De Orbe has recently directed commercials for VW, Liberto Jeans, Reparalia, Häagen Dazs, Retevision and a PSA for UNICEF's Tribal Survival campaign.

De Orbe first delved into the style he calls neo-realism when he and a group of friends including Carlos Pérez Ferré co-produced and directed the Spanish feature "Héctor" in 1986. The film tells the story of a shepherd who resists moving to the city during the heavy urbanization taking place in 1950s and '60s Spain. After the film, he studied and graduated from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He soon moved into spots and for a time directed commercials contrary in style to his own tastes.

"The Spanish market didn't allow a director to do just one style until six or seven years ago," says De Orbe. "I then decided to go back to my roots, doing neo-realism in commercials. This brought me back into storytelling and also working with people from the streets, sometimes actors, sometimes people from big castings in the streets. I try to see what happens in real life and translate this to commercials."

Describing European neo-realism as "a big fountain to drink from in terms of creativity and ideas," De Orbe prefers simpler ideas, inclined towards realistic reflections of society. This, he believes, is what contemporary audiences want to see.

"The audience is expecting to see realistic, believable things. The so-called beautiful dream of the '80s and '90s is over," he says. "I am trying to break this idealistic commercial style. Consumers want to buy ideas more than products, so we must link stories through ideas."

"Survival," a 60-second PSA for Tribal Survival out of Tiempo BBDO, highlights the plight of native people in Canada. A native man lingers on the corner of a tall building, ready to jump, above a crowd below on the street. Gradually, we hear they are in fact encouraging the man to jump, harshly alluding to the realities lurking beneath the glossed-over surface of the treatment of aboriginal peoples.

"It shows both sides of the coin. At the beginning you see a situation that is helpful, but if you listen to the subtext you hear the truth," says De Orbe.

"This comes back to what we are doing in advertising, it must be more linked to reality. We can't oversell the product or try to be too serious."

This spot, filmed in Bucharest, Romania, deals with far-flung problems, while a spot for Retevision deals with the world becoming a smaller place. The spot tensely builds up a life or death situation in a hospital operating room until ultimately we see it is not a patient but a Spanish peseta whose pulse is fading. Retevision then offers cheap long-distance in the final days before the Euro becomes Spain's currency by the beginning of 2002. Filmed in feature film quality, De Orbe applied his own aesthetics to the client's trademark visual branding.

"The visuals of the client are a little bit futuristic, [but] this is not my style. I tried to create an atmosphere avoiding funny comedy. I tried to break down these 15 seconds in real time and dissect the moment like a surgeon," he says. "Every step was measured and cut with continuity. I played with the time concept by not making transitions."

Del Orbe works through Madrid & Barcelona-based Director's Gallery.

Contact> directorsgallery@directorsgallery.net