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EUDI MOVIE AWARD

And the winner is… LIMITLESS!

We were awarded on Sunday in Bologna for the promo we shot last year in Porto Venere for HSA Italia, an organization dedicated to improving the physical and social well-being of people with disabilities through the sport of scuba diving.

Here the film: https://vimeo.com/283412197 or scroll two posts below on this page.

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LANCIA AURELIA

The film is a tribute to Paolo Stanzani, Italian mechanical engineer and automotive designer of several successful cars such as Miura, Espada, Countach and the Bugatti EB110.

We didn't have a specific brief, the collector who commissioned us the film just wanted to homage Paolo Stanzani throughout his beloved car: Lancia Aurelia. We started with Stanzani’s most famous quote:

“I’ve always retained that a car has a soul, that reflects in the body and in the mechanics...”

First, we shot the beauty of its shape in an industrial hangar, to create a contrast between the very elegant shape of the car and the environment. Then we shot the camera car scenes, driving across the legendary cost of Lake Como.

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HSA

The Handicapped Scuba Association Italy is dedicated to improving the physical and social well-being of people with disabilities through the sport of scuba diving.  We shot a promo during an event held at the military base "Le Grazie", in Liguria.

Since we won the Eudi Movie scuba diving festival the past spring 2018, Watermelon is investing resources in equipment and getting patents for filming under water.

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AIR WICK

Last April we shot a double commercial for the freshener Air Wick (Reckitt Benckiser), here the final films. 

They had a common part shot indoor, and two scenes staged outside, in the Sorrento’s peninsula (south Italy) and on the Dolomites (north of Italy). We couldn't shoot on location because they are too far and it wasn’t very convenient, so we decided to recreate the environments on stage in our studio garden, located in Morbegno, just one hour driving from Milan.

The week before the shooting we choose the clips to use an environment, to replace the blue back, then carefully waited for the correct position of the sun to match the highlights and shadows. We used only panels and reflectors to lit the scene.

We carefully recreated the garden among the sofa to match both the fragrances of the air freshener and the morphology of the territory of the background, so we had a set of plants and flowers for Sorrento, and another one for the Dolomites.

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NEW POLO TEST DRIVE

The last September we've organized a Test Drive for the launch of the new Volkswagen Polo at the safe driving circuit of Arese, Italy.

A selected group of enthusiasts had the opportunity to drive the new Polo with along with a VW manager. They tested the new technologies and the enhanced safety. We filmed their comments and reactions, especially the final surprise!

We equipped the car with a GoPro and a Sony a6500 for a close up of the driver’s face. We then had two RED digital cinema cameras and a Sony a7II placed around the circuit, following the new Polo.

The cameras were visible, we told the drivers that we wanted to film them to study their reaction and behavior, they didn’t know that they were testing the old Polo! The only hidden camera was the one used t broadcast the audio-video signal to our room.

The event was 100% real, so our experienced event producer Barbara cured every detail, from the welcome area the waiting gazebo, from safety to the catering.

At the end of the day some brave clients at the opportunity to be seated next to a professional Volkswagen driver pushing the limits, to test the safety technologies under the hood of the New Polo.

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BEES

Last week I had a quiet day, so I went out to visit my DoP friend Josef, who was busy preparing his one hundred percent organically grown bees for the winter. I took my Red camera and a Canon 180mm macro lens to get some 5k details. All wore up with beekeeping dress, only using natural light, I was able to shoot amazing details of their hard work.

Above and below some examples of a bee sucking up honey from the hive. I shot about a dozen of shot all sort of types and angles, with single or group of bees, then graded in DaVinci Resolve.

If you are interested to license the shots you can get them up to 4K resolution from my Shutterstock contributor account.

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THE BALLET

Last Christmas I teamed up with WÖA Creative Company Milan to make a video integrated with graphics that interacted with the performer during a live event in Milan. The dancer performed live on stage the same choreography we shot on a green screen the week before and enhanced with graphics.

   We shot on the new RED Dragon camera in 5k. The light set up was easy, as it’s pictured in the image below all the lights came from the top. We needed very diffuse light with almost no shadows to match the actual stage. 

Post production was done entirely in After Effects using particles with multiple emitters tracked on her body and video copilot 3D Element.

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ALFA ROMEO GIULIETTA: MAKING OFF

I recently wrote and directed an Alfa Romeo Giulietta commercial for the "Zooppa Giulietta Get going Contest", and we won the silver medal. We didn’t have much time because the deadline was just 5 days after I realized the contest even existed, but I’m happy with the result.

THE PROCESS

The brief given from Alfa Romeo was simple: Giulietta is not just a car but it’s also part of the driver’s personality. The idea was showing in Alfa Romeo style that the car it’s an extension of the driver, thanks to its seamless technology and natural driving experience. In the spot a charming driver (which is also our art director Simone), seats on a stool in the middle of a hangar and after he shuts and opens his eyes the car magically appears. I wish we had more time and resources to build up the car around him in VFX piece after piece, to enhance the fact that Giulietta is built around the driver, but it wasn’t possible, so we had to make it straight out of black. I think that the result was effective anyway.

When I read the brief I immediately did a research to understand the brand values, the car’s features and the communication strategy of Alfa Romeo. They use a lot of the color red, they even have a specific car paint, they are elegant, they have powerful sportive engines, they are also charming Italians.

First I collected some references and made a visual board that represented the mood, then I started to write the first draft, bearing in mind the tight production timeline (5 days) and the resources available. After finishing the subject I did some sketches and imagined a bit the story but I didn’t design a storyboard, it was more a list of the scenes I needed and I kept the rest to the shooting night. Because it wasn't a typical agency/client job I decided to let it flow a bit and see on stage what felt best for the film.

I spent one full day trying to find somebody that could lend me the car and a hangar for the shooting, figuring out the light setup, the crew, and other production details.

The hangar was unavailable and too bright during so we shot at night. I had a light scheme that I sketched based on some references that were different to the final setup only for the top light, that we decided not to use. We used a Joker Bug 800w which I love and a few Arri 1200w. We shot on RED Dragon camera with Canon cine prime lens, for most of the shots mounted on a DJI Ronin.

We prepared a few black and white animations in After Effects to project on the car to give more dynamism to the scenes.

Having shot everything in sequence the edit was quite fast. The music was composed specifically for the commercial to reflect Alfa Romeo’s spirit. Post production was fast and simple, we only had to clean some dirt, change the plate of the car and smooth some reflections. It was all done in After Effects. We graded the film in DaVinci Resolve trying to match as much as possible the official red of Giulietta used in the other adverts while keeping a bluish blockbuster look.

Everything was done in 5 days from brief to deliver, thanks to the help of my amazing crew. 

Here the film: http://watermelon.it/giulietta-enhance-yourself

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VICTOR

Testing my new RED DSMC2 camera and beloved Canon cine prime lens with my little son Victor, who’s staring at the light coming from the screen of my phone, as the only light source on him.

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PIXEL OF FURY, CANNES 2016

Last summer I was invited by Shutterstock to participate to the Pixel of Fury contest, taken place during the Cannes Lions on the terrace of the prestigious Palais des Festivals.

Pixels of Fury is a traveling graphic design competition that pits contestants against one another in a high‑speed challenge, cheered on by a live audience. 

We had just 20 minutes to design the packaging for a fictional brand of rose wine. I didn’t make it to the final but I was lucky enough to be one of the 6 contenders, below my artwork. 

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STUDIO GARDENING

Last summer I sowed on my studio’s balcony some herbs and vegetables. In the picture the almost ready to eat yummy cherry tomatoes, rocket salad, rosemary, sage and not in the picture parsley, mint and basil.

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CLIMBSYSTEM PHOTO SESSION

I recently did some photos in my studio of a set of downhill bikes for Climbsystem brand. They offer pedal assist so you can go uphill on your own, without asking a ride to a van.

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LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

My dad sent me this picture of me filming some boats in Genoa, Italy. I can't find the videos anymore but I remember us doing analog editing using the camera and the VCR... lovely.

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WINTER OLYMPICS

Last week we went to Moscow to shoot a video we are post-producing at the moment for the winter Olympics of Sochi. It was a quite fast and intense visit but skipping sleeping time we head out to see the Red Square and some restaurants and clubs in Moscow. Was kind of freezing but nice, -25 celsius. Was super fun! Can't wait to share the final product!

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LIVIGNO THE MOVIE

The dream team getting ready for some aerial shooting at 4k in RED. Everybody is fully insulated and me, on the right, forgot the snow pants and gloves... I've seen worst than that but I can't really say it was pleasant to stay hanged out of the helicopter at -10 celsius holding the camera.

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MEDIOLANUM

On stage in Venice, Italy reviewing the storyboards during the launch break. We shoot the 6th commercial for the Italian bank Mediolanum, soon online.

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THEO

Hello, here I am with my dad, I was born less than a month ago and he makes me work already... Daddy, I wanna play!!!