Austin Filmmaker / Musician Sergio Carvajal Talks About His Short Film “Los Ojos de Javier.”

Film: Los Ojos de Javier
Writer: Sergio Carvajal
Director: Sergio Carvajal
Location: Austin, Texas

Q: Where did you get the idea for the Los Ojos de Javier? Was it an original idea or based on a tale once told?

A: I suppose you could say it’s loosely based on “A Christmas Carol” in the sense of having three wisemen that come and teach the main character a lesson. The first wiseman is “the passive,” then the “active/aggressive,” and lastly “the unexpected.”

The rest I just made up.

Q: How did you get involved with the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities?

A: I guess, you could say that I never really got “involved” directly with them. The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD) has a little festival called Cinema Touching Disabilities; I think they have been doing it for a couple of years now. The problem with the festival is that it doesn’t look too appealing for the regular filmmaker. First, it’s really expensive to enter (since it is a collaboration/donation more than an entry fee), second it doesn’t really guarantee that much exposure, since nobody really knows about it, and third, it doesn’t have the most attractive prizes, if you weigh it against the cost of entry.

Q: Obviously none of that deterred you from making the film. Why?

A: I felt that this was a good opportunity to create something for a cause… something that if it was shown, could somewhat teach people at the screening that “Disability” really lies in the soul, and sometimes the people with true disabilities are the so-called “normal” people. I like to believe that art can always serve some type of purpose.

Q: Do you normally shoot your films in Spanish or was this decision based on something else?

A: Spanish is my first language; however, this film just needed to have it. If you pay attention to it, the story could also be seen as a story about a man/immigrant dealing with his loss of identity. That’s the reason why the last wiseman speaks English. The man/immigrant usually underestimates the American, thinks he has it all and doesn’t care about anyone but himself, yet it is the American who helps him remember who he really is. Yeah, it’s a story about loosing your eyes, but it’s also a social commentary targeted to the immigrant himself, saying “Okay…You are the one you can blame for forgetting who you are…no one else.” People have to learn to take responsibility for themselves.

Q: Who were your actors and crew?

A: Well, one of the other things I wanted to do with this short was make a film both about my friends and with my friends. Though, I obviously exaggerated their traits in order to fit a somewhat Fable/Charles Dickenish/3 Wiseman/ kind of structure, the entire cast and crew was made of my non-acting friends. They are, in no particular order, Travis Benn, a really talented kid who has worked with me on all of my shorts, my friend Javier Martos, and my brother Victor Carvajal. I also used another friend, Hunter Hill, who helped out as the homeless/driver, and my cousin Mickey Madrid.

Q: What did you shoot and edit on? Any likes or dislikes about the equipment?

A: We shot it with a JVC GY 100 and edited it on Final Cut. I also used Photoshop to do frame by frame animation while Travis used After Effects to finish compositing the eyes walking downtown.

In my opinion, the JVC GY 100 was a piece of crap. No offense meant to people who love it but I would never buy this model. The HDV post production flow was somewhat of a nightmare.

Q: What happened in post production?

A: I was lucky in that some very helpfuly people at the University of Texas gave me a hand figuring out how to deal with the JVC cameras’ incompatibility with Final Cut. I had to do some crazy “capture now” in order to get all the footage, and it would only capture take by take, droping the first and last 5 seconds of each take.

The lessons learned here: pre-roll, post roll…and either don’t use JVC cameras or just get a Post Production genius to help you out how to over come the JVC jinx!<laughs>

Q: There were several visual effects throughout the film…had you used them before?

A: No. It was my first attempt to do something like that. I was going for a simple, “old school” look and have mixed emotions about the outcome. Shots like the eyes walking required stop-motion mixed with compositing. It was pretty challenging for me. I think some effects worked better than others. I had to touch more than 5000 frames in Photoshop to get what I wanted (the eyes-TV, the Black and white people on color background, etc). It was all very time consuming to say the least.

Q: You talk about money and time constraints at the beginning of the film. Were you under pressure of a deadline? Could you have spent more time and money or was it just a personal decision?

A: Very much a personal decision based entirely on the fact that my ass is broke. We only had 50 bucks to make it, but I really wanted to make it…so we did! (We also have to thank Philip Goetz who gave us a sweet deal on the camera, otherwise it wouldn’t have happened.)

Q: You shoot several scenes on city streets in full traffic…how did you pull that off?

A: Basically, you round up your people, you talk about the scene, and you do it. I don’t know if it’s the most legal way to do it, but it’s how I like to do things…sometimes. It made for an amazing filmmaking experience. If you’re having a good time then I think that shows on the screen and we definitely had a good time.

Q: How long have you been making films?

I’ve been making films for almost two years now. I did a lot of music and visual work before moving into film. I probably would have made films earlier but I just never had access to a camera. The first time I ever spent more than 20 minutes with a camera was Fall 2006 and I absolutely loved it.

Q: Are you working on anything now? What’s next for Sergio Carvajal?

A: At the moment, I’m in San Francisco interning for the biggest founder of independent documentaries in the United States, Independent Television Service (ITVS). I’ll be doing that until August and then I’ll be working on three film projects, including my debut Long Play. (In both Austin and L.A.) My last short film “Lo que Daria Por Volver” will also be playing in some festivals this summer and fall.

Check out some Sergio Carvajal’s music at:
http://www.sonicbids.com/sergiocarvajal
http://www.myspace.com/sergiocarvajal

WATCH SERGIO CARVAJAL’S SHORT FILM “LOS OJOS DE JAVIER” BELOW: