The Women in Kassandra

Ramona Barcellos, the mother godess

In the role of productor, Ramona treated the team like a large family who should have confort. Besides the hours devoted to organization, as soon as the filming began she was started to cook, right there in the location, in order to lower the film’s cost.

By Roberto Coutinho (producer and sound engineer): "It is great to work with a woman like Ramona! She’s efficient, responsible, helpful and organized. She can keep a straight face while being extremely nice and sweet."
By Victor Fiuza (assistant director): "A producer I would love to work with many times. She has the attributes necessary for the production management and at the same time maintains a calm control."
By Ulysses da Motta Costa (Director): "When Ramona looks you with those eyes infinitely blue and asks you 'but will it work?', all you want is to do your job right so you’ll not disappoint the 'boss' ".

Ana Gusson, the amazon warrior

Ana never got tired whatever was the task. When she had finished her work, would immediately help someone else. Besides, of course, the additional aesthetic that she gave to the scenery and film visual as a whole.

By Roberto: "If you do not know Ana, your wasting time! Even tired and stressed, she always had a smile on her face. She’s never in a bad mood or bored. And to complete, she is the best art director I ever worked with! "
By Ulysses: "She has that cut way that only people no fear have: Anna is not afraid to hug you tight when sees you - and also not afraid to raise her voice up even to the director when needed ..."
By Maico Silveira (actor): "A sweet girl who is frightened by any ‘hi’".

Suzana Witt, our psyche

Susana always put the soul in work, even when it’s fast. She doesn’t mid the status of being an actress and involves rapidly in the middle of the crew, exercising the tranquility she expressed on the screen.

By Leandro Lefa (actor): "Susana has a enviable naturally, she seems to have years of experience with the camera. Best: It seems that neither had a camera there, only Susana doing her thing."
By Daniel Coutinho (film publicist): "Susana is an actress of great talent and also is a very dear person. It is a pleasure to work beside her. She’s competent in the set and a great company for a good chat and laugh behind the scenes ".

Marina Cardozo, all the muses in one

Kassandra’s script supervisor (who served as assistant director when needed) can do anything of artistic character. During breaks from filming, it was easy to see Marina painting in an Ipad or singing. She’s always making art – and always keeping the enthusiasm.

By Roberto: "Besides being a great partner to whatever silly plans (boring, stupid and clueless as they can be), Marina is the most versatile girl I know. Each time I discover a new talent: writer, dancer, painter, musician, director, actress, gourmet ... Is there anything that Marina do not know? "
By Daniel: "A girl committed to work and who is always in good humor. Marina is very spontaneous and fun. A company very dear in and off the movie set."

Isabela Boessio and Giulia De Cesero, the nymphs

If there was laughter echoing through the set (and sometimes outside it), everyone knew: it was the costume designers and makeup artists Isabela and Giulia. But beyond the laughter, there was dedication.

By Ulysses: "To have those two girls on the team made us all quite tranquil. We knew that we will not worry about the costumes. They do their job no matter if the world is falling. Besides, of course, they are beautiful and enjoy this crazy process that is to make a movie. "

By Chico Pereira (composer): "They give lots of laughter. That alone would be enough for everyone to like them. But, moreover, they are talented." 

Renata Stein, the persephone

Like the goddess of greek mythology, Renata lived in two worlds. Despite her cheerful disposition and sweetness, she was not afraid to dive into darkness to be able to give life (and fear and anxiety and anger) to Kassandra.

By Leandro Lefa: "Renata makes us feel small. You look at her and realize that she is thinking a million things and it seems that a whole universe will be created to complement her performance when one says ‘action’. I think it actually happens. "
By Victor: "Young actress, but with professionalism and devotion to the craft dormant, revealing an early maturity development, which therefore opens great expectations for her work."
By Chico: "A precious stone. She’s a little monster as a person and a huge monster as an actress. By ‘monster” I mean the best sense of the word. And these two Renatas do not seem to be the same person, which proves her talent for acting”.
By Maico: "A girl of few words when working. Because when she's not ..."

Shooting in black and white

The black and white photography always was one of the main ideas on Kassandra’s creation. We always imagined the movie with no colors. The image had to be thought in dark and light. So, the decisions of the cinematography, art direction, costume design and make up had to be different than usual.

Kassandra’s director of photography is Pablo Chasseraux (pic), a most wanted professional who works in several projects in advertising, TV and cinema – check his cinematography reel here. He used a Canon 5D and shooted in color to apply the black and white on the post-production. However, the scenes were monitored with no colors, so one could see the contrast between the light and the dark and if the image wasn’t too grayish.

Once the main worry was the light and dark, Pablo simply started to ignore the color temperature, which means that some of the shots had warm and cold lights mixed. In color, looks like a mess, but in black and white it’s all simply wonderful. Worried about the crazy colors on the camera, Pablo asked more than once to the director Ulisses da Motta Costa:

- Are you sure that’s gonna be in black and white? There’s a purple light here.

The costume designers Isabela Boessio e Giulia De Cesero also had their issues to solve. One of the characters, for example, had to wear a dark shirt in a certain moment. They got a navy shirt, hoping that it was good enough. At the camera, however, the navy looked like a light and lovable grey. A quick switch for the Daniel Coutinho’s, the adman, black shirt and the problem was gone.