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