GAYXAMPLE EPISODE 4 - WORSE THAN THE JUNKIE

Montse and Alicia get caught up in a tense and passionate situation this week.
And nearly get caught in the act in Episode 4.

GAYXAMPLE EPISODE 3 - CONGRESS OR REUNION ON THE TOILET?

Hot and sexy Episode 3 shows us how Ivan and Alex first met!
Not to be missed.

GAYXAMPLE EPISODE 2 - MY FIRST GAY PARTY

Montse invite Alicia to stay at her home with a few restrictions from Toni, her room-mate.
Will Xavi survive his first Gay party?

GAYXAMPLE EPISODE 1 - THE HOMOPHOBIC NEPHEW

Xavi, the cute and innocent country boy whose world is shaken when he discovers his favourite uncle is gay.
Montse, the generous and caring social worker will help the beautiful battered wife Alicia from Argentina.

GAYXAMPLE - LA SEXTA NOTICIAS

Daily shooting diary - EPILOGUE

By beginning of March 2010, we had a working draft of our script and we’d even begun principle casting. Within those first two weeks of casting we actually finished writing the script, and we started working out the scenes. It was also back then when I first met Iván Codón. I’d met him through Giuseppe.  Up until that point I wasn’t sure if he even existed or if he was just Giuseppe’s alter ego or pen name, because I’d never even had a Facebook chat with the man. But there he was in the flesh; a walking, talking, smoking, heck of a screenwriter.

Time has just kind of flown by from the first night of casting and our first draft, to where we are now. As I sit here writing this and enjoying my vacation on this quiet August morning, we are very much in postproduction.

While our production schedule was set, Gayxample as a production itself was never some rigid entity that was strictly dictated by it. It was open to any and all creative input, and allowed to find its own voice as we rolled camera; never compromising creativity or quality to any time or economic restrictions that usually come with the territory. It was a work in progress, if you will, and we all willingly and willfully jumped on board. It let us discover new ways of making film, and showed us that there really is no “one way” to create cinema (although a few guidelines do come in handy).

The production was very centered in reality: organic from the word go. It was influenced by the pace and rhythm of our daily lives and we adjusted to it accordingly, instead of the other way around. We took full advantage of any new technology that could help us not only during production, but also serve as a means for distribution and promotion.

In just a matter of three months, we’ve managed to roll out a full-length project that is over two hours long. We’d just finished casting a month prior to that, and our script was registered shortly there after. If one stops to think about it, you’d think we’ve all lost our minds. And maybe we did a little. One crazy guy in particular named Giuseppe, who would talk about his idea to anyone who would listen, friend and stranger alike. It was an ambitious and contagious project, and as so, it attracted a group of people that would’ve never thought of ever working together. Everyone seemed to have a clear vision of the project in whatever capacity their role in the film would be. And this seemed to snowball into something that anyone who even heard about the project wanted to be a part of it, on either a personal or professional level, or both. People just wanted in, and they were excited about the possibilities.

Very few times did we sit and analyze what we were trying to do. I don’t mean from the actual production of it, or from any creative standpoint during production. I’m talking about the project itself. We didn’t sit there and analyze the scope of our madness. 

I’ve come to two conclusions about our experience. The first one being that the actual audiovisual production and artistic and creative direction were subconsciously influenced by everything around us at the time of production, because our production was very present, and grounded in the “now.”

The second being that when you give in freely to the madness like we all did; giving our hearts and souls without limitations, with almost a blind faith as to the outcome, and opening ourselves up to the possibilities, there was really no limit to what we could accomplish. We can dream of best-case scenarios, and take on the worst, but our reality is that a dream we had last November has come true.

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

Daily shooting diary - Day 16: AND SCENE!

Today, dear friends, is our last day of shooting, and that last entry into this blog journal.

It’s been 4 weeks and we’ve once again met up with team A (ÁLEX, IVÁN and XAVI). Eider and Candy (our fabulous extra) are also here.

We began our first exterior shot early, just outside of ALEX’s house, which is really from the first episode (amongst others).

OK, and not to worry, because Rafa is definitely back and he’s in his now signature look: silk robe, black undies, and our collective smiles.

Our location couldn’t have been more perfect, as it turns out there’s a sky bar just next door. So we’d naturally have to go check it out.

Xavi, Kikko, Eider and I were debating life outside of Gayxample. We weren’t completely convinced such a thing really existed.

Our make-up department unloaded their arsenal out on the terrace and set to the task at hand. We had our fair share of looky-loos, but it had become par for the course at this point, and we’d all learned how to avoid and ignore them. Well, most of us anyway, because Kikko seemed to have befriended one of the neighbour ladies, and she looked like the type to start a Facebook fan page for him (if she hadn’t already).

Rafa flaunted his chest down the streets of Barcelona, and Babeth, from even behind the camera, could give Candy precise direction as to what her character needed to be doing.

Oh, and Kikko arrived, shot his scene, and off to the beach he went.

Eider was thrilled to once again dress up as a legalese/not a slut, but Laia was none too pleased someone had made off with her Louis Vitton.

While we did have a few interruptions, like the ambulance that stopped right in front of the doorway we were shooting at, and a few people that stopped right in front of camera to see what was going on, and a couple ladies we asked to walk on the other side of the street for us; it was all and all a pretty smooth and fast shoot. Oh, and it was all shot on a dolly.

We moved to our very last location: Adamo’s attic. It would serve as ALICIA’s home with her as yet unnamed husband (we may not know what his name is, but we know Jose Luis is playing him). The first thing we did upon arrival was take over the terrace and set up the ashtrays and coffee maker. Priorities, people. Priorities.

While they set up the lights and Giuseppe went over the shooting script, Ivan Bertran gave Xavi, Eider and I, massages (it was a stressful day after all).

We cleared the attic of all of Adamo’s personal belongings, or that were too “him”, if you will. We needed to transform the space into something…different.

Mireia once again donned the prosthetic belly, practiced her accent, and we started rolling. Turn the a/c on, please. Thanks.

While Adamo prepared our meal, he shared with us a few stories about a younger (than he already is, of course) Giuseppe. It was quite interesting, I must say.

The food was excellent, as always, and all we needed to do now was film a scene between Xavi and Eider, and we needed to do it before Spain won the world cup and madness ensued, or we’d never be able to shoot the damn thing.

We were so set on finishing the scene that we didn’t even notice when it was all over. We began packing all the equipment up like it was just any other day.  Everyone said their goodbyes like we would see each other again tomorrow or next week, and home we went. We left as if tomorrow we’d once again have to shoot all our different angles and reverse angles; as if we’d have all our usual anecdotes waiting for us to bring them to life; or that we’d keep learning about Iván Bertrán  (Ivan the Great) and his crazy adventures, and all the crazy stories we’d endured together while on this filming odyssey.

A good friend of mine told me when we started shooting, that for the next few weeks after the shoot, I’d feel a little empty. That I’d miss everyone and long for the camaraderie that one develops when you share all the creativity, time, sweat and tears that come with making a film together. But it seems he was wrong, because I’m not really feeling like that at all. Maybe it hasn’t ended. Maybe we really will see each other again.

I’m certain that we will.

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