Panavision meets director of photography Adrian Teijido, ABC, to speak about his work on "I’m Still Here", de Walter Salles

How did you become involved in the project ?
Adrian Teijido : I was recommended to Walter by Sergio Machado, the director, who was Walter’s assistant. Also, I had great support from Conspiração Films.

How would you describe the look of the project ?
Adrian Teijido : With Walter, we decided that the audience needed to believe in that family, so we shot I’m Still Here with a naturalist look made through subtraction, without embellishment or pyrotechnics.
The idea was to create an intimate atmosphere to transport the audience into this family house.

Were there any particular visual references you looked at for inspiration ?
Adrian Teijido : Walter gave me a book by Hammershoi, a Danish painter ; those images were vital references for how to shoot the house. As Walter says, it is a film about absences.

What drew you to the specific lenses you chose ?
Adrian Teijido : It was essential to feel the differences between the seventies and the 2000s. So, I shot the film’s first part with Panavision Primo lenses and Leitz Summilux for the second part. I wanted the 2000s to look clean and bright.

What brought you to Panavision for this project ?
Adrian Teijido : I grew up as a cinematographer in South America. I’m still here, and the opportunity to work with Panavision was a dream come true.

What inspired you to become a cinematographer ?
Adrian Teijido : Since childhood, I have been fascinated by photography. I used to have a black-and-white photo lab. We are visual storytellers. It is fascinating to generate emotions in the audience with the images we create.