One look at Belgian director Lieven Van Baelen's reel reveals a helmer with a flair for making the fantastical fathomable. Repped by Czar in the US and in Belgium since 2002, and recently joining forces with France's La Pac, the 33-year-old is making a name for himself as a versatile visualist, equally comfortable with post-heavy productions (such as his recent car-as-transformer spots for Nissan "Spider" and "Crocodile") and evocative, edgy boards (Mobistar "Reverse").

He began nurturing his unerring eye via studies at RITS Film School in Brussels. Upon graduation, he took a job as a telecine operator at Brussels' Ace Digital House, promptly gained notice for his color grading prowess, and then moved behind the camera as a director of photography. But with his directorial debut, 1999's surreal short The Thread, Van Baelen's penchant for the peculiar, married to his unique visual perspective, made him a hot property on the European market. And with the Nissan work making waves internationally, North America's undoubtedly next.

Meanwhile, Van Baelen, currently working on a second series of Nissan spots for TBWA\Paris, is satisfied with his career trajectory thus far, and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to accelerate it into a stint helming Hollywood blockbusters. We chatted with him via email about what he likes most about the gig ("I like to travel," he says nonchalantly), his proudest moments in directing, and the age-old wisdom of going with your gut.

I'm just as passionate about camerawork as I am about directing. I arrive on each film set in either a DP or directing mode and I try to stay as much as possible within my domain. Very occasionally I do the camerawork for my own films. It's always been this way: my interest in photography was as great as my interest in directing. Leaving film school, I went to work in a post-production studio because I felt I hadn't gathered enough knowledge in this area at school. This is why I worked at one of the leading post companies in Belgium for three years. I saw this as a useful addition to my DP and directing work.

I have been fortunate enough to work with some internationally acclaimed directors [as a DP], such as Lionel Goldstein. I can't say I actually learned real tricks of the trade from them, but certainly insights. For example, you always have to be open to things that happen on set; you should be well prepared, but not afraid to change tack. And most of all: always trust your gut feeling.

[Directing The Thread] was a great experience: we went with a group of friends to South Africa. We were fresh out of film school with almost no experience, but plenty of nerve. Everyone worked for free. We rented a camera and bus and had ourselves a great time during and after the shoot that lasted seven days in the desert, close to Upington. Afterwards, the whole crew stayed on for a few days in Cape Town and we all went bungee jumping from a height of 218 meters... Aaahhh!

Usually, when shooting a short film you are accountable to no one. When filming a commercial, you're constantly accountable in order to keep the client reassured. You can shoot a short film relying on your gut feeling more than you can when doing a commercial. With commercials, lots of different people are constantly trying to assess the film. They test animatics to try and see how the film will eventually work. This removes a lot of creative freedom. But doing a commercial has one big advantage: you always [have] adequate resources with which to film it.

Among my favorite commercials I've directed are Heineken "H.E.L.L.O." [in which a space probe lands on a planet and transforms itself into a Heineken-stocked bar], Coca-Cola "4 Corners" and Nationale Nederlanden "No House". They all underwent heavy post-production but nevertheless look natural. I like adding realistic accents within a surrealistic concept.

[With the recent Nissan spots] the biggest problem was timing; we had very little preparation time. I believe that shooting and post-production should be well and closely coordinated. It's impossible to achieve high-end post-production results with badly shot footage. You can, however, end up with bad post-production of well-shot film. I like to talk with the post-production team on the shoot itself and try to find new solutions for post-production on location. I tend to give the post-production people I work with some space in the interest of the final result. Ultimately, the Mikros post-production team in Paris did a fantastic job.

I like stories that create their own sort of surrealistic world, where people do extraordinary things. I love creating a surrealistic world by means of post-production techniques. I'm also intrigued by human tragedy: drunks and outcasts.

I would [like to direct features], but not at any cost. It should happen naturally and not be forced. I'm not impatient either. I kind of live from day-to-day. We'll see what comes along.

Czar http://www.czar.com
La Pac http://www.pac.fr