A sea filled with longings at ITABO´s safe port

By Darelia Díaz Borrero.

Translated by Amauris Betancourt Gómez.

Alex Gainza. Art and Postproduction Director

He ran onto the audiovisual world by mere chance, because he always felt most attracted by sailoring. He even got to set sails on oceans after graduating as an energy naval engineer. But life´s waves took him to graphic production on the small screen. Then he became a TV-editor, a specialty that turned a love relationship for 15 years already.

Alex Gainza Morales -a man of few but accurate words, a difficult interviewee- doesn´t like talking about himself. He prefers rather his work to speak for him. His audiovisual work has been intense and fruitful since he became a special effect and graphic designer for Cuba´s didactic TV channel “Canal educativo” in 2004. He went on and became, three years later, a news program editor at CNC TV, the local TV station in the province of Granma, where he still works.

This editor, for about a year now, besides his work responsibilities with the aforementioned local channel, devotes himself too to ITABO Producciones (IPs), an audiovisual project that has allowed him to give free reins to his ideas and longings as a creator.

“When one devotes himself to creation, a given inconformity keeps you always company because you think you haven´t reached enough. That’s why you look for other ways to please your thirst of self-realization. I run into IPs precisely in that quest, or somehow rather when, by coincidence, other members of the forming group asked me to join in.  It happens to come into being in the very moment that the country begins to regulate this type of self-employed initiative. I liked the idea and I decided taking part on it, motivated by expectations and by the people that eventually would make up the team”.

He puts it this way how he became a member. Gainza, with a degree in Social Communication too, runs ITABO´s Art Direction and Postproduction, a project which is already bearing fruits.

How would you define ITABO´s esthetic guidelines?

“ITABO focused first on advertisement, in a rather formal production, without overlooking TV or video-filming codes. The project defines very well the creative work outlines from the most recent recreating trends of our reality including too more artistic audiovisual genres. In fact, we have already produced some video- clips with good public acceptance”.

What elements did you take into account to design ITABO´s logo?

“ITABO´s visual identity was a collective work: It took several days as well as contributions from every team member. We wanted to find a name linked to our roots, defining our goals and that could clearly reveal where we were from. Looking for that combination, “Itabo” sounded perfect: a “land surrounded by water”, a word of Arawak origin presumably. The term seemed appropriate to us and then the visual part started off”.

“AGHATA was the font used, a typography with less symmetric features and not that straight, rather rustic in order to go with the word source used to name ITABO after. The spiral has to do with a symbol of ancient cultures, a figure to describe life cycle: birth, death and rebirth. The sun used to be represented like a spiral too since it is born in the morning, dies in the evening and is reborn on the following day. Another meaning taken into consideration was the sense of stamina, growth and positiveness.  The construction of this symbol per se denotes increasing sequence because there is no stop in the very center, and right there the eye figure to suggest that everything turns around visuality”.

What does it mean to you professionally to belong in a project like this?

“I feel lucky to be able to do what I enjoy the most; that comes first. And this project keeps me busy most of the day since work is not a thing of working hours by itself; it is rather part of the day and night. It happens to me that when I ride my bicycle, I think at the same time about how I can solve some production challenges. The forms and movements out of every composition take some sleep away from me. Logically, the whole thing pushes you constantly to study the new know-how trends and to be updated about the latest software. I tell you for sure that that is really very enriching”.

Is the creative process difficult?

“It is no less beautiful as it is complicated. Many factors attend the process of creation in the same way it is affected by quite a lot more. You need time to consider how the goal will be achieved and how you can make it at the same time attractive. You have to keep a cool mind when working hard which is difficult; that´s why assignments are to be done as a team where everybody contributes out of his or her experience and vision about the topic”.

Do you assume edition and postproduction as a unipersonal process?

“No at all, the fact I put my fingers on the post-production technology doesn´t mean I do the whole thing. I repeat myself: it is all a team work; everybody has to take part in every production stage, in the same way others do, I do it too.

You have specialized in editing, but you have also played a cameraman's role.  How do you define yourself, an editor or a jack-of-all-trade when it comes to photography and editing? That is versatile.

“Undeniably, editing helps get a wider and more extensive vision in comparison with other TV specialties. They all end up there, to give the work its finishing touch. However, my specialty is edition and the rest I do, I just follow pieces of advice from specialists in the matter. At ITABO Producciones we have done a piece of everything for work to flow efficiently. I would say I am not the only Jack-of-all-trade. We all are”.

Which has been your favorite assignment for ITABO so far, the one that makes you proud?

“I enjoy all of them, but there is always a favorite. I fall in love with every one of them but each one leaves always a sense of nonconformity because something specific could be better. This happens to me constantly; however, there is one I remember very well and it is the one I felt the most satisfied with. It was CALISUR's corporate video. It was a challenge because we were really pressed on time and there were a lot of complicated graphic compositions. We made it though, above all difficulties”.

Which is, in your opinion, ITABO´s brand?

“ITABO Producciones stands out, above all, for seriousness in each engagement, and for respect to all customers. We take into account clients´ vision or conception about a product as well as ours to make both ends meet. We have been able to keep an aesthetic line that identifies us in every one of our productions. Something else achieved -and I believe it has to do with our results- is unity among team members. We trust each other. We like each other and defend ourselves as a family”.

ITABO bets on updated technique in audiovisual production.  What does it mean working with front-line technology like 4k format?

“I believe being updated is vital to meet the ever-growing clients´ requirements. ITABO has the challenge to keep up to it. The audiovisual world depends heavily on technological development. That´s why we try to use the latest hardware and software whenever we can. As everybody knows that turns out very difficult in Cuba for many reasons. But we take it over as a challenge to go forward and to make the most of it with a creative solution to problems”.

As an editor how do you keep faithful to ITABO´s slogan “Your identity in images”?

“This has to do with respect to every client’s identity, with sticking to vision and structure from beginning to end to reach harmony in keeping with our identity. That demands creativity and constant study as well as intellectual training”.

Out of the different ITABO´s products (institutional videos, promotional spots, TV programs...). Which one do you enjoy the most as a creator?

“Let me tell you that you leave some of them out. We have had the opportunity to do other audiovisual and media genres. But I confess, -and I hope this won´t get me in trouble with the team (he laughed) because everybody has favorites- I enjoy spots the most. Spots aim at synthesizing communicative objectives in a very short time on the screen and achieving it in a creative way without giving in to the temptation of overwhelming with dissociative elements for the sake of the message. It must get full attention from beginning to end”.

A tireless awareness for knowledge and know-how moves this restless producer who is deeply in love with edition. Ideas rush in his mind in a crazy race against the clock that he would need days with over 24 hours to give them the right place, to shape them, and above all, to turn them into an audiovisual product.

A coffee addict and baseball fan, he loves reading too as well as listening to music and, of course, watching Discovery channel documentaries. Gainza likes being direct because he prefers to reach ideas´ core boldly. He always thinks that works could be better. Perhaps that quest for perfection that lives in him, a “Gainza's blessed habit”, paves the way for his creativity to back up ITABO´s brand.