naviquan

This is a short movie about Madrid, a traditional and at the same time modern city, the capital of Spain. There is no special idea behind this film; it does not pretend to provide any guidance or tips for tourists or show even its most well-known attractions. We like to explore places here we go on feet walking streets, visiting places that often are missing from most tourist books, talking to people and looking around in an attempt to do our best in understanding the essence of the place.

This seven and a half minute film reflects our approach - think about it as a montage, a kaleidoscope, a stream of things as we perceive them and as they go through our consciousness. From this perspective, we could call it "Madrid as We Saw It." However, while editing clips into the timeline, I noticed that those I selected were shot almost entirely during one weekend. Accidentally or not - I do not know. I will say though that there is no way to see Madrid in just two days. It's too big and filled with so many things that two days - oh, give me a break!

It could be that weekends in Madrid (and for that matter in other Spanish cities) are especially joyful and relaxing with lots of people on streets and what seems often to be never ending celebration (even during difficult economic times as they are now in summer 2012). Again, I do not know, but that explains the title of the film "A Weekend in Madrid."

Perhaps the only thing I want to mention about places that appear in the film is that most of them are located in the classic Madrid's tourist circle with the center at Puerta del Sol and limited by Palacio Real, Calle Gran Via, Paseo del Prado and La Latino quarters (respectively western, northern, eastern and southern parts of the area).

For those interested in the photographic part of the film: it was shot entirely hand-held with a tiny P&S camera, Canon PowerShot SX230 (both, video and stills). No support, no external mics, no rigs! Yes, you can see (and hear) many problems in my shooting. But, I felt good and liberated. The film was edited in FCP X. There is almost no color correction; in fact, the only thing I've done consistently was adding stabilization to all clips. We also had to tweak audio a bit preferring the natural street sounds of such bustling city as Madrid.