As part of our ongoing filming for The National Gallery’s forthcoming exhibition Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light, we were at the Alhambra in Granada to film some of the locations that inspired his paintings.
Sorrola’s Grave, Valencia
We were honoured to be allowed to film at the grave of Joaquin Sorolla in Valencia with the kind permission of his family and the assistance of the Ayuntamiento de Valencia and the Valencia film Office.
Using our Dana Dolly we were able to capture beautiful tracking shots while keeping our footprint to an absolute minimum.
Filming at the Museo del Prado, Madrid
Sometimes we really have to pinch ourselves. As part of our ongoing filming for The National Gallery’s Sorolla exhibition, we were lucky enough to film at one of the World’s most famous galleries, the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
We were also fortunate enough to be allowed to setup in the Velazquez room right opposite his masterpiece Las Meninas. We were there to interview Javier Barón Thaidigsmann, Director of 19th Century Paintings at the Prado and a renowned expert on Sorolla.
Madrid for The National Gallery’s Sorolla Exhibition Film
This March, The National Gallery will host ‘Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light’, the first UK exhibition of Spain’s Impressionist, Sorolla, in over a century.
Known as the ‘master of light’ for his iridescent canvases, this is a rare opportunity to see the most complete exhibition of Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida’s (1863–1923) paintings outside Spain.
From the vivid seascapes, garden views, and bather scenes for which he is most renowned, to portraits, landscapes and genre scenes of Spanish life, the exhibition features more than 60 works spanning Sorolla’s career – many of which are travelling from private collections and from afar.
NextShoot have been commissioned to produce a film to support the exhibition, detailing Sorolla’s life and times and some of his most notable works. This involves filming in Spain and America at numerous institutions and locations which were central to Sorolla’s work.
We started in Madrid, at Sorolla’s former house, which is now home to Museo Sorolla. As well as an incredible collection of his paintings, the museum also has a vast archive of photographs, letters and personal possessions.
The National Gallery Courtauld Impressionists
We’ve worked with The National Gallery in London over the last few years on various projects and were delighted to be asked back to film a series of short films for this Autumn’s blockbuster show ‘Courtauld Impressionists’ featuring works by Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin and many more.
For the first time in London for 70 years the National Gallery displays major Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterworks from the Courtauld Gallery, purchased in the 1920s by Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947). These will be shown alongside paintings from the National Gallery’s own collection which the businessman and philanthropist financed and helped acquire.
Building the London Mastaba
Christo’s monumental artwork The Mastaba graced the Serpentine in Hyde Park for the duration of the summer and certainly brought some colour and some debate to this idyllic corner of London.
We were filming the progress of the construction and were lucky to be there atop the sculpture as the last barrel went in. We won’t pretend there wasn’t some trepidation either in climbing up through the labyrinth of scaffolding that formed the structure’s interior, or tiptoeing across the welding joins on the barrels. The view, however, was splendid.
Behind the scenes with Mohamed Salah & NextShoot
Working with NEO Productions, a Cairo based advertising agency, we worked with Egyptian national-hero and PFA player of the year Mo Salah to film an anti-drugs advert on behalf of the Egyptian Government.
It was a freezing cold morning down by the Mersey but the crew of 80 or so were soon revived with a hearty breakfast courtesy of the wonderful people at Film Cuisine in Liverpool.
Our makeup artist and wardrobe folk were already busy with Mo Salah’s body double getting that famous haircut replicated but it wasn’t long before the real deal turned up and charmed us all with his energy and infectious smile. It really is of great credit to him that he gave so freely of his time, allowing us to get all the shots we needed.
Huge credit goes to the whole team up North for pulling it together, Faye for organising and managing things so brilliantly and the inimitable 1st AD Eddie Leader for keeping a smile on his face and everyone else in line.
Qatar Airways Aerial Filming
We were runway side and in the air to capture Qatar Airway’s inaugural flight to London Gatwick from Doha.
The stabilised C300 in the chopper got some amazing shots flying alongside the 787 Dreamliner as it touched down.
