00:00 Is it true that Rodrigo Prieto convinced Greta Gerwig to include the Mexican pink in Barbie?
00:05 Well, yes. Yes and no. I told her, "Hey, we have to include this pink color.
00:11 We have an infinite range of pinks in the movie. The Mexican pink has to be there."
00:16 Hi, friends of GQ. I'm Rodrigo Prieto.
00:24 I'm going to enter the Internet incognito.
00:26 This is Realmente Yo.
00:30 First, let's create some accounts.
00:32 How does Rodrigo Prieto approach the viewer from the perspective of the characters in a movie?
00:43 I think that's the most important part of my job.
00:46 How do I put the viewer in the perspective that the characters are experiencing this story?
00:52 What do they feel?
00:53 I try to color, let's say, to give a color to the grammatical moments of a story.
00:58 To make you feel a sensation as a viewer.
01:01 Is it true that Rodrigo Prieto convinced Greta Gerwig to include the Mexican pink in Barbie?
01:05 Well, yes. Yes and no.
01:08 I told her, "Hey, we have to include this pink color.
01:12 We have an infinite range of pinks in the movie. The Mexican pink has to be there."
01:16 And then they didn't know what the Mexican pink was.
01:20 I took examples on the Internet.
01:23 I saw this and the production designer, Sarah Greenwood, told me, "We do have it."
01:28 So, in a way, we do talk about it and it's in the movie.
01:33 But it wasn't that they added it more than I had already thought.
01:36 But it's there. It's present.
01:39 How to choose between natural or artificial light?
01:41 Lighting has many objectives.
01:43 One is, the main one, is the creation of atmosphere, sensations.
01:47 And the second is continuity.
01:49 In movies, it takes a long time to create a scene.
01:54 Light changes in life.
01:55 As we know, the sun moves.
01:57 We have to create the illusion of continuity.
01:59 So, artificial lighting is used for that.
02:02 For example, in this case, "Killers of the Flower Moon,"
02:05 you feel like you're in Oklahoma and it's the light of the sun that comes through the window.
02:11 But it's artificial.
02:14 It's something I like to use.
02:16 Or, at least, to be inspired by natural light.
02:19 What has been the most difficult challenge for you in the making of a movie?
02:23 In every movie, there are challenges.
02:25 But I remember, for example, in "The Irishman,"
02:28 there was a moment where there was a very intense snow storm.
02:31 We were filming in a cut.
02:33 We were on the fifth or sixth floor, a very high place.
02:36 And I had some cranes.
02:37 So, the storm was such that we couldn't get on the cranes.
02:40 There was no way to light the windows.
02:43 So, I changed the idea of the light in the scene.
02:47 And I said, "Well, let's make it a night scene."
02:50 So, it was even better.
02:52 So, a lot of times, those challenges force you to find solutions
02:56 that sometimes turn out better than that infinity of things.
02:59 But, well, that's just an example.
03:01 How has the process of incorporating new technologies in your work been?
03:04 Well, it's constant.
03:05 The photography work is intimately related to technology.
03:11 I'm not, honestly, a very technological person.
03:14 All the time, I'm trying to renew myself
03:17 and to always learn and apply new technologies.
03:20 Even in movies like "The Moon Slayers,"
03:23 where that time, obviously, happens in the '20s,
03:27 I applied robotic lighting technologies,
03:30 or LED, or drones, or all kinds of things,
03:34 film cameras, digital cameras,
03:36 a combination of old technologies, new technologies,
03:40 to achieve what's on screen.
03:42 A memorable moment between Rodrigo Prieto and Martin Scorsese?
03:45 Well, yes, many, many memorable moments.
03:47 One that I remember fondly?
03:49 A photo shoot that we shared.
03:54 We both went out in a photo for the cover of a magazine.
03:57 The magazine "Time," which was like...
04:00 At the beginning, that was already spectacular.
04:02 Why does Rodrigo Prieto use up to three cameras simultaneously to film a scene?
04:06 There are times, and there are scenes, where we film with two or three cameras.
04:10 And with Scorsese, that happens a lot.
04:12 We film, in fact, many of the actors' dialogues simultaneously,
04:15 with two cameras, one in each actor.
04:18 And it's a big challenge.
04:19 To light, it's not easy at all.
04:21 What's the anecdote that people don't know about the filming of "Amores Perros"?
04:25 When we film the accident, the crash,
04:28 in this case, we film with nine cameras,
04:30 to capture several different angles of the moment of the crash,
04:33 which we only had one chance to do.
04:36 But one of them was in a trash can.
04:38 At that time, it was negative for cinema, it wasn't digital cameras.
04:41 So, to see through the frame, I had to get into the can.
04:45 But there was so much going on that people were always blocking the frame,
04:49 and they thought it was a trash can.
04:50 No one was worried about not obstructing.
04:52 And time was passing, and it was getting dark,
04:54 and I was a little stressed.
04:56 And, well, there came a time when I exploded, in a spectacular way, as they tell me.
05:01 And I screamed like crazy,
05:03 that they should get out of the frame.
05:04 I said several stuttering words,
05:06 so that people would get out of the frame.
05:08 Suddenly, there was no one in the frame.
05:11 And, well, I calmed down.
05:12 Thank you very much.
05:13 Thank you very much.
05:14 Well, that would be an anecdote for "Amores Perros".
05:16 How does Rodrigo choose the format of a film,
05:19 and why does he sometimes combine them as a mixture?
05:21 It's true that there are several films where I've done this combination of formats or textures.
05:28 And sometimes, I even change the frame.
05:31 If they are stories that happen in different places, or different characters,
05:37 I try to give a personality to each story or each character.
05:40 So, in the end, each film has its own thing,
05:43 and I like to play with that,
05:46 with things that you don't realize as a viewer,
05:49 but there's something that needs to be changed with each character or each story.
05:53 What does Rodrigo Prieto mean by doing subjective cinematography?
05:57 I'm thinking of "The Moon Settlers".
06:00 There's a moment in the film where there's an intentional fire,
06:06 but we visually represent that fire as a bit exaggerated,
06:13 as if it were hell.
06:14 It reaches one of the characters, who is Ernest Burkhardt,
06:18 who is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
06:20 He's in a totally different place, he's far away, he's in the village,
06:23 he's not near this ranch.
06:25 However, we brought the lighting, like fire,
06:28 to his scenes at that moment, even inside a room.
06:33 And it's subjective.
06:35 He feels in a moment of conflict so big,
06:39 that it's as if hell itself was there, present in him.
06:42 That's what subjective cinematography is.
06:45 What does Rodrigo Prieto do once he reads the script of the film that he's going to direct?
06:49 Well, the first thing I do when I read a script,
06:52 is that I try to read it as if it were a novel.
06:55 I try to feel it,
06:57 so as not to create an image in my head that may not be what the director wants.
07:04 The next step is to talk to the director and understand what the vision is,
07:09 and listen.
07:10 Once I've interpreted what the director is telling me or asking me,
07:16 I do a second reading,
07:18 where I'm more focused on seeing what images I get.
07:22 And then I do a visual investigation.
07:25 I start looking for photography books, especially art, whatever,
07:30 where there may be visual references that I can show the director.
07:33 And the conversation begins,
07:35 more specifically, on how we're going to resolve each scene visually.
07:38 What was the most difficult scene to film in the movie Alexander, by Oliver Stone?
07:42 It's a battle that takes place in India.
07:45 Talking to Oliver Stone in the preparation,
07:47 we talked about the realism we wanted in the battles,
07:50 and the intensity we wanted the viewer to feel
07:53 when they're physically in a battle at that time.
07:57 I remember that I wanted to do an exploration in infrared,
08:02 in negative, in color,
08:04 which is very unusual, especially at that time.
08:07 Of course, the producers and the studio were very against it,
08:11 because they thought it was very risky.
08:13 But I was very happy.
08:14 When I saw the dailies, I remember it was a very special moment for me.
08:17 It's a very particular moment in this movie.
08:23 What has it been like for you to direct and photograph such an iconic and relevant work?
08:27 For Mexico, like Pedro Páramo.
08:28 Yes, it has been tremendous.
08:31 I'm just finishing the editing,
08:34 and there's still a whole process of visual effects and sound mixing.
08:37 But I think the main challenge is that you're dealing with
08:41 the most transcendental works of universal literature.
08:44 For now, what matters to me is that I've put all my heart into making this movie,
08:49 and it will depend on you, the viewers.
08:52 Where do you get your inspiration to pose the image of a movie?
08:57 From many places.
08:58 Inspiration is life itself.
09:00 I have a collection of books by photographers.
09:03 I just start looking at images, images, and suddenly an image comes to mind.
09:07 I thought of Barbie. There's a scene near the end,
09:11 a space that's like a kind of sky.
09:14 We filmed in London, all the interiors,
09:16 and there was an exhibition by Turner.
09:19 I took a lot of pictures of various paintings.
09:21 Mr. Greta liked the idea.
09:23 We created an animation that was projected on a giant screen,
09:29 which was the background of the set.
09:32 It would be hard to imagine that it was a reference for Barbie, but it was.
09:35 Well, it looks like there are no more questions.
09:38 I want to thank GQ for joining me in "Realmente Yo,"
09:42 which has been a beautiful journey to share.
09:45 If you want more content like this, you just have to click up here.
09:50 [music]
