On the road to Leon
Hi, my name is Roberta. I work in Mandarina Duck’s communications office, specifically for the travel and business products division.
I’d like to tell you about the shoot for our Spring-Summer 2008 catalogue, which will soon be available in our shops!
It all started with casting calls, many debates and desperate telephone calls in makeshift Spanish. It was a big job but we did it in only three weeks, which of course is relative considering how much we had to organize it all. But we managed it!
5 am:
The alarm clock rang; I automatically jumped out of bed and was immediately ready, so I stared out of the window while waiting for the taxi to take me to the airport. I got there and waited for Francesco (our communications director) and then we were ready to go!
7 am:
Flight to Madrid followed by transfer to Leon. The photographer, stylist and digital assistant from Milan were waiting for us in Madrid. The rest of the group was local.
11 am:
We loaded our stuff into our vehicle, everyone was in a good mood, the only thing missing was Jean, the model.
We waited for him in the labyrinth of the Madrid airport (very beautiful btw) and, I must confess, I was a bit nervous.
When you choose a face without seeing it in real life, you can end up with an unpleasant surprise.
Anyway, we were lucky. Jean arrived and turned out to be a happy, fun guy!
On the road:
The journey to Leon was on a desolate highway in the middle of nowhere.
We laughed all through our three and a half hour ride there. We also had a great meal stop with bocadillos and Spanish ham.
The chosen locations were not a disappointment and we enjoyed our first walk around. The MUSAC – Contemporary Art Museum of Leon and Castilla - and the auditorium were just as we had imagined them.
We looked forward to starting and everybody thought, “Tomorrow we shoot.”
After a heavy dinner and a night of difficult digestion (chorizo is merciless), we met up in the breakfast room at 8 am. We were ready to start but we had a small problem. It was raining!
We were panic-struck. I confess - and don’t tell anybody this - that my life passed before my eyes as I thought about trying to get the shoot done in such bad weather!
Then something fundamental happened.
The thing on which all shoots are based: luck came to our rescue.
The wind, which was so strong that you couldn’t walk against it, swept away all the clouds and the sun came out.
Although it was freezing cold, the sun was out and that’s all that counts. Hurrah!
I cannot tell you how much we laughed and how much fun we had. Just go to YouTube and search for the “chiki chiki song“.
That best describes the spirit of our group. A combination of rain dancing and general hilarity had infected everybody.
We had moments of laughter and moments of panic. And in between the bouts of rain and the explosions of sunshine, everything went very well.
We also got to see the famous Easter procession of the Semana Santa. From 6 pm on, the entire city was enlivened with a gregarious procession, headed by a noisy band playing a very disturbing melody.
There were many men in those famous, traditional black and white pointed hoods. There were women, and even children, dressed entirely in black like mourners. You’ll understand it better if you take a look to these pictures.
Suddenly one of our assistant’s said, “It feels as if we’ve been living in Leon for six months.” Now, usually you say something like that about a place when you’re bored of it. But I think he meant that it seemed as if we had known each other forever.
Perception of time can be quite interesting.
I’ve been back in Italy for a long time now and the catalogue is already coming out but when I look at the pictures from Leon, I feel both joy and nostalgia.
I think that in every photo you can see a tight-knit group working together to create dreamful images.
I hope that we did it!
And, apart from the cold and tiredness, it was an amazing experience!
