An archive from all over the world

The reason I started using Avid was that it was the only system that could handle the large amount of data I collect in my documentaries.

- Loui Bernal

Making documentaries is as much about collecting and collating material as it is pure filmmaking. Swedish producer and director Loui Bernal works with production cycles sometimes lasting several years, making what he calls ‘human touch’ documentaries. His observational style of filming has produced vast amounts of footage over the years from various projects, which Bernal calls his “archive from all over the world”. Originally a musician, Bernal became a film photographer in the late 1980s and turned to filmmaking in the early 1990s when he and his wife and business partner, Karin, formed their own production company, Filmator. Since then Bernal has worked on numerous TV documentaries and corporate training films.

Shooting a documentary film can take a long time. One of Bernal’s recent projects has followed children from the age of 9 until the present day, as they are about to leave primary school aged 16. The finished project has been internationally awarded the Prix Jeunesse, but naturally behind the end product there is a huge amount of data. Bernal considers Avid to be the only solution that can handle this.

Getting started

After becoming disillusioned with music, particularly with the grind of setting up sound and lighting systems for each concert, Loui Bernal decided a change of direction was needed, and entered into formal education towards a filmmaking career. Bernal was a keen student and gained internships with filmmakers and TV stations throughout his studies, including Channel 2 in Sweden.

My advice to today's film students is to go through all the manuals. Read as much as you can and make sure you know more than the next guy.

- Loui Bernal

Years later, he is still passionate about that period in his life when he was on a steep learning curve, eager to make his mark by learning and reading as much as possible about the tools of the trade. He immersed himself in books and manuals about camera equipment, direction methods and editing techniques, and sought out opportunities where he could put theory into practice. As he puts it, “I read everything. I think it got to a stage where I ended up knowing more than the guy who was training me!” Bernal feels that today’s upcoming filmmakers are too keen to jump to the stage where they are shooting on glamorous locations, and become disillusioned when they realize there are no quick and easy shortcuts. “People have to learn the trade,” Bernal says. “This might put some people off, but my advice to today’s film students is to go through all the manuals. Read as much as you can and make sure you know more than the next guy.”

After staying with Channel 2 for a year or so, Bernal then worked as a freelance on an environmental programme which he concludes was ahead of its time, as it had very few viewers! During that early period he concentrated on photography and worked as a news gatherer in between documentaries, until finally getting involved with editing when he was offered a film project of his own, and subsequently founded Filmator. That first documentary focused on dominant people and set the template for much of Filmator's subsequent work, which has often looked at social or controversial issues.

Avid at home

Perhaps because of his early experiences as a musician being out on the road for long periods of time, Loui Bernal now prefers to work from home as much as possible, which is where Avid systems come into play. Editing on Avid Xpress Pro in his home studio in Stockholm, Bernal has built up his experience of the systems since first using Avid in 1994. He has relied on Avid systems for years to collate and edit the large amount of footage he shoots, evidence of which sits behind him on the floor-to-ceiling shelves of tapes and files. “Over the years I've worked with a number of different systems and I've worked with lots of different people with differing requirements,” Bernal comments. “The reason I started using Avid was that it was the only system that could handle the large amount of data I need to have access to when I edit.”

Over the years I’ve worked with a number of different systems and I’ve worked with lots of different people. I’ve always liked working on Avid Xpress, which is where I still am now.

- Loui Bernal

Documentary filmmaking is often a long, arduous process and the director needs the time and opportunity to capture the right material and create the images with which to tell the story. Depending on the nature, time scale and different aspects involved when filming some projects can require a crew of up to 20 people, as Bernal himself cannot oversee every aspect all the time. “Every project takes a lot of planning and is not done overnight,” he observes. “Making documentaries is a challenging combination of technical, psychological and aesthetic decisions.”

From surgery to supercars

A project Bernal has been working on for some time is the story of a young Swedish entrepreneur who has created a new super sports car, the Koenigsegg CCR, which is capable of reaching speeds of over 400 km/h. This car is now challenging the world’s biggest sports car manufacturers, and in 2005 Bernal was there to film a key moment in the car’s history, when Koenigsegg beat McLaren’s speed record in Italy. It’s an exciting project, about which Bernal is very enthusiastic despite the drawbacks that come with such a long-term project, such as trying to secure funding. But Bernal enjoys the challenges and the risks associated with this type of work. “I want to do my own documentaries and projects, do the work I want to do and really be a part of it,” he says. “It's very important to us that we're independent.”

It's very important to us that we're working for ourselves... I want to do independent documentaries and projects, and really be a part of it.

- Loui Bernal

Bernal does take on some corporate projects. These are mainly for the medical profession and are very often recordings of operations for teaching purposes. Despite the sight of blood and gore, Bernal found it easy to become engrossed in the work; on one occasion he pushed aside the surgeon to get a clear shot. “He was in my way and I had three cameras and I moved him aside! But he didn't mind. I didn't want to disturb the surgeon but sometimes you get really involved and focused on what you're trying to achieve,” says Bernal.

In the past Bernal has shot on Betacam but is now concentrating more on HDCAM and HDV. He feels that his “ideas and individuality” come as much from the audio on a film as from the images. In particular he prefers the MS (mid/side) technique for recording stereo, which uses two microphones to create a fuller “sound picture”. In post-production Bernal works with both Avid Xpress Pro and Digidesign Pro Tools on the same computer and sees the plug-in features of both systems as great benefits, claiming: “The best thing about Avid is its integration with Pro Tools. Avid and Digidesign is a good combination - it's a fantastic workflow.”

Avid and Pro Tools is a good combination - it's a fantastic workflow.

- Loui Bernal

Bernal is still passionate about his work and in search of new challenges. As technology moves on and the demand for material over new platforms increases, he has recently moved into web delivery, finding that non-linear systems can help in delivering the programmes. Although he continues to look at other, newer systems Bernal has not seen anything yet that will tempt him away from Avid. “The first time I tried to move material from Avid onto the web it was just trial and error, but it worked and we did it. I know I can rely on Avid for just about everything.”

* CREDIT: Photography courtesy of Alain Compost and Samboja Lestari