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