The Directors: Paloma Rincón

Currently based in Spain, Paloma Rincón is a Mexican-born director with a strong focus on visual storytelling. Her quirky style is marked by bold colours and graphic composition set builds, which give her tabletop and performance-based work a unique flavour that is purely Paloma.

Brands she has worked with in the U.S. and abroad include Absolut, Bombay Sapphire, Coca-Cola, Ford, Google, Heineken, Ikea, Michelob, Oreo, PlayStation, Schweppes, Sonos, Swatch, TJ Maxx, and Toyota, among many others.

Her photography has appeared in many of the world’s most prestigious publications, and her original works have been exhibited in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America.

Name: Paloma Rincón

Location: Madrid, Spain

Repped By: Sugarhi

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other, and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot?

Paloma> I get excited by scripts that include surprising narrative elements and allow for creative visual development. I enjoy creating worlds and situations that blend reality and fantasy in playful ways. I love playing with quirky characters in richly detailed and colourful settings with a touch of design.

For me, a script that sets apart from others is one that includes imaginative ways of telling a story that oscillates between the familiarity of everyday life and the unexpected.

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Paloma> Based on the agency brief and script, I like to carry out an initial phase of broad brainstorming where I allow ideas to flow without limits. From there, I start narrowing down those ideas and connecting them with the reality of the project. Once I have established a working direction, I get into a more organised phase to illustrate in a more specific way how I want to approach each part of the work.

I like my treatments to be very visual and give a clear idea of where I want to take the spot, part by part, covering all aspects to be addressed: starting with the overall tone of the piece, the direction of the characters, production design, cinematography, casting, wardrobe, makeup, product treatment if necessary, and any other aspect that can help me communicate my vision.

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Paloma> It is very important because at the end, it is all about communicating the client’s needs through and with the agency’s experience and vision from working together with the brand. Then, I’m the third piece of the puzzle. It’s all about all of us working together to have a final result that is beautiful but that also solves the client´s problem.

I usually do my research and also ask many questions to have a better idea and context about where we are coming from, who they are, what’s the product or service like and who is this directed to. Then I have a better understanding of where we are heading.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Paloma> It goes in two directions. The first direction points to the creatives. We need to be aligned in what we’re doing and work as a team. I like to create trust relationships during the entire process from the beginning. It is important to listen to all the comments, concerns and feedback to properly understand where they come from and the best approach to creating great results. It is all about getting the perfect balance as I understand they want to see how I can deal with their needs, but also what my ideas are to make it better from my vision and expertise.

The second direction points to the team. This means translating this vision to all key team members involved in bringing something to reality. If we’re all synchronised, we will have a smooth shoot and everyone will be motivated to do their best. When everybody is feeling good and understands why things are done a certain way, that’s when the best decisions are made, ideas flow better and problems are solved in the best direction.

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about - is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Paloma> I love creating colourful worlds where visual storytelling is a key element. I like to add a bit of fun and playfulness to my work through juxtapositions and a touch of surrealistic humour. I work on the characters, product, art direction, cinematography to all point at the same direction and create a bit of surprise through on set effects and visual games.

I always enjoy taking on new challenges and incorporating new elements into my storytelling and visual universe.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Paloma> I very frequently encounter people thinking a great part of my work is 3D because of the design touches and sleek finishes. In reality I create most of the actions and effects you see in my work in-camera. I am not against CGI and digital visual effects, and I am also happy to use them when needed, but I love the interactions of physical objects and I love the happy accidents that happen when doing effects on set. It’s quite counterintuitive but my work has both a sense of perfection and at the same time the imperfection of reality.

LBB> Have you ever worked with a cost consultant and if so how have your experiences been?

Paloma> Not directly but my producers have for some projects I’ve had in the past. Many big corporations use them and it really depends on how they approach the task. The idea of making budgets more efficient is not bad, but that requires a very deep understanding on every single part of the budget. When it is possible to cut costs in some of the budget items, and when will this result in a worse outcome? If the latter happens, in the end, the overall investment may no longer make sense if a quality product is not achieved.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

Paloma> Some time ago, while shooting a campaign for Sonos, we found that the direction we initially were following was not working.

We were shooting one of their Speakers surrounded by tridimensional brush strokes, created after many days of preproduction combining different paint techniques and materials. It was all approved but the results in camera were not the ones desired. There was a secondary element in the compositions which were high speed paint splashes that were delivering amazing results.

Client, agency, and the team all agreed that it was best to switch direction and we created a really stunning visual with a combination of paint splashes coming from everywhere around the product. High speed let us see something that the naked eye can’t see, with all the unexpected shapes and behaviour of shooting these paint interactions live.

We all were very pleased with the final result.

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Paloma> Mostly, it is a matter of good communication. I need to have a good understanding of the client’s/agency’s needs and how much I can further develop the idea. Every project is unique, and the expectations on how I can bring it to life in terms of creative freedom are also specific for each project.

There is also an essential part that consists of me convincingly conveying why I believe that my proposals will make the project grow. It is about finding the right balance of the creative part in the execution while getting the message across in the desired way.

At the end, it is all about listening to the other players, and finding the best solutions  for a result that makes us all happy.

LBB> What are your thoughts on opening up the production world to a more diverse pool of talent? Are you open to mentoring and apprenticeships on set?

Paloma> I was an intern myself at a studio when I started in the photography business and have also had students during apprenticeships. I truly believe that being able to see how things are done in a real production is the best way to learn and complete education. Although what they can do is quite limited. Basically, everything needs to happen very fast because of schedule limitations. Then, there is not much time to explain why things are done in a certain way. Anyway, just being able to see what happens is a great source of learning.

LBB> How do you feel the pandemic is going to influence the way you work into the longer term? Have you picked up new habits that you feel will stick around for a long time?

Paloma> Happily the pandemic is over and I don’t feel there are any specific habits that have stayed in my working routine. I’ve always done remote work because I have projects in different countries, so that’s not new. My feeling is that once the facemasks are gone everywhere, I don’t see anything else that reminds me what we’ve been through in the way I work.

LBB> Your work is now presented in so many different formats - to what extent do you keep each in mind while you're working (and, equally, to what degree is it possible to do so)?

Paloma> Formats have come to stay and many projects require multiple adaptations. As much as we don’t like it, this is reality. I try to think from the beginning in formats, I sometimes even sketch having them in mind and take them into account when choosing gear – for resolution and flexibility purposes. It also affects the set size and production design; it is not the same to cover a 16:9 frame or a 9:16. Then it is all about making decisions and establishing priorities; not everything will work in the same way for multiple formats and crops and it is important to know which will be the main one . But it is better to know it beforehand and find the right solutions, whether it is leaving extra space/bleed for crops, shooting some scenes twice and recomposing or relying on post production and layout. This way everything is thought through in advance and you don’t have last minute surprises.

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?

Paloma> New technologies offer many possibilities in a world and industry that has become very global. I mostly work abroad, and hardly ever in the country where I live, so I’m very used to working remotely with a team and developing projects through collaborative tools.

Technologically, everything is moving super fast, and the past year and half has sped up with the massive adoption of AI tools. I use AI for inspiration and creative development. Also, it can be helpful for treatments. I´m not sure where all this is going but definitely it is worth keeping our eyes open. We will start to see how more and more it will be part of different phases in a production.

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?

‘NTT Data: Diamonds’: In this campaign we created a simple and stylised world where the characters perform in an abstracted and iconic world. I love its whimsical nature combined with a touch of surrealistic humour.

‘Heineken Silver: Furry Smooth’: For the Heineken Silver campaign we created a realistic world where the action of the characters triggers a dreamy and playful visual universe where the idea of Smoothness is communicated through the Production Design through textures, colours and on set effects.

‘Michelob: Strawberry Watermelon’: The series of videos I shot for Michelob Ultra, which this one is part of, were a very exciting project to shoot where I had a lot of creative freedom. The agency/client asked to integrate their product in my visual universe including the fruity, fizzy, transparent and refreshing nature of the drink. It’s all live action playing with the product and the flavours using on set effects in a design driven world.

‘Earth's Own: Oat by Oat’: This is a mixed media project where we combined Stop Motion animation, live action and some line animation. It is a product based video, but it also communicates the benefits of the product and brand values in a conceptual and surprising way.