During a trip to London, an idea emerged during a meeting with Marco Cappati of Fowa: to develop a series of DZO lenses (based on the Arles T1.4 VV/FF lenses) in collaboration with Collettivo Chiaroscuro. This led to an invitation to China for the Collettivo and a sponsored trip by Godox for a delegation of five members, all part of the board: Timoty Aliprandi, Alessandro Chiodo, Luca Ciuti, Stefano Paradiso, and Sara Purgatorio. The lens development project came to fruition as part of a broader exchange with the companies Dzofilm, Godox, SmallRig and Vaxis. Beyond the technical and professional enrichment, the experience proved to be an important human journey. We are publishing the reflections on this trip from each of the five CCS “envoys”.
Read also:
Alessandro Chiodo CCS, Designing the Character of a Lens
Luca Ciuti CCS, Breaking Down Prejudices
Stefano Paradiso, Dzofilm, Godox, SmallRig e Vaxis
Sara Purgatorio CCS, A Country That Listens
There were many impressions that our trip to China left me with. Although we only spent a few days there, all of them in the city of Shenzhen, it felt as though time and space had lost their usual contours, filling our days with new and unforgettable experiences. Shenzhen took me by surprise: I had previously had the pleasure of visiting Beijing, but on this trip I discovered a different side of China. Perhaps it’s because Shenzhen is a young city, with a forward-looking vision of change. It presents itself as a place very different from the capital. It was born out of a need for development that grows upwards and at speed, driven by technology, but it’s clear that this development has not lost sight of the human scale, and the necessary balance between the individual and the urban environment. The invitation that brought a group of Collettivo Chiaroscuro members there included meetings with various brands in the field of cinematographic equipment. What I greatly appreciated, alongside the warm welcome, was the constant display of interest in us, which led to a productive exchange. This, in turn, made me even more aware of the current situation in our own country – the fact that in Italy, creativity, which is both beauty and the wellspring of our work, is too often undermined by incomprehensible laws that show no regard for the soul of our profession. More often than not, creativity and the pursuit of beauty are diminished in favour of a “practical approach”, focused above all on economic convenience and production interests, thereby sacrificing the potential for quality – which is, in truth, what makes us competitive on the international stage.
Photo Alessandro Chiodo
I was therefore struck by how a country so distant from us, both geographically and culturally, was genuinely interested in listening to and welcoming our point of view. The people we met understood how empirical our profession is, and how much it is enriched by the experiences we live on set every day. That’s what makes it so special – constantly evolving, with virtually limitless potential. At a time in history when the value of opinion and artistic expression is being undermined by politics that continually sabotage dialogue, being invited to share our perspective – and to be truly heard – was something remarkable. This attention renewed my belief in the value of our craft, a craft that knows no geographical boundaries, but rather thrives on every viewpoint it encounters. Indeed, this openness defines our role and, at the same time, highlights the technological progress we need to continue pursuing.
I hope this initiative will have a follow-up, and I believe that Collettivo Chiaroscuro, as an association, should seek to grow through opportunities of this kind – involving the brands we collaborate with and extending our research and curiosity beyond national borders. I truly hope that initiatives like this can lay the groundwork for shared paths in understanding the needs of our profession, with us, too, showing a strong capacity for openness and hospitality towards others.
