Cinematographer Alexander Vatalev’s Grand Approach to Music Videos
Belief will take you very far, just ask Alexander Vatalev. The Russian born cinematographer has been the visual master for more than eighty music videos in his collaboration with director Boris Dedenev. Their creative partnership began in 2002 when they shot a low budget music video by an unknown artist purely for the sake of creative expression. Over the course of a week, a nearly unheard of length of time for filming such a production, the pair sculpted a piece of art whose acclaim reached across the planet and enticed Latin American producer Arturo Allen to bring his industry of Christian music videos to possess the striking visuals and expressiveness of that same video. This nearly decade long union has produced music videos which have repeatedly earned the highest recognition from the Latin American Christian ARPA Awards. The notion of Russian filmmakers creating incredibly popular productions for the Latin Christian community might not seem intuitive but the results are undeniable. Viewing these and understanding more about the process which manifested them instills the notion that there’s even more of a positive effect through international partnership than one might ever imagine.
It’s easy to see why Roberto Orellana’s music video for “Yo Tengo un Nuevo Amor” won the award for the Music Video of the Year – “Premios Nuestra Música Cristiana” and was nominated for “Premios Enlace Musical.” This majestic looking and sounding production is more of a short film than a music video. Dedicated to people who suffered for their faith and beliefs, it was shot in picturesque St. Petersburg. Orellana appears inside the plot of the story, interwoven into scenes with skilled camerawork courtesy of Vatalev in a manner that makes it completely impossible to separate the plot part from synchronous part of the singer.
María Del Sol “Llegó el Amor” which celebrates love and freedom was awarded Best Music Video of the Year at the 2003 ARPA Awards in addition to being nominated for a “Musical Enlace” Award. Also filmed in St. Petersburg, the remarkable natural beauty of the city during Spring is highlighted. The DP reveals, “This was one of the most planned out shoots I’ve ever been a part of. Because of the very limited daylight during this season in St. Pete’s, every scene was timed out to the second and we could work at each point for no longer than an hour. I certainly had to be able to capture what we needed without hesitation or issue. It’s a beautiful video and we worked very hard to get this.”
From the ARPA Best Music Video of the Year nominated “No Digas No” by Rene Gonzalez to Marcos Witt’s “Yo Te Busco”, the creative visual expressiveness of Alexander’s cinematography illuminates the truth that what makes for pleasing and emotive art is skill and vision rather than a massive budget. Mr. Vatalev has empowered the works of many artist, leading them to the awards podium. As the DP for Jonathan Settel’s “Amen” and Alex Campos’ “Sueño de Morir” (2005 and 2006 AARP Music Video of the Year Award–winners, consecutively), Alexander crafted true cinematic grandeur. “Amen” depicts a story on the theme of the life of Jesus Christ from birth to his resurrection. Shot on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the color scheme of brown starkly contrasts the white snow and ice illuminated in warm natural light with an almost metaphysical quality. “Sueño de Morir” also makes use of the snow and organic tundra to communicate the chilling occurrence of one soldier using another’s body to save his own life.
Consistently, year after year, Alexander Vatalev has been the cinematographer for AARP’s Music Video of the Year Award–Winners, including 2006’s “Me Estás Matando” by Funky and others.
To what does Alexander credit this astonishing streak of heralded production to in regards to his personal style and approach? He communicates, “As a creative professional, you need to be able to feel the music and have it pull something from within you on a personal level. Director Boris Dedenev and I always put our own ideas into each music video, which we did not take directly from the lyrics of the song but intuitively came up with an associative video sequence so that the video and music are connected by a bridge and a new work is obtained. The image must complement the musical series and not simply illustrate it. This has been important in every music video I’ve done and it necessitates the use of certain tricks. Each subsequent work I do is naturally based on the knowledge and skills and experience of previous music videos. Naturally, in each subsequent work I invest all the knowledge that I had accumulated before. Therefore, each creative opportunity allows me to build and grow. Naturally, I consider my last work to be my best and since I always give 100%, each new project is a compilation that makes use of all my previous work experience. Therefore, my most recent work for me is always the most beloved.”
Writer: Calvin Hooney
