Volume 1 Issue 2  | The unofficial Eric Alexander fan magazine |15 August l 2001

 

"The Sun Also Sets" ...backstage

	Above: The Sun Also Sets

Precision Direction and Total Troupe Participation !

Milan June 2001  Saturday morning,the ADC studios were free for the whole weekend .. the time slot needed to shoot the whole film in two days, no mistakes could be made, the schedule was so tight there would be no room for improvisation and if anything went wrong it would have to be fixed there and then.  As I parked the car in the roofed courtyard I got the unworldly feeling that I was all alone. Had I come to the right place?  Had the shoot been cancelled ? Not a soul to be seen, not a sound except the plastic roofing crackling under the hot morning sun. I had been expecting the bustle of people working, technicians moving machinery, people nosing to see what was happening. Nothing !  The sound of the doorbell sent a slight shot of adrenaline through me as I cautiously pressed the button.

The door creaked open and a smiling happy face whispered to me in a voice of conspiracy.

"Come on in...  it's going great"

I stepped into a clockwork hum of frenzied activity.

I lounged on the sofa in the actor's bay. My turn was still far ahead. Apart from the bustle of the secretary, the "Silenzio si gira" preceding each take and then the silence bursting into a murmer as each take was discussed, repeated, numbered,saved, the only other sound was that of the actors chatting quietly away to each other. Familiar faces and voices. Faces and voices that are known to every Italian who possesses a TV or has been to the cinema. This was a room brimming over with experience and one main message was coming through - "He knows exactly what he wants - It's a pleasure to work with him "

Cable layer, Sound Expert, Camera man, Make-up artist, Production Secretary ,.........,  Actors, 25 people in all, each with his role in production, each working to a scheduled plan. I realized at once that this was no "happening". Eric had spent weeks before going over each job with every technician and every artist. Two days of shooting and no time for overflow. By midday Saturday they were an hour behind, problems with sound. Resolved ! Eight p.m that evening they were nearly half an hour into the next day's shooting, eager and ready to face the next day. There had been no contention, no raised voices, the "Panic" button had never been pressed. Lots of small difficulties to mull over during the night, to iron out the next day, but nothing to mar pleasant dreams.

Sunday evening, packing-up is always heavy, you're tired and don't have enough energy to hide your feelings. This is the moment when truth shows. Have you got a good product ? You can see it in their eyes. You've got it !

Precision Direction and Total Troupe Participation ! That's what I found and that's why I hope to work with Eric again.

Bull Douglas
 
 

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