Cena Para Dos (2015)
Gabriel y Julissa disfrutan de su cena de aniversario, pero un secreto amenaza con destruir su matrimonio.
Continuing that tradition of productions not running as smooth as planned, Cena Para Dos presented a unique challenge that forced us to improvise, adapt, and overcome.
When writing this script, I wanted it to feel as real and visceral to the viewer. I wanted them to channel and feel the worst argument they ever had with a significant other… so that’s exactly what I did to get into the correct mindset to write it. I went back into those dark recesses of the brain where every knock-down, drag-down fight I ever had was stored and brought in a bit of the best (worst?) of them. Yes, including the ones where I was wrong. Especially the ones where I was wrong.
Because of how intense I wanted this to be, I wrote this with both my casting choices already in mind. Ángel Figueroa was an old buddy I’d met circa 2004 thanks to a mutual friend. I met Vianmiliz considerably more recently, as we were both cast-mates in that ill-fated Romeo & Juliet production I mentioned in a previous post. I channeled both of their biggest strengths in their craft into their characters and thankfully they agreed to be part of it.
As for the filming process… there came the first snafu. Originally, we had secured the location we would be filming at starting at 11:00AM. The plan was to start decorating the house early so we could set up the lighting and cameras with enough time to do a few rehearsal runs of the script before commencing principal photography. However, at the very last minute, our location had to reschedule us for 7:00PM… until 11:00PM. This meant we had to scramble to get everything done as fast as possible, which meant sacrificing some of the set dress-up in favor of setting up video and audio.
In order to film as fast as possible, I had to get creative. I decided to put up a 3-camera setup; a Canon 6D doing a wide shot of both actors and a Canon 70D as well as my trusty Canon T2i aimed at each one of the actors individually. We did a quick rehearsal and then shot about 4 takes of the whole script on all three cameras, as if it were a live TV production. We then proceeded to shoot every other scene or pickup shot as fast as possible and were done only half an hour later than we were supposed to.
When it came time to edit, I synced up all the video and audio into a multi-cam setup and edited it as you would a live TV program… a skill that has proved VERY useful in other productions. I had to carefully splice some clips from several of the takes we filmed, but overall, I think it came out pretty well.
So well, in fact, that we were an official selection for both the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest and Rincon International Film Fest.
By the way, as an added bonus tidbit… Being the gigantic nerd I am, I like sticking little in-jokes or Easter eggs in my work. In this case, the final twist of this short film could have been easily guessed had anyone noticed the meal (cooked by my bro, Joel Sánchez) included the peculiar combinations of fava beans… and a nice Chianti.
Bon apetit!
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