In the framework of the festival Geek Picnic in Russia came Carlos Acevedo, Creator of special effects for the film “fast & furious 7” and the game “the Witcher 3”. He has already managed to visit the festival in Moscow and then came to St. Petersburg, where he shared with the EN-OPEN his impressions of Russia, spoke about the prejudices about our country and touched the Russian cinema.
Is this your first visit to Russia?
Yes.
– What do you think about Russia and Russian people?
– Honestly, I was surprised. Before coming here, I’ve heard a whole lot about the Russian. For example, that people in Russia are crazy – in the Internet, many of these videos. Actually, that’s not true. I have French friends who are afraid to go to Russia, then I think that people here drive on the tanks around the city. Of course, I’ll tell them what it is not. I was expecting to see a more limited, less free, more controlled country, and when I arrived, I was very surprised, because it really is a very cool open place, even compared to new York and Los Angeles. It’s really cool! My impressions much better than I could have expected. There are really very good people live, though I heard that all Russian – super serious people. My cousin said, “No, they are on the streets do not smile. And actually, there very friendly people. I have very good impressions of Russia.
– What do you think of Geek Picnic festival in Moscow? Notice the difference between Moscow and St. Petersburg?
– Places in General are different. In St. Petersburg at the festival all divided into separate sectors, and in Moscow it was one continuous space. Honestly, in General everything is done approximately at the same level. I haven’t had time to see everything here, but I like it. I can’t say which is better.
Some Russian films with special effects have you seen?
Someone asked me a similar question already. I just watched something, I mean, I actually saw some Russian movies. But I can’t remember the name. I can say that in Russia there are very good actors, with the best of them we work. Russian actors are paying attention to small details. It seems to me that Russia has good potential in the film, but you may not have a good budget for this. And that’s the problem.
– Rate the quality of special effects in the film?
– I watched these movies about 6 years ago and thought the quality is very high, it was similar to Hollywood films. But, of course, your manufacturers haven’t used so many special effects. I can tell you about animated movies and cartoons about. Then Hollywood sets the level, as animated films requires the largest of budgets. They need hundreds of millions of dollars, and can afford only in the United States, which produced the largest amount of cartoons.
Did you know that one of the first films with special effects was “the Battleship Potemkin”?
– No, what’s it about?
– About the revolution.
– No, I haven’t, but I will definitely look.
– Who of Russian Directors you think are outstanding?
– Honestly, I don’t know anyone from Russian Directors. If you ask me about Directors in other countries (not only Russia), I’ll have no one to call. I can only think of companies such as Disney, Sony and others.
– What can you wish to Russian cinema?
All I wish that the government supported the film in General and filmmaking in particular, because, unfortunately, this art is very expensive. If you want to make something cool, great, then you have to spend time and money. I do not know as in Russia, because I didn’t work here, but in Spain it is very hard. In Spain there are good Directors, but the films still don’t make enough money, and it’s sad.
