An interview with Director Nathan Simich
The man behind Avalon Platform’s cinematic film
Good morning Nathan, how are you?
“Good morning man, I’m very well”
So let’s setup the scene, how would you describe this film to someone who is unaware of cryptocurrency or Avalon?
“The general idea behind the Avalon cinematic was to sort of educe the inclusive nature of our platform by depicting an isolated consumer pretty obviously frustrated by mounting costs of purchases. Then obviously taking a bit of a high concept turn in showing the grander benefits of a community in alignment with the futuristic city segment. Throughout the whole thing visually I wanted to insert as much Arthurian imagery as possible in keeping with the theme of the project hence the “Knight is Watching” billboard in the purchasing segment, the knight statue in the power house and the holographic and protector nights in the utopian segment.”
Interesting, can you elaborate on the Arthurian imagery? How does that tie into Avalon?
“Well Avalon itself is named after the mythical island of the same name where Excalibur was forged. Given the “round-table” theme throughout our concept it seemed very appropriate to go full ball with the whole Arthurian schtick. So the protectorate knights in the black room, the holographic knights, “the knight is watching” billboard, the framing of the powerhouse as a distant castle and the beacon statue are all there to sort of conjure up the general sentiment of an idealised and unified community. Having a thematic consistency throughout the cinematic helped a lot in keeping the differing aesthetics and jarring shift from the glum opening “reality” segment to the heightened aesthetic of the metropolitan segment nice and smooth.”
How would you describe your ideation process? Do you use storyboards or jump right into filming?
“I had a very loose outline of the general motivation of the sequences upon shooting but most of the filming was very improvisational. I’m an editor by trade so coming up with smooth ways to transition mostly on hard cuts and sound based purely on what was captured on camera was a fun challenge as I generally don’t like fades or transitions that call attention to themselves visually”
What kind of team did you assemble during this process? How do you choose actors or crew?
“I wrote (with concepts collaborated on with the team), shot, edited and completed the visual effects for the whole thing more or less so the only team present was the cast, most of whom were picked to represent a variety of demographics. The unnamed main character is a friend of mine who I’ve collaborated with previously and did very well given how much would be done in post. Having him in a near constant state of confusion worked quite nicely given the progression of the film. Also our knights were a lucky break, initially I planned on animating a 3D model for them but having a full set of replica armour was extremely helpful to keep things visually consistent.”
Amazing, how does one come across a full set of armor? Any nerves involved using a high-end borrowed prop?
“Luckily I came across a guy who just happened to be an enthusiast and had a period accurate plated steel suit of armour he’d ordered from Poland and he was nice enough to wear it for the shoot. Having him in it and present made things a lot less stressful because he knew what he was doing in terms of suiting up and the limits of his movement so it just came down to shooting it with the right blocking and lighting.”
What kind of equipment did you use during the shoot? Any interesting techniques for future filmmakers?
“We shot the cinematic on the Sony A7s with a Atomos Ninja Flame for a monitor/export module, primarily because of the beautiful images that can be pulled from the a7s on a guerrilla schedule and it’s high resistance to the effects of low light (something that was of utmost importance). We also had a green screen studio set up with some soft boxes for a lot of the VFX work but I wanted to keep things as in-camera as possible. As far as interesting techniques for other filmmakers, keeping things in camera even for VFX is always ideal and even in post utilizing as many real elements as possible is the best way for things to blend. Also using diegetic sound and matching imagery is always more effective than a transition that makes itself too apparent which comes down to knowing how you want to edit as you’re shooting.”
