (including this little girl, who discovers she has tele-kinesis) inhabit three separate, beautifully-shot strange tales. The impact is powerfully cinematic. Top stuff.

Supersubmarina
Supersubmarina (Sony BMG Spain)
Prod co: Blur
Director: Chino Moya
Producer: Mario Forniés
Production Manager: Sasho Raychev
DoP: Sergio Delgado
Art director: Stefan Janev and Severina Imma
Wardrobe: Buria Stefanova
Make-up/hair: Daniela Avramova
1st AD: Ammar Fadel
Location Manager: Dragomir Palashev
Post: Guillem Ventura
Watch: Quicktime movie

Chino Moya on making the video for Supersubmarina’s Supersubmarina

“I live in London, but still work in Spain where I come from. Sony BMG Spain contacted me through a production company in Madrid. They wanted a video for a new band without the band featured. I realised this could be a good opportunity to do something personal and sent a proposal.

“I thought of doing something narrative. I tried to think of a context for the action and ended up imagining some anonymous Eastern European city in the late 1970s-early 1980s. Paranormal events were taking place, but the inhabitants seemed to not be surprised by them. Something related to the apocalyptic nuclear fear of the cold war and the pseudo sciences that were associated with them (see Uri Geller, UFO sightings…).

“I decided on the three stories: a girl that discovers that she has telekinetic powers, a lonely woman that finds a half dead little man in a box and a guy that participates in a dancing contest that is at the same time a political trial. The label said yes to my treatment and we began looking for a country that would have the right type of industrial exteriors and old communist interiors.

“After looking at Romania and Ukraine, we decided to go to Bulgaria where a production company called MVM were willing to get involved. Due to the limited budget I couldn’t bring anyone from abroad except the DoP, so I went to Sofia ten days prior to the shoot and with a Bulgarian crew, that happened to be fantastic, we put together all the elements.

“The producer Mario Forniés and the DoP Sergio Delgado flew from Spain and we did a two-day Red camera shoot. I’ve always avoided digital before, but when my producer gave me the option of a one-day shoot with 16mm or two with a Red camera I had little choice.

“To avoid that typical overexposed sky that makes anything look digital, we chose the right angles and time of the day. With the interiors everything worked perfectly well and I have to say that I probably prefer a Red if I’m shooting inside to a 16mm since the resolution is much higher. Still I would definitely stick to film if I’m working outdoors.

“Since we had put most of the budget in the actual shoot, we did all the postproduction in-house in Madrid. It was all done by one person, the multi skilled Guillem Ventura (except for the 3D UFOs) using Final Cut, Color and Shake.”

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