Crafting Emotional Authenticity: Roman Jiang’s Handheld Approach with TLS VEGA in Viva la Vida

Pic. Roman Jiang on the set of his recent production with TLS rehoused Mamiya.

Roman Jiang, a raising star in Chinese Cinematography, who has graduated from Chapman University, shared with us some of his experiences in choosing the TLS VEGA lenses from Ko Film Rental for his recent film Viva LA Vida, which was nominated for Best Film and Best Screenplay at the 2024 Changchun Film Festival and won the 2024 Weibo Award for Word-of-mouth Movie of the Year

“The film Viva la Vida is adapted from a true story about two young people who, both suffering from serious illnesses, get married not out of love, but as a means of emotional healing. Eventually, they find happiness in each other. From the moment I started reading the script, my instinct was to use a handheld camera, following the actor and actress closely and persistently.

I wanted the audience to deeply connect with the characters’ lives, while keeping a modern and realistic visual style. The most important aspect for me was to keep the camera and lens lightweight to ensure flexibility

I consulted LU, the founder and manager of KO Film Rental, and he highly recommended the VEGA lens to me, praising its compact design and high optical quality.

During our camera and lens tests, we compared several lenses on the ARRI 35 and reviewed the footage side by side in post-production. It quickly became clear that the VEGA lens struck the perfect balance between sharpness and smooth bokeh. Unlike other vintage lenses, the VEGA lens offers a modern, clean aesthetic, which aligned perfectly with the visual tone I wanted for the film.

"The perfect balance between sharpness and smooth bokeh"

Roman Jiang DoP

I was very pleased with the results we achieved with the VEGA lens. The real locations we shot in turned out to be more confined and challenging in terms of lighting than we had initially anticipated. We wanted to preserve the authenticity of each location’s atmosphere, so we relied heavily on practical lighting. Influenced by Dogma 95 principles, our goal was to keep the lighting setup minimal, allowing the actors to move freely and naturally.

Similarly, the handheld camera work was essential to this approach. Thanks to the compact and lightweight VEGA lens, the operator and I were able to move quickly and capture the actors' emotions without compromising image quality."

You can find out more about Roman Jiang's productions on his website (https://www.romandp.com/) or his Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/romanj.dp/).