Daily shooting diary - Day 7: THIS IS A PARTY

I suppose you’ve probably seen the fliers around town and hanging at the local bars and clubs, and in the local trades: Party at ÁLEX’s house. For the first time in our shoot, we’ll have all the characters together in one place, at the same time.  Exciting!

We also have to welcome the newest addition to the family, or new make-up artist extraordinaire, Xenia. Our call time is for 3pm at the apartment in Poble Nou. Along with the full cast, we’ve also assembled an even greater number of extras. The Omni present Gerard Valdivia, Gerard Cambra (who did the casting for one of our main characters), Marc, Josep, Iain, David, and a few of the guys from the sauna shoot, along with a new group of girls, were all there. In total there were about 20 extras, who along with the full cast and crew, their collective body heat, the lamps, and all the panels we installed to block the afternoon sun/bake us, turned this party into a mix of dark room and Finnish sauna, with everyone in black tie.

Babeth was just as nervous as every time she had screen time, even though she’s usually everyone’s acting coach (amongst a host of other things she does, as you may have observed), when it was her turn up at camera, there was no calming her nerves. Mireia was radiant, and the rest of them…well, they all looked divine.

While everyone finished going through make-up,  and those that were already done rested on the terrace, just waiting to take their places; we decided to role an unscripted and candid moment between ÁLEX and IVÁN, stopping from time to time to hydrate a bit, turn on the a/c, let the extras in that were still arriving , and grab the occasional smoke out on the terrace, all the while waiving down to the passengers below us, who were boarding busses and happened to look up and catch a glimpse of the elegantly-dressed-gay-cluster on the terrace.

We started rolling a little later than expected, which meant we started losing extra’s sooner than we would’ve wanted.  The party was in honor of XAVI, who was not only sweating because of all the lights in the room, but because of the delectable crowd around him. Of course, if your character is straight, you can’t exactly play to your own desires on camera, or even behind the camera. So to XAVI, my hat’s off to you for your integrity and self restraint.

We tried to make the party as true to the script as possible, and as defined  by IVÁN, as totally gay. But we refrained from making it completely stereotypical, so there were no long lines for the bathroom, or long lines that lead anywhere, or dark rooms to form lines in, despite requests from people who shall remain nameless, insisting that we add them.

The reenactment of Gaga’s Bad Romance didn’t interfere with any of the shots. The main characters were already surrounded by a crowd at the time, and we left all the scenes with the cliques that usually form at any gay party worth it’s weight in lube, for the end. They danced without music, they drank without any alcohol, and they talked without uttering a single word. It was a film set through and through: nothing was real. Nothing except for the salad, sandwiches, and cold cuts that seemed to disappear as the night progressed. Also real, were a few number exchanges (hey, they had to do something). I guess in the end the saying that film shoots bring people together will be true. And I should know!

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