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Mexico, Between Canopy and Coast
We spent just under two weeks filming at Four Seasons Naviva and Punta Mita on Mexico's Pacific coast. The two properties were close enough to share a trip, but working at each felt very different.
At Naviva, a walk with the chef took us into the garden. Elsewhere, the paths led between the tents, trees and ocean. We spent time watching how people moved through the property before deciding how to film it.
There was enough in those ordinary movements to work with. We wanted the films to leave time for a walk, a pause or a view to unfold. The team knew the place well, and following their lead helped us find a pace for the shoot.
The commission involved a collection of films across both properties. For Naviva, we kept coming back to the relationship between the tents and the vegetation around them. A building could be in the frame without becoming the whole subject.
That left space for food and the people looking after guests. These encounters were useful to us because they showed how a stay actually unfolds. They gave us scenes to follow through the day.
At Naviva, we could let a scene take its time.
At Punta Mita, we were moving between locations in golf carts loaded with equipment. The schedule covered the spa, the beach, family scenes and the Churro Cart. Each had its own people and practical demands, so the days moved quickly.
Aramara gave us a more concentrated setting. We stayed close to the preparation of the food and the chef's hands. Shot in 6K anamorphic, the restaurant film allowed us to spend time on those smaller actions within a busy resort production.
A restaurant gives you a sequence to follow: preparation, finishing and service. For the Aramara edit, we could work with that progression and let the food carry the film.
Looking through the material afterwards, we kept the two properties separate in the edit. The slower scenes at Naviva belonged to that stay. Punta Mita had the pace of the days we had spent moving through it.