Background music

On Thursday, we recorded some of the background music for DOMINO.  We´ll have a variety of music but what we just recorded was the flamenco part--some taranto and a granaina por bulerias.  I was amazed.  For about 15 minutes worth of music, we spent a little over four hours in the sound studio.  The most complicated part was adding the percussion to the granaina.

Our cantaor (flamenco singer) was Antonio de la Malena.  He was accompanied by Malena Hijo on the guitar, and by percussionists Luis and Ali de la Tota (palmas) and Alex de Moneo (cajón, tinaja and palmas).

The CD release in the flamenco festival

The official release in Spain of Antonio de la Malena´s double CD took place on Feb. 23, 2013, as an official part of the annual Flamenco Festival of Jerez de la Frontera.  The festival presented it in the city´s second to largest theater, Sala la Compañía.

Antonio de la Malena decided to make the event a form of thanking all those who participated in creating his flamenco album (most especially, in the bulerias fin de fiesta in which over eight people, including of course de la Malena, took turns singing).  In addition, he wanted to recognize his brother-in-law, singer Mateo Solea, who helped de la Malena´s career at a critical juncture when de la Malena was a child.

So he gave all these people a public role in his presentation, inviting them to sing a little, or give rhythm (palmas, or nudos, or jaleo).

And he wanted to include the dancer María del Mar Moreno, in recognition of all the years he has worked with her, so she danced near the end of the presentation.

Palomino Productions and yours truly were the official producers of this event, so of course I was there.  In the excitement, I forgot to bring my camera.  SORRY!!!

But not to worry.  The local press and TV caught it all, and here is one of the reviews with a video at the bottom taken from the presentation.  If you don´t read Spanish, just skip to the bottom and watch the trailer.

The old man you see sitting next to de la Malena at the beginning, and dancing a little at the end, is his father, who can hardly walk (and so his dance isn´t really a dance).  It was a very emotional moment for him, especially since one thing de la Malena sang about was his mother, who died not too long ago...and his father still misses her tremendously.

So click on the link below, and enjoy.

LINK

If you are interested in learning more about the double CD, or in purchasing it, if you live in Europe go HERE, and if you live in America, go HERE.

OUR NEXT POST will be about--small businesses in the economic crisis.

Antonio de la Malena´s double CD is out: flamenco por derecho

Palomino Productions has had the privilege of producing a double CD of the flamenco cante (singing) of Antonio de la Malena.  I say "privilege" because he is a very fine singer, and the double CD is excellent.  It includes a full two hours of singing, with 16 tracks, 8 per CD.

(Antonio, as you will surely remember, is the star of Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.)

Cover of the double CD:  Antonio with his father.

It will be formally presented to the world in the famous annual flamenco festival in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013...just a few weeks from now.

The presentation, as organized by Antonio, will be really fine.  In the fin de fiesta of the double CD, lots of family and friends joined him and they will all be in the discs' presentation.  From what I understand, there will be 14 people in all.

Of course, Antonio himself will sing.  I asked him what he was planning to sing, and he answered "Whatever I feel like at the time."

In addition, at least some and perhaps all of the others will sing at the very beginning, and in the fin de fiesta, so it´s going to be really lively.

Antonio de la Malena singing.

And Maria del Mar Moreno, the dancer with whom Antonio has collaborated most closely these past few years, will dance one number accompanied, of course, by Antonio.

The guitarists will be Malena Hijo and Santiago Moreno.  Other well-known performers who will participate include Luis de la Tota and el Bob.

If you are planning to attend the festival, you'll certainly not want to miss this performance.  It'll be in Sala la Compañía.  I believe it starts at 8pm but am not absolutely positive, so check the festival program.  Here´s a LINK to Flamencomania´s announcement of the event.

In the meantime, to enjoy a sample of Antonio de la Malena´s singing, go here:  www.AntonioMalenaCD-ENG.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about why Domino is relevant to people in the US.

Flamenco & flamenco fusion for background music

Background music adds a great deal to a film.  It connects scenes, it strengthens the emotion of scenes (or sometimes, actually tells the audience what emotion they should be feeling), it helps keep the audience from losing interest in slow sequences, and it simply adds another layer of beauty and art.

In Domino:  Caught in the Crisis, we used two kinds of background music:  instrumental, and voice supported by instrumental.  And as you will see, we kept the musical part all in the family, relying on a very, very musical family.

The voice supported by instrumental music is flamenco, sung by Antonio de la Malena (who is also Luis, the lead character, although we don't see Luis singing).  Malena has a beautiful voice, and a strong and pure flamenco sense of interpretation.  He wrote the lyrics for some of what he sings, and in other parts, he interprets traditional verses.  The verses, whether his own or traditional, are directly related to the action we are seeing, something that Spanish speakers will be aware of and appreciate.

Antonio de la Malena (photo:  Miguel Angel Gonzales)

We chose him because our director (yours truly) admires his voice and interpretation.  In addition, he has three solo CDs to his name, in addition to being one of several singers on many CDs that are collections of flamenco singing.  (His most recent solo CD came out in Spain this past summer.)

In Domino, we hear his original lyrics in the final scenes, where he sings about the Indignados (Movimiento 15-M--similar to our Occupy Wall Street) and about recent problems in Spain. 

The instrumental background music is in some cases traditional flamenco, and in others, flamenco fusion composed by Malena Hijo.  Malena Hijo is a very fine, young guitarist who is the eldest son of Antonio de la Malena.

Malena Hijo

Whether for purely musical numbers or as accompaniment to Antonio de la Malena's singing, all of the guitar in Domino is performed by Malena Hijo.  All of the singing is Antonio de la Malena, although in one of the instrumental pieces, there is also a voice that works as an instrument, going "le, le, le, le...."  That voice is Antonio de la Malena's second son, Diego de Malena.

Some of the music also includes percussion instruments, played by Alejandro de Mateo (nephew of Antonio de la Malena), electric base played by Malena Hijo, and palmas (hand clapping) performed by Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, and Diego de Malena.

All in all, the music is great.  It does just what it is supposed to do, beautifully complementing the visuals and the narrative line.

OUR NEXT POST will be about getting that post-production work done.

Supporting actor Esteban Viaña

Esteban Viaña plays Javier, the former boss in the shop where Luis worked.  Luis lost his job because Javier, a somewhat older man, decided it was time to retire and he closed the shop.  This was right before the economic crisis;  Javier explains to Luis he had no idea there was going to be a crisis.  He closed his shop at just the right time out of pure luck.

The scenes with Esteban are an important part of the story of Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.  They not only explain why Luis is out of work, but they show how people who are favored by fate -- close their shop just in time, have the money to run a shop to begin with, etcetera, can be insensitive to those around them who do NOT have such good fortune.

Esteban Viaña as the former boss, Javier.

 
Viaña lives in Jerez de la Frontera, and began his acting career at a young age, when he was in grammar school and there was an activity called "Oration and Recitation."  He loved it, and has been hooked on acting ever since.  He has acted in dramas, religious plays, and many other sorts of productions but his favorites have always been plays directed towards children, for which he usually takes a comic role.

Esteban Viaña, yours truly and Antonio de la Malena...checking out the script.

The highlights of his acting career to date include the husband of the lead character in a play by Federico Garcia Lorca called The Prodigious Shoemaker (La zapatera prodigiousa) which was first produced in various smaller venues but later, brought to the main theater in Jerez de la Frontera (a theater with several thousand seats).

He also had a supporting role in a play by the famous Spanish playwright, Alfonso Pasos and more recently, was featured in a production of On this Island, There Are No Cats (En esta isla no hay gatos) presented by the theater company Tras el Trapo.  Tras el Trapo, you may remember, is a theater company co-owned and operated by Javier Padilla, which provided Domino with a number of actors.

Esteban Viaña as Publius Cornelius.

And just this past month, Viaña joined Domino actor Nicolas Montoya in a special production in the old Roman theater at Baelo Claudia (near Bolonia, on the Atlantic coast).  The play was an original work, written to bring to life the history of the ancient city.  Titled The Nights of Isis (Las noches de Isis), he played the role of Publius Cornelius, one of the two Roman governors of the region at the time that the city was an important Roman port and manufacturing center for the luxury article garum (made out of salted, dried fish).

The old Roman theater at Baelo Claudia (with the seats covered up--don´t know why).

And just to be sure he doesn´t get bored, currently, in addition to acting, Viaña has taken up a couple of musical instruments:  the saxophone and the accordion.

OUR NEXT POST will be about supporting actor Javier Padilla.

Interview with our star, part 2

This is part two of our interview with Antonio de la Malena, star of Domino:

Eve A. Ma (EM):  What scene did you like best, from the point of view of your interpretation? 

Antonio de la Malena (Malena):  There´s one scene with which I particularly identify.  It´s the scene in which I´m tearing up the lottery ticket, and the image of my face at that moment is like a mirror of my own life. 

EM:  What did you like best about the direction?  What least? 

Malena:  What I liked best is the director´s discipline.  I really liked that.  What I liked least is that I feel she needs more assistance, more assistance to be able to properly realize all of her creative projects.   It made me unhappy seeing she lacked that.  

Malena with actor Esteban Viaña and crew.

EM:  In thinking about the film itself, what part did you like best?  Do you think it fairly reflects the current situation in Spain?  

Malena:  In general, I liked everything about the film.  There aren´t things that I like best, and others that I like less well--because it was all done with the heart, and the soul, and with real sympathy for what is happening right now in Spain. 

EM:  What scene did you like best, from the point of view of your interpretation? 

Malena:  There´s one scene with which I particularly identify.  It´s the scene in which I´m tearing up the lottery ticket, and the image of my face at that moment is like a mirror of my own life. 

Malena with actors Jose Luis Martinez and Santiago Moreno.

EM:  What did you like best about the direction?  What least? 

Malena:  What I liked best is the director´s discipline.  I really liked that.  What I liked least is that I feel she needs more assistance, more assistance to be able to properly realize all of her creative projects.   It made me unhappy seeing she lacked that.  

EM:  In thinking about the film itself, what part did you like best?  Do you think it fairly reflects the current situation in Spain?  

Malena:  In general, I liked everything about the film.  There aren´t things that I like best, and others that I like less well--because it was all done with the heart, and the soul, and with real sympathy for what is happening right now in Spain. 

De la Malena with crew, director, actor Nicolas Montoya and others.

EM:  I understand that you had to shave off your beard several times because the director decided to add more scenes and to re-shoot others.  Now that you are free to grow your beard, have you done so?

Malena:  Well, yes, but it didn´t bother me to keep cutting my hair and shaving off my beard because the scenes were good ones and besides, I figured I was going to be earning more money.  

OUR NEXT POST will be about one of the supporting actors, Esteban Viaña.

Interview with our star Antonio de la Malena, part 1

Now that we´ve finished shooting Domino, I decided to interview our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena, to see what he thought about the whole process and the movie itself.  I´d planned to put it all here but since it´s a bit too long, I´ll break it up into two posts.  Here´s the first half -- unedited, but translated from Spanish.

Eve Ma (EM);   Now that the filming is done, what did you like most about playing your part?  And what least? 

Antonio de la Malena (de la Malena):  What I liked most is that I´m trying to adjust myself to the task of being an actor and I think that with the help of the director, I am able to do it and will be able to do it again, should the opportunity arise.  It´s very difficult, it´s not easy, but I try to put myself into the mind-set of the protagonist so that in my interpretation, my emotions are real, and appropriate. 

De la Malena in the scene in the pawn shop.

EM:  Since this was the first time you acted in front of a camera, how does it differ from your normal role of performing on stage? 

de la Malena:   Usually, when I´m performing on stage,there aren´t cameras that are filming you first in a close-up and then in a long shot.  There aren´t any cameras close up, in front of your face, and you don´t have to repeat everything so many times.

EM:  Did you feel well prepared to act before you started out?  Do you feel well prepared now, if you´re asked to do it again? 

de la Malena:   The truth is that you´re never really prepared.  It´s a kind of work that makes you feel embarrassed and is nerve-wracking when there are a lot of people around and you need to play the part of someone else, but the more you do it, the less stage-fright you get.  It´s one of those things that you have to get used to, little by little.  

De la Malena in the scene where he talks on the phone to his wife.

EM:   Did you feel any personal affinity with the character you played in Domino?  Why, or why not? 

de la Malena:  Yes, I put myself in the position of my character and there were moments in which it seemed so natural that I thought the character was actually my real self.

EM:  How did you feel, working with the other actors?

de la Malena:  It was a very nice experience, and I saw that everyone was learning from it. 

OUR NEXT POST with be the second half of this interview.

The actors

We used a wide variety of actors in Domino, from professionals who are appearing on prime-time TV to a ten year old girl with no experience acting and, to the best of my knowledge, no desire to become an actress.  Each one of them worked hard, each one presented different challenges for me, the director, and each one really did a good job.  Some, in fact, did an excellent job.

It was a great pleasure to work with Antonio de la Malena, our star.  He learned his roles, he took the time to "put himself into the character," and he never complained when I said, "Ok, that take was really good, now let´s do it again, just in case."

Antnio de la Malena, playing Luis, takes a break during the shooting.

I found it truly interesting that he put himself into his role...taking a few moments before each scene and usually before each take, to be in the correct emotional place.  The reason I found it so interesting is that he´d never acted before and certainly had never heard of Method Acting, or Stanislavsky.  On the other hand, flamenco singing (and he is a flamenco singer, a cantaor) requires exactly the same kind of emotional commitment, which is why I chose him to be the lead, in the first place.

Other actors I want to point out are Nicolas Montoya and Javier Padilla.  Both appeared in several scenes, both were very professional and very prepared, and both also helped me in other ways.  Nicolas Montoya (who is in the popular television program Bandoleras) found me an actor when I needed one, and also found the location for the bank scenes.

Nicolas Montoya plays Miguel the banker.

  Javier Padilla played two roles, one a small one but needing someone with good body control.  (He has a beard in that scene, a no beard in the other, so he looks like two different people.)  Javier also found at least three other actors for me.  Every time I called and said "I need someone of a certain age and capable of a certain type of role," he would find me that person...or rather, he´d give me several people for me to choose from.

This brings me back to our lead character.  Antonio de la Malena is, along with Javier Padilla, responsible for helping me with the casting.  He found more actors for me than I can count.  I haven´t been in Jerez long enough to "know everyone," and without him, and Javier Padilla (plus Nicolas Montoya), well, I don´t know if I´d have been able to produce Domino.

Other actors include Salvador Valle, Esteban Viaña, José María Martinez, Rosario Heredia and Luis de la Tota.  I enjoyed working with all of them.

Salvador Valle plays Salvador the neighbor, who offers Luis a few hours´ work.

 The last one I especially want to point out, however, is that 10 year old girl, Marta.  She is a bit shy, and certainly not used to memorizing lines, putting herself in character, or anything of the sort.  She was very willing, however, and like all the rest, she never complained (except once, and that was not a complaint but in the first shoot, she got exhausted and started crying.  We called it a day, and thought of ways to keep her from getting so worn out in future scenes.)

Marta, seen here with Antonio de la Malena, plays the daughter of Luis.

Domino is the first real narrative I´ve ever directed.  It has been a real learning experience.  One of the most pleasurable memories I´ll carry with me from it is these actors....  Thanks to you all.

OUR NEXT POST will be an interview with our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena.

Antonio de la Malena´s double disc of flamenco cante

The star of Domino is, by original profession, a flamenco cantaor/singer.  He has been singing professionally since he was nine years old, in public and private events in Jerez de la Frontera and making his television debut in Niños Cantaores (part of Rito y Geografía del Cante).  Yes, he was only 9 years old.

And although he has several CDs to his name (flamenco semi-fusion), plus is on lots of flamenco CDs which include several singers, he has never had a true flamenco CD of his own.

Well, we decided to change that.  We decided to change that because he is a very, very fine singer.  In addition, many people only know of his talents as a singer who provides the cante for dancers, and aren´t aware of the fact that he´s a great soloist as well.

The CD cover:  Antonio de la Malena with his father, el Morao.

When we started recording several months ago, the idea was to produce a CD with 10 cantes (flamenco songs).  The word on the street is that anything less than 10 tracks is not taken seriously.  But when Antonio sings, he keeps on singing.  The result is that some tracks were more than 10 minutes long, and the bottom line is that there was no way to put 10 tracks onto one CD.  You simply couldn´t fit them all in.

As a result, we recorded some more and are coming out with a double CD--two CDs in one package.  There are a total of 16 cantes in this package, 8 on each CD.  The title of the album is Para ti mi cante, que es mi libertad.  (I give my song to you, my song which is my freedom.)

The album is currently being manufactured, and when that process plus some legal details have been taken care of, we´ll have the album in our hands.  We´re talking about one week or so.  We´re hoping to release it at an event in southern France on June 30.  We don´t know if we can make this deadline or not, but we´re trying.

One way or another, if you live in Europe, once it is actually available, you will be able to purchase it on-line at the web site http://AntoniodelaMalenaCD.com.

Antonio de la Malena--photo:  Martin Guerrero y Casa Patas

  We´ll release it in the U.S. later, when we have solved a couple of other legal problems plus acquired enough money to pay for production in the U.S..

For flamenco buffs, the album starts with a trilla plus estribillo, the estribillo being something that Antonio wrote (both the music and the lyrics).  Other tracks include 3 seguiriyas, a soleá, a soleá por bulerías, a bulerías a golpe, a regular bulerías, a fin de fiesta, an alegrías, etc., etc..  Very compete.

Guitarists are Manuel Parilla, Domingo Rubichi, Malena Hijo and Santiago Moreno.

Antonio´s brother Manuel de Malena joins Antonio in the tarantos, with each of them singing a section.  And in the fin de fiesta plus the estribillos, other singers join in, such as David Carpio, el Nono del Periquin, etc.

I promise you, if you like flamenco, you´ll love this.  If you don´t know anything about flamenco, you still might well like it.  Antonio has a great voice, great pitch, and puts lots of emotion into his singing.

The official producer of the album is Palomino Productions.  Co-producers are Jerez Puro and el Rincón Andaluz.  We also have a partially completed, very simple web site for the album at http://AntoniodelaMalenaCDs,blogspot.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about adding Domino´s last scenes, and the background music--end of a long road.

Shooting the final scenes

I had intended this to be a post about the background music, but the young composer just became a father and his mind is elsewhere.  Before the baby was born, he had nearly completed the music, so I'll give him a couple of weeks, then ask him to give it to me.

In the meantime, to bring Domino up to the length required by major U.S. television channels (PBS and such), I wrote two more scenes, one of which we have shot and I'm in the middle of editing.  Film-making being what it is, we shot that scene twice.  The first time, one of the technicians made an error serious enough that we had to throw the whole thing out.  But the second time, it turned out alright.

Luis (Antonio de la Malena) with Marta (played by Marta).

This is a scene in which we see Luis the father in his home with two of his kids:  the youngest and the oldest.  We learn that everyone in the family is thinking about the upcoming wedding.  We learn that the eldest son is trying to get work but he can't, either.  And we learn that Luis has nice kids--kids he would certainly want to protect.

As we know, however, he may not be able to protect them.  And that is the crux of our story.

Marta, her dad, and two crew members.

The final scene, which we had hoped to film this weekend but could not because our star had to go off to Milan (Italy) to sing, is one in which we will see how some people are perfectly willing to take advantage of those in trouble.  We will also see something that I find shocking:  in Spain, when you lose your home because you can't pay your mortgage (something that is happening more and more these days), not only do you become homeless but in addition, you still are legally required to repay that loan.

This means that the banks make out like bandits.  They get your home and, if you ever find work again, they get your money.  Your wages are garnished.

Ah, our wonderful director, yours truly (Eve A. Ma).

And there you have it for today.

THE NEXT POST will be about the completed and soon-to-be-released double CD of flamenco cante (singing) of Antonio de la Malena.

The banker as speculator and villain

In addition to using Domino to put a human face onto the economic crisis, I´m using it to express my own personal ideas about some of the causes of the crisis and some of the economic problems I observe in Spain.  This has led me to create various scenes with bankers.

In brief, I think a lot of the cause of the crisis is economic speculation, especially by banks and others involved in financing real estate.  I also think the leaders of this speculation, and those who bear a lot of the responsibility for the crisis, are banks and other financial institutions in the United States.

Of course I know that this is not a terribly original idea, but ...

Ok, so how have I used Domino to illustrate some of this?

Well, there´s the scene we recently shot that I call "the banker Miguel in the bar."

Here we all are together.  The two "bankers" are wearing suits.

In this scene, we find banker Miguel (the banker that our hero goes to when he asks for a loan) in a café/bar, drinking a cup of coffee.  In comes an acquaintance, the banker Rodolfo.  (I have fun choosing names for all these people.)  Rodolfo works for a rival bank.  He points out to Miguel that Miguel´s bank is in all the newspapers today because their major project, a huge complex they were financing in the "southern sector," has collapsed.

And it seems that Rodolfo and his buddies had expected it to fail all along.  It was (says Rodolfo) massively over-capitalized, it was relying on a shady construction company, etc., etc..

I´m not going to tell you any more.  You´ll just have to watch Domino when it comes out.

Here is Nicolás Montoya (our "banker Miguel") playing a Roman sergeant.

But I will say that this scene ALSO helps explain why banker Miguel loses his temper in the bank in the subsequent scene when our hero, Luis, comes in to ask how his loan process is coming along.

Poor Luis.

And a note:  banker Miguel is played by Nicolás Montoya (who also has a role in the current popular television series, Bandoleras) while banker Rodolfo is played by Manuel Oteo Barranio.  The scene takes place in Peña Recreativa "el Toke" and thank you to José Carlos Ruiz Suarez for lending it to us as well as playing the part of the bartender.

Since we mention him here, I´ll also remind everyone that Luis is played by Antonio de la Malena.

OUR NEXT POST will be about shooting the final scenes.

Some thanks are due here: Mateo Solea & Bar Gitaneria

We had a important scene that we needed to film, where Luis meet with his former boss, Javier.  We were fortunate enough to have the owner of the Bar Gitanería offer to lend as his bar. He also ended up playing the roll of the bartender.

This wonderful person was and is Mateo Solea.

Mateo Solea behind the bar

We asked Mateo Soler to tell us a little bit about his bar, and his life. He explained that he opened Bar Gitanería three years ago. I can tell you from personal observation that it is popular. It's located close to the Iglesia Santiago in the Barrio Santiago in |Jerez.

Inside the bar, as in many bars in Jerez, there are lots and lots of photos on the walls. Most are of flamencos, but there are also some matadors.

Note all the great photos on the wall

This brings up the topic of flamenco. Mateo Solea is also a cantaor, a flamenco singer. He sings in flamenco peñas (flamenco clubs), in local events, and on stage with some of the most important flamenco companies in Jerez.

He is also the brother.in-law of our star, Antonio de la Malena.

Here we are, filming.

We want to express a sincere thanks to Mateo Solea. It was very nice of him to lend us his bar and he did a great job acting as the bartender.

A NEXT POST will be about the current economic situation in Spain (this time, for real).

Antonio de la Malena's upcoming CD

You might well be interested in learning that our star, Antonio de la Malena, is about to come out with a CD of flamenco cante (singing).  It's title will be Para ti mi cante, que es mi libertad (My song is for you, my song is my freedom.)  Palomino Productions is producing it jointly with a Spanish company, Jerez Puro, a flamenco performance company that tours all over the world and that also has dance academies all over the world.

Antonio de la Malena, a singer known the world over.  He has toured throughout Europe, Asia, and North America.  He has sung in Egypt.  He has been to almost every place where flamenco is loved.  This will be his first, purely flamenco CD.  He has two other CDs to his name, but they are not flamenco cante.

Antonio de la Malena.  (photo:  Martin Guerrero and Casa Patas)

We recorded this back in October, before I left for California, and planned to have it out in February.

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.

Turns out Antonio sang a bit too much.  First of all, he recorded another 5 cantes while I was in California.  Next, when he starts singing, he sings, and sings, and sings...and some of the cantes are over 10 minutes long.

Since it's important (says everyone who "knows") that a CD have 10 tracks on it, well, multiply 10 by 10 and you get a lot more minutes than any standard CD is going to hold.

el Bob (palmero), Antonio de la Malena, Manuel Parilla (guitarist), etc.

So we trimmed and trimmed, and cut and cut, and even with only 9 tracks it was STILL too long.  Plus some of what we cut was very dear to Antonio's heart, leaving him feeling like the prospective CD would not be what he wanted.

Solution?  Well, at the present time, we've just about decided to put two CDs into one package.  This has led Antonio to decide that he needs to record some more.  I have told him he MUST NOT go over the now 2-CD limit this time.

Bottom line, since he leaves town tomorrow for France and then Italy, is that we THINK we'll get this finished by the end of spring.  One way or another, I promise it's going to be good.  So hold onto your hats.

Bulerias fin de fiesta.  Right, standing=Antonio de la Malena

The final number on the set of two CDs will be the traditional "fin de fiesta" (ending party) bulerias.  For this, Antonio invited not only his older brother, the cantaor Manuel de Malena, and another six or seven people to join in.  They each take turns singing, with Antonio singing first and also ending the session.  There is no guitar accompaniment.  It's performed as if they were, indeed, all at a party together and simply enjoying themselves.

And again, you'll find it at www.AntonioMalenaCD-ENG.com, or if you're in Europe, at www.AntonioMalenaCD.com.

OUR NEXT POST will be about scoping out "el Puerto" (Puerto de Santa Maria).

Some thanks are due here-part 3-the pawn/jewelry shop

This is to express out thanks to Joyeria Juncal, where we filmed the scene in which Luis pawns a ring. 

Joyeria Juncal, located in the Madre de Dios area of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, is both a jewelry shop and a pawn shop.  That is to say, they sell fine jewelry and watches, but they also purchase gold.  The owner of the shop, Francisco Juncal, kindly allowed us to film there free of charge, and his father (the elder Francisco Juncal, who is the shop's founder) played the part of... the shop owner.

Being that he knew exactly what he was doing, he had all the correct materials for evaluating the gold in the ring, and giving a price for it.

Francisco (Paco) Juncal, father...with our hero.

 Before shooting this scene, I didn't know anything about how gold is evaluated.  I now know that to assess it for the base of 18 carats, you use a pretty bottle with some bluish-greenish colored liquid.  You also scrape the gold on something that I presume is especially hard sand paper.  At least, that's what it seemed to be.

After scraping it, you apply the liquid.  If the tiny pieces of metal that you scrapped off stay there and don't float away, you have what is a minimum of 18 carats of gold.  (Unless I got it backwards, and you WANT them to float away in order to be sure it's gold.  I think I'm not quite ready to work in a pawn shop.)

Yours truly and Antonio Moreno Jimenez, our sound tech.  Yes, WE WERE THERE.

 Francisco Juncal the elder, who played the pawn shop owner, also wore a nice, bright orange sweater which worked well with our hero, Luis', dark jacket.  Our hero, Luis, has a tendency to wear dark jackets.  That's because Antonio de la Malena, the actor, evidently has a wardrobe full of dark jackets.  Brightly colored neck scarves but dark, dark jackets.

And our hero, Luis (Antonio de la Malena).

 OUR NEXT POST will really, really be about hair (I think).

A screening of Domino: Caught in the Crisis

A San Francisco Bay Area non-profit called Media Art Works (MAW) has asked to screen part of the rough cut of Domino as part of the monthly series of their film club, the East Bay Media Makers´ Screening Club (EBMMSC).  The screenings are free and open to the public, and take place on the 4th Thursday of the month in the Arlington Cafe, in the East Bay community of Kensington.

Some of the actors.  (Their names are listed below.)

The actors in the above photo are (left to right), Florentino Molina Garcia, José Luis Martinez, Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, Antonio de la Malena, Diego de Malena, and Santiago Moreno. 

The Domino screening is set for Thursday, January 26.  We´ll put up another notice about this closer to the time of the event.  If you live in the Bay Area, we hope you´ll be able to attend.

NOTE:  Here's the logo of Media Art Works (MAW), the organization that's invited us to screen.  Olé Media Art Works:

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about how Luis' predicament relates to Occupy Wall Street and the Movimiento 15-M.

We've finished shooting.

In my just-ended five week trip to Jerez, we finished shooting Domino.  In fact, we finished two days before I flew back to California.

Hooray for us!  Fireworks!  Cheering crowds!  We did it!

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was to me and to our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena, playing Luis.  To me because I really like the project and after quite a lot of time and effort, it felt good to have it "in the can," as it were.  To Antonio de la Malena because he likes the project too, but also because, well, I think by the end he was kind of tired of having me say "Hey, I decided to add just two more little tiny scenes...."

But I did add in all the scenes I wanted and to tell you the truth, I think they really make the drama complete.

"Luis' street," as seen last year.  Now, some of the houses have been painted other colors.

 For some of the last scenes we shot, Antonio was the only actor and he had no dialogue.  I did all the shooting of those by myself.  A five to seven person crew seems unnecessary if, for example, you simply need a shot of one person going out the front door of his "home" and walking down the street, passing in front of the camera as he walks.

But even small things like that had to be shot 5 or 6 times because it's hard to keep someone in frame and with a good spacing within the frame if the person is first moving towards the camera, and then away from it.

For that particular walking-out-of-the-door shot, several neighbors came out to watch because--a confession here--we used the front door of my flat as Luis' front door.  They were all very quiet while we were shooting, and when we finished, they gave us some applause. 

Good neighbors.

Another memorable shot was where I had Antonio (as Luis) walk in front of the major demonstration organized by the Moviemiento 15-M (los Indignados), similar to our Occupy Wall Street.  Here, we used a 4 person crew.

The protestors' camp in Jerez' central square.

 As we suspected, the demonstrators did not pose for our camera nor did they wait to start their march until we had the camera set up at the angle I wanted.  The result was that we got the back of the parade, we got some reasonable sound, we got Antonio walking in front of the tents (with a sign saying "Liberty" behind him),etc.  

Note that Liberty is something Luis does NOT have, due to his financial problems.

The "Liberty" sign.

BUT to make the scene complete, we had to go back another day, shooting  a DIFFERENT demonstration (but involving the same groups) marching down the street past the camera.

All that aside, I am really delighted with what we have, and really pleased that shooting is done.  Now, for fine cut editing, background music, and various kinds of technical work.  Considering money concerns as well as other matters, my guess is that Domino will be finished by summer of 2012.

Shooting in Peña Chacón

Let's face it--some scenes are harder to shoot than others.

My near-Waterloo came with the scenes we shot in Peña Chacón.  First of all, let me explain:  Peña Chacón  as well as all flamenco peñas is a flamenco club.  They present flamenco shows once a week for a chosen month.  The various peñas alternate months, so that most of the year, every Friday there's a flamenco show SOMEWHERE.  They also present a flamenco show during the big, annual, world famous flamenco festival of Jerez de la Frontera.

The bar area with actors--main center of interest for these scenes.

Peña Chacón is a cool location.  It's big, has photos of famous flamenco performers all over the walls, and has a bar in a corner, as well as a stage and other things you might need if you were going to present a flamenco show.

By the way, the flamenco shows in the peñas are all free.

The guy who manages the peña is a friend of our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena.  He's also a nice guy.  And he's a well-know palmero (flamenco percussionist--he does the hand clapping rhythms).  His name is Ali de la Tota, and he got the peña's president to agree to let us film there free of charge.

Ali de la Tota.  Nice guy.

The scenes we were to film were the opening scenes.  Because they're the first thing the audience will see, it's really important that they look good.

I, of course, had written the scenes to have a combined total of about 10 actors, with two "centers of interest."  This is complicated.  I have never done anything nearly as complicated before in my life.  You might think that the music and dance documentaries I´ve done, which in some cases involve more people in front of the camera, would be more difficult but in the documentaries, the musicians all stayed in one place, and the dancers, well, they all danced in the area we specified.

AND for the documentaries, we had three cameras.  That meant if one camera angle didn't look good, we had two others to choose from.

The table with domino players--our secondary area of interest.

With the scenes in Peña Chacon, for the most part we only had ONE camera, although by the time we were shooting for the third time, I decided to have us bring in a second camera for parts of the actual game of dominoes.

Adding to the complications, the lighting in the bar area is very poor.  The bar area was where our more important actors had their scenes, and it is dark and very cramped.  It was hard to get the camera in the right place and it was hard to get the lighting correct.

The result was that we had to shoot those scenes THREE TIMES.  Man, was it ever complicated.  Man, did I ever make mistakes.  Man, did I ever learn a lot.

I am now satisfied with what we have.  Sure, it could be better.  If we shot it a fourth time, it might look even nicer...but enough is enough.  It's decent.  It gets its message across.  It looks fine, and in some places, it looks really good.

Just so you'll know.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about some thanks are due to Bar Gitaneria.  (We´ll thank Peña Chacón later, when I have the photos I want.)

Shooting for sound

In mid-July, we recorded some of the background music for "Domino," the short independent film I´m working on in Jerez de la Frontera.  We have several scenes in bars, which is an ideal place to introduce background music...and the bar scenes are for the most part followed by street scenes, an ideal place to continue the background music.

Since some of you have never been inside a recording studio, it occurred to me that you might be interested in what it's like to do a recording.

--NOTE:  "Domino´s" YouTube trailers are on LINK

What we recorded was based on the voice of our lead actor, Antonio de la Malena, who is also a well-known flamenco cantaor (singer).  We recorded two numbers, one a purely flamenco one (a tarantos, for readers who are knowledgeable in flamenco) and the other a somewhat modernized number (granainos por buleria).

Antonio de la Malena and Luis de la Tota in front of the sound studio.

The first, the tarantos, went very rapidly.  There was only the singer and the guitarist, a father-son team who have worked together for years.  (The father is, of course, Antonio de la Malena.  The son is Malena Hijo.  Both tour internationally.)  First, the two of them ran through the number in order to warm up.  The sound tech recorded it, I'm happy to say, since the first part was great.  The second half was fine but there was a change that didn't go well...but this was ok, since they were just warming up.

Next, they went through it "for real," and it came out beautifully.  End of recording.

The second number, the granaina por bulerias (ending in a minera as a macho), included not only voice and guitar, but also percussion--palmas (rhythmic hand clapping), cajón (that wooden box you used to only see used in Latin American music, but is now used world wide) and something called a tinaja (a ceramic jug turned into a musical instrument by adding sound holes and the like).

Inside the sound studio.  My camera doesn´t give good flash photos.  Oh, well.

 I´ll mentioned here that the palmeros were Luis de la Tota, Ali de la Tota, and Alex de Moneo.  The cajonista and tinajista was Alex de Moneo.  The first two (the de la Totas) are very well known.  Alex is a young fellow, more at the beginning of his career.

Well.  I´ve very little experience in recording sessions and had no idea why they usually take so long.  Now I know.  The voice and guitar were recorded together, and the singer was done.  But then the percussionists--in groups, first the palmeros, then the cajón, then the tinaja--were given ear phones and told to do their part.  The palmas turned out to be particularly tricky and had to be repeated many, many times.  It was a question of getting three people to clap out the rhythm at EXACTLY the same moment in a musical number with a pretty complex rhythm, being sung freely.

After a little over four hours, we had our six minutes of music recorded, put onto a CD, and handed over to me.  I found the experience very interesting.  Being musically inclined, I also enjoyed listening and watching and yes, getting things just right is NOT easy.

Ali de la Tota, with Luis´ girlfriend in the foreground and Antonio de la Malena in the background.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about Spanish Gypsies (Gitanos).

Shooting two small street scenes

We spent about 8 days total in shooting.  For the most part, we shot half a day at a time, but on two occasions, we shot for a full day.

Shooting in Jerez has, of course, it's own particular flavor.  Lots of our scenes were street scenes.  Most of the rest were in bars.  (As I think I've mentioned before, a bar in southern Spain is like a café in the United States.)

Hero Luis runs into his former boss Javier on the street.

On the streets, we had to worry about noise.  In the bars, we had to worry about noise.  On the streets in the shots we did after mid-May, we also had to worry about the extreme heat.  In the bars, that was less of a problem but still, did present some difficulties since an air conditioner or fan makes too much noise for our purposes.

Back to the two small street scenes.

We met at 9am to avoid the worst of the heat.  The script calls for the action to take place in November of 2010 (yes, there is a reason for this date), so our actors have to dress for fall weather.  But we shot this, and much of the action, in the late spring and in the summer, when temperatures will sometimes rise to over 120 degrees.

Imagine repeating a street scene 3-7 times wearing a long sleeved shirt and a jacket in the sun in that kind of temperature.

Note that the crew and director are NOT wearing jackets.

In Spain, 9am is EARLY.  But obviously, it was best to start early before the sun gets too hot.  Our actors and MOST of our crew showed up on time.  Two crew members were late, however.  That meant everyone else decided to have a cup of coffee or a soda.  That meant we didn't get out onto the street to shoot until 10am. And it took another half an hour to set up the camera and sound equipment, discuss matters of placing, and the like.   And THAT meant that our poor actors....

But they were brave.

First, we shot the scene where our hero passes a lottery ticket seller and since it has been a good day for him, on a spur of the moment, he buys one.  Next, we shot the scene where our hero runs into his former boss.

Each of these scenes, when edited, run about 30 seconds.

Our hero Luis and the lottery ticket seller.

Every time we got the angles right, a car would pass.  A car would often pass BETWEEN the actors and the camera.  Not good for shooting.  Fatal for sound purposes.

As a result, it took at least an hour to shoot these two very short scenes.  Par for the course.

NOTE:  The three actors in these two scenes are Antonio de la Malena (playing Luis), Esteban Viaña (playing former boss Javier), and Tomás Agarrado Candela (who in real life is--a lottery ticket seller).

Our NEXT blog will be about private greed and the economic crisis.