Daily shooting diary - DAY 5. WANTED: MAKE UP ARTIST

Today is the infamous and eagerly anticipated bathhouse scene.  At our usual call time of 9 am, the entire crew, extras included, meet up at the Galilea spa. I overslept a little (just a tad) and arrived a little later. When I arrived, I found that the all mighty Babeth had already applied full body make-up to all of the actors; that Ivan couldn’t make it, and that one of the make-up artists had a family emergency and we weren’t even sure if she’d be able to make it at all today, or if we’d have anyone taking care of the touch ups later on during the day. While we tried to get all of that situated, Rafa sat nearby, quietly reading a newspaper, somewhat oblivious to the chaos around, and naked as the day he was born except for the tiniest of towels draped around his midsection.  The rest of the sauna was a buzz with extras.

Weeks earlier, we’d held a casting call for the extras alone. The scene needed to be well orchestrated, and we wanted to make sure we not only had those with the best attributes, but also those with the best skill asset to pull the whole thing off convincingly, one might say. Alberto, Txus, Pedro Andrés, Manuel, and Juan Carlos, amongst a few others, were the ones that best met the “demands” of the scene. They’d need to be in the Jacuzzi or walking around the spa without any inhibitions, so as to best capture the authenticity of the bathhouse experience. And if we had a little gratuitous exhibitionism as they strolled the hallways, far be it from us to stifle artistic interpretation.

Raul was still a bit nervous and unsure of himself being cast as IVÁN’s bathhouse hook up, which showed a bit of his modesty. Giuseppe and Babeth gave him a nice pep talk and we began rolling. It was also the first time that many of us had ever been in a bathhouse to begin with (Marcelo and Giorgio weren’t really sure what to make of all it), but the most interesting aspect of it all was watching Milca and Babeth, two lesbians, in the middle of all that swinging dick, glory hole and condoms. We wondered if there were any bathhouses for women, or if it would even be a good business to get into. From the looks of these two, we concluded there wasn’t much of a future in such idle thoughts.

Something else we hadn’t really factored in or thought about too much, was the costs of an actual film shoot. We’re not just talking budget and cost, but the time, energy and prep that goes into a scene that takes two hours to shoot and only amounts to about a minute of screen time. Most people don’t think twice about the technical aspects and work that goes into the making of even the simplest of scenes or shoots. This happens even with the crew at times. Especially if they’ve been shooting for a few days and they just go back to the same set and become familiar with it all. But coming to a new location and bringing all of the players with you, and then summing up all the time and energy that every one of us has to exude in order to make this one little scene work; one would think it hardly makes the scene worth the effort. And yet, quite the contrary is true. What I’ve come to realize is that the amount of time and energy spent on the project is equal to the quality of the work that’s captured on screen, and that no scene is less or more important because of how much actual screen time it gets. The quality is reflective of the work behind it, whether the duration of a project is thirty seconds or a 2 hour feature.

Once all the equipment was packed and we picked up the guest passes the owner of Galilea had given us, we made our way over to Berro bar, where we were going to shoot a scene with IVÁN, LLUÍS, ÁLEX and CARLES.

When we finished eating, all the extras for the restaurant scene arrived. Some of them we already knew, like Gerard Valdivia, and others like David, Idel and Ursula, were new. My friend Renato managed to make it and be one of the extras walking along the sidewalk outside. One of the first things he asked upon arriving and taking inventory of the extras on set  was  “hey, I get to pick a partner, right?”

We were very grateful that Carlos showed up directly after leaving work, not even stopping at home to freshen up before coming over to help Babeth with the make-up while Iván showed up. And one just really takes notice of these things and can’t help but think that with this crew we really can do it all. What we trip out on is how this group of people who don’t really know each other can come together in support of a project where they’re not getting paid, and still give their all. We are humbled and in awe. To all of them we owe a debt of gratitude.

On the outside terrace there seemed to be a stockpile of scripts, coffee cups, and make-up bottles. The adjacent hallway served as our make-up station, and also as refuge from the relentless sun beating down on us.

Outside, the extras followed the crew as they shot ÁLEX and CARLES’ scene, where  they walked up and down

Casanova street

. They made sure that none of the cables got tangled or that no one crossing the street stood in the shot watching the scene, and that the actors were always well lit.

Others waited inside the bar for us to start rolling the scene with IVÁN and LLUÍS.  Once we did start rolling that scene, it was decided that no one would actually drink anything from their glasses, so as to preserve continuity, and that everyone please remember their exact position during the takes.

It was a pretty meticulous and intense scene that was thoroughly rewarded once Giuseppe yelled “Cut. That’s a good one. We’re done.” The room erupted in whistles, screaming and applause. I now know how an artist feels when he’s on stage and all of his hard work is rewarded with the roar and applause of the crowd: it’s addictive and validating all at once.

On a day like this one, with all of our setbacks, and trying to accommodate everyone, and trying to finish on schedule: I can only say that you are the artists! Now I’m off to bed, because tomorrow we don’t roll until noon.

Cenzo Álvarez De Haro - Translated and adapted by: Norman Giovanni Zelaya

Daily shooting diary - DAY 4. TRY IT AGAIN, MONTSE!

Our Gayxample mobile headquarters was once again on the move, this time parked on the corner of Diputació and Casanova. We’d even managed to add a camera car to our caravan (Iván Yáñez’s car, which we’d practically turned into a transformer). Our mobile studio had also turned into a mini hotel suit today, where Milca and her little Jan (ooops I forgot to tell you Milca is pregnant) could rest for a while.

Josep and Iván Yáñez were losing their virginity with us (no, no sex scenes today), as it was their first time in front of the camera for Gayxample. It’s set in TONI’s (Iván Yáñez) car as he drives through Eixample.  It sounds easy enough, but it took us all morning to shoot.

The mounting of the camera on the car, the diffusing silks, antiglare reflectors, testing the audio, setting the camera for the interior car scenes, and the shoot itself, set us back about an hour and a half behind schedule.

Since we couldn’t all fit in the car, only the actors and Giuseppe, who watched the scene through a monitor as he crouched down in the back seat of the car, had to endure the heat, red lights, retakes, and wonderings of whether to drive all the way to Badalona or turn back for more shots. Meanwhile, the rest of us enjoyed a nice glass of wine as we anxiously waited for the actors and director to return and meet us at Berro (another sponsor restaurant).  Once they’d shot all the angles and reverse angles, and because they were starving, we heard that they were practically machines, delivering every line as it was written and not skipping a beat.

After lunch the team split in two. Iván Bertrán and Babeth (this time as an actor) went to the apartment in Bruc looking for Mireia (as ALICIA) and José Luis (as ALICIA’S HUSBAND), who had a scene that afternoon. While they went through make-up and rehearsed, Giuseppe, Giorgio, Iván Yáñez, Josep and I, finished shooting a few scenes between TONI and LLUÍS outside the car.

When we were done, we piled into said car and drove over to meet up with the other team in Bruc. We were happy to see José Luis again, who we hadn’t seen since the table reading about a month and a half ago, and we were also surprised to find Mireia in full prosthetic maternity belly.

The afternoon scenes required some action, suspense, and some comedy all rolled into one. As is often the case, life is often stranger than fiction, and there was plenty of suspense, comedy and action behind the scenes.

Let me set up the scene for you.  The girls are supposed to race out the building and jump into the car and try to start it, and in true movie fashion, it doesn’t start. They desperately try and start it to no avail, only to have it start up again all on its own. So what happens when we try to roll? The car decides to go all method on us and doesn’t start at all. No movie magic assistance needed. We had to call roadside assistance, more out of sheer desperation than conviction, because we’d tried everything to get the damn thing started. We’d pushed it down Bruc Street while Iván Yáñez kept yelling at Babeth to “try it again, MONTSE!”

Hell, we even tried sweet-talking it, and coddling it like every good actor needs. Nothing worked. Until it started up, as it had been scripted, all on it’s own. Not missing a beat, we started rolling. Just then, as if on cue, the tow truck driver arrived, even after we’d called to cancel the call. Oh, and yes, he was in the shot.

All in all, it was anything but a boring today. And as intense and as behind schedule as we were, we managed to shoot all of our scenes.

Tomorrow we have Andy (as CARLES) with us for the first time on set with Kikko; his father on the show. We’ll have an emotional scene where ÁLEX breaks down in front of XAVI, and we’ll also have, for those who enjoy this sort of thing,  a second round of sex scenes between ÁLEX and IVÁN.

Cenzo Álvarez De Haro - Translated and adapted by: Norman Giovanni Zelaya

Daily shooting diary - DAY 3. ARE YOU FILMING A MOVIE?

For our first exterior shots we met at 9 am in front of Casa Mila, aka La Pedrera (the Quarry).  We were in our mobile unit headquarters (van) that also doubled as our dressing room/make-up room/craft service/storage/fortress of solitude/and anything else we might possibly need while Gayxample traipsed around the centre of the Eixample , shooting XAVI’s arrival scenes to the big city.

It was starting to look like it would rain, but the sky seemed to be keeping it zipped up for us at the moment, and that wouldn’t be the only thing looming over us on that early morning of March 10^th.

Gaudi’s architecture always proved to be the perfect setting for wandering tourists, who could easily be spotted because they looked liked someone had taken them off an assembly line and outfitted them with a digital camera, sandals, shorts, a desperate need of a tan, and probably instructed them to move about the city in flocks, like geese migrating to the nearest photo op; all with a map firmly in hand and -- most importantly -- an innate sense of when not to walk into a shot.

Babeth and I became impromptu transit officers, security detail, tourist directory, and answered the never ending “are you filming a movie?” -- all in the name of art.

We tried several shots of XAVI in front of La Pedrera while the sun played hide and seek with us; with tourists walking in and out of our shots, with a reflector – without a reflector. And then the sky unzipped and relieved itself.

It was then that a cab ran over a motorcyclist and Babeth donned yet another hat, and became a beat reporter: “Yes, Charlie, I’m standing outside of La Pedrera in Gayxample, where earlier today…”

All the while, Xavi, waited for all of this to be sorted out and someone to yell “action.” Although, I must say, that these delays inadvertently played well into the overwhelmed feel that XAVI’s character should be experiencing after arriving in the big city. That, at least, had gone splendidly.

By the time we got to Enric Granados our extras were waiting for us. Idel and company were there, Gerard Valdivia, and a little later, Maria, who would point a lost XAVI to his uncle’s house, arrived.  Once Christian showed up we were set. As artistic director, Babeth (who’s now donned at least 5 different hats) gave Christian and Gerard (kisser 1 and kisser 2) a few minutes to get better acquainted before cuing them to shove their tongues down each other’s throats.

Just then the city’s street sweepers showed up trying to make a cameo of their own, but Babeth (yet again) used her powers of persuasion, and our shooting permit, to get them to come back a little later while we shot the scene.

All that hustling about makes a crew hungry. It was definitely time to eat.

One of our sponsors is the restaurant Lurantia, so we went there; where aside from a delicious meal, we had the added pleasure of witnessing Marcelo drift off to la-la land, as he fell asleep before the end of the first course.  We all watched him in utter fascination. The day had definitely taken its toll on Mr. Jack-of-all-trades, and we knew there was more to come. Rafa would be waiting for us at 3 pm in Poble Nou with the new make-up artist.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I’m afraid I must get serious for a moment. It is my distinct honour to introduce to this blog and to the Gayxample shoot, the incomparable, authentic, Mr. Gluten free, muse of muses: Ivan Bertran.

At first it seemed he was a little too flamboyant. But take after naked take (in a professional setting, of course) we came to discover his true genius. He has a bright future ahead of him.  He doesn’t have a manager at the moment, in case anyone wants to scoop him up.

We were once again back at the apartment in Poble Nou with Rafa and Kikko in full body make-up, and revving to go. With only a skeleton crew, we made short work of shooting all of Álex and Ivan’s bed scenes.

Tomorrow we have a full day of more exteriors with new actors, new equipment, a car mount, a new restaurant, and probably more than a few  “are you filming a movie?”

Cenzo Álvarez De Haro - Translated and adapted by: Norman Giovanni Zelaya

Daily shooting diary - DAY 2. ACTION

We were back at Poble Nou before 9 am. Despite all of yesterdays setbacks we stuck to the production schedule as Andrea had laid it out. We decided to shoot all the pick up shots over the holiday weekend.

Most of the scheduled scenes today are bed scenes. Mostly intimate scenes and not so much sexual ones, per se. Well, mostly not. I mean, yeah, there’s definitely some sex.

Babeth and Andrea laid out a wild assortment of wardrobe items on the bed, like a shopping mall had tastefully exploded on to it and sorted it out according to size, color, brand, and style.  This was all done to choose the appropriate wardrobe for each scene, let the actors try them on, and have Milca get some stills.

Meanwhile,  back at the ranch, I was sitting out on the terrace enjoying the new craft service area, courtesy of Babeth; having a smoke and a drink (my own natural habitat) and watching Giuseppe, Marcelo and Giorgio go over the script. While Xavi and Kikko rehearsed, Rafa once again donned his costume: silk robe, form hugging undies, and our collective smiles. What a package.

Most of today’s scenes were from the first episode of the season. We were a bit unsure as to how best to introduce each character while making sure their relationships were clearly defined. With Xavi,  and Rafa’s character, IVÁN, it wasn’t really an issue. These two characters don’t know each other and meet for the first time in this episode, and both of the actors had just met a few days prior, so their unfamiliarity seemed to work with the energy of the scene.

As far as Kikko is concerned; his first foray on screen clearly defined the line between method acting and whatever the hell else the rest of us mere mortals were doing. In the scene his character was just waking up from a nap, so naturally it required an actual nap…and being alone…and silence, and, of course, turning off the lights. Only to moments later be beckoned back in to the bedroom (after an alarm had gone off) and finding Norma Desmond herself stretched out upon the bed, eager for her close up. “I’m ready. Light me” he said, as the camera fell in love with the little bugger, and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Madame truly is the greatest.

There were a couple more bed scenes. One of them had IVÁN and ÁLEX discussing XAVI’s arrival, which you could’ve sworn was straight out of a 1950’s sitcom. It had both of them in bed, reading and going on about their relationship like an old married couple, which they then carried off the set. Mind you, part of that was in the script, but the moment Rafa walked on set with his sleep mask on his head and got into bed, I swear it seemed like a Lucy-esque type of prank, and I was waiting for Ricky’s “Lucy, you’ve got some splaining to do” to pop out of somebody’s mouth. Only, to be fair, I don’t think either one of them had figured out who was playing whom; Lord knows we didn’t have a clue.  Hell, there was even a discussion about it on set. It almost made us want to shoot all of this off camera business, because it was like being transported to an alternate universe, and damn it, I wanted proof! Alas, we didn’t, but not because we didn’t want to.

The sex scene; however, was another matter altogether (their first).

The setting: the make up had been applied, Xavi had just finished shooting his scenes, and Giorgio, a little hung over from the previous evenings festivities, luckily didn’t have much of a lighting set up. Now, we’d planned for this to be an intimate setting, but by the amount of people lined up to watch us shoot this scene, you’d swear Apple was releasing a new iphone or something. I may have even seen a tent.

OK, so there we were in our intimately packed set going over choreography, hand placements, exploring nude bodies, getting caught up in the sensuality of the script (let us remember, it’s all in the script), with the tension in the room  so thick you could cut it with a knife -- and more nervous than a whore in church (from both the actors and  the eager audience members) -- we were ready to roll.

Kikko was listening to last minute instructions from Giuseppe. Rafa was clear with what he needed to do, and all was set. Camera rolling. Sound rolling. Marker up. And as soon as we heard that click, Kikko pounced on Rafa like white on rice. And Rafa,  not one to miss a beat, said “Sweetie, can we at least wait for ‘action’?” – Cue laughter.

After that explosion of laughter, any and all tension dissipated and it was back to business.  Marcelo had his work cut out for him in trying to keep up and capture what those two boys were doing and undoing on that bed. We’ll probably reshoot it at some point, with less tension, less of an audience,  and when the two actors really are more at ease with each other. As for everything else; the day was perfect.

Cenzo Álvarez De Haro - Translated and adapted by: Norman Giovanni Zelaya

Daily shooting diary - DAY 1. OPENING IT UP

Today, after months of work on the script, hiring crew,  casting calls, a healthy dose of  frayed nerves, daily midnight phone calls of adding “just one more thing” to the infinite list of things to do, and going over every single detail a million times over,  wondering/hoping it all comes together… we’ve begun rolling on Gayxample.

Call time was at 9 am in an apartment building in Poble Nou. We were filming the first interior scenes of “ALEX’s house”.  By that time the floor was already littered with production paraphenalia: a mayhem of cables, bags, notes, and various etc’s greeted you upon arrival. The bathroom had morphed into a virtual war room for hair & make-up, with two make-up artists expertly wielding their arsenal of tools like wands.  Our two camera guys, Marcelo and Giorgio, zig-zagged between the kitchen and the dining room.

Out on the terrace, Xavi (as XAVI in the series) and Kikko, (as ÁLEX) went over scripts that seemed to have sprouted post-it’s like spots on a leopard – still underlining, highlighting, and making notes, under the watchful eye of Babeth, with whom they’d been rehearsing for the past few days.

Milca, with her hands tucked into her pockets, camera hanging around her neck, patiently waited for the action to commence. Giuseppe, of course, had an eye on everything.

Out on the kitchen patio, the lighting equipment was set to shine it’s faux sunrays indoors, where Andrea, iron in hand, was giving Rafa’s silk robe a final touch up after he’d arrived 30 minutes late. Scrambling to make up for lost time, Rafa (as IVÁN in the series) tried on the robe and found it to be too long, so we decided to bring up the hem.

Problem one: No one knew how to sew.

Seriously? A room full of queers and every one of them a needle looking for thread. Luckily, Rafa came to our rescue and hemmed up Ivan’s robe: our own little tailor.

The shooting schedule called for Rafa to spend the day in his skivvies and robe.  Now, ordinarily, having a half naked man spend the day with you would never be considered a problem, but in this instance and professionally speaking, it sort of was.

 All of Rafa’s underwear was brand name, and last time we checked there was no licensing contract with CK.  This package needed a non-brand. As we set into the daunting task of finding this mythological-non-brand-Marky-Mark-esque jewel holder, Rafa wisely pointed out that his character would never wear non-brand. Score one for packaging.

Our second wardrobe issue was that XAVI didn’t have a shirt that was “rustic” enough for his first trip to the city. So, Giuseppe, having apparently embraced his inner grunge in the 90’s, graciously filtered through his array of flannel, and picked out a shirt perfect for XAVI’s first scene.

With lights and masks on, lines fully rehearsed, we were ready to roll. There were 20 shots scheduled for that day, many of which were to be shot on the inside stairs of the building with Eider (as GISELA in the series).

That, at least, was the plan.  The neighbours and Murphy’s pesky little law seemed to be in cahoots. Granted, it’s an apartment building and everyone has things to do during the day, but the mad dash by seemingly all of the neighbours to leave the building for bread, at different intervals, makes one wonder if there shouldn’t be a damn bakery in the building.  Everyone needed to buy a smoke, or take their kid to the park, or get his ball from the balcony when he was back from the park … or bring a stroller up the stairs.  Oh, and the odd need to have impromptu social gatherings in the hallway…right next to the stairs…while we rolled…a lot.  We yelled “cut” so many times that I was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t more of a call to action. Then, of course, there were the looky-loo neighbours who needed to let their friends know there was a production crew in the building…and bring a loaf.

Add that to the list of all the lighting set ups just to cover the interior shots, and the ones on the stairs, coupled with…wait for it…rain.  Yes, rain. So when it was raining the lights had to be indoors. It stopped raining? Outside. Raining again? Indoors.  So, suffice to say that 11 of the 20 shots that were scheduled are now still pending.

But from all that craziness of the rain, changing the lighting set ups, blocking, interruptions, and everything under the sun; we may have found two phrases that will pass down in history as official slogans of the first season of  Gayxample: “ OK, now reverse angle” and “ Marcelo, open it up” ( because of the constant change in shutter speed.)

Amongst all that chaos, our first extras, Lola and Paco, arrived for the productions first sex scene (a hetero one, if you can believe that.) They went into the bedroom and got better situated with the bed and each other’s bodies. We choreographed the scene, discussed positions…the moaning. Dear God, the moaning!

Lola was hoarse before we knew it (that girl exerted herself, let me tell you.) Solution? Babeth, being the trooper that she is, took to the floor next to the bed and moaned her little heart out. That woman has skills that we’ve only scratched the surface of. 

I’m not sure how I’m going to make it back to the set tomorrow. But even though we’ve been to hell and back these past 24 hours, I’m already starting to miss it all. I don’t even want to think how we’re going to make it through to the end, but the feeling of watching the actors bring to life what has, up till this point, only been on paper is indescribable. You watch their faces transform with each line and you’re in awe, even while watching it on a small monitor. It’s like coming to life at the sound of Andrea clapping the marker and Giuseppe yelling “Action.”

Cenzo Álvarez De Haro - Translated and adapted by: Norman Giovanni Zelaya

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