The Carrer Argenteria, which leads to the colourful Placa Santa Maria and the West Facade of the great church was blocked by trucks and generators, wardrobe and make up caravans. A jib camera crane moved around like a giant seesaw, as the crew positioned massive Klieg lights and laid down camera tracks. From a mobile catering van, the smell of grilled steak wafted over a crowd of onlookers, while an Assistant Director attempted to marshall a mob of petulant extras. But there was no sign of Mr Allen or Mr Bardem. And where might Ms Cruz and Ms Johansson be hiding? Possibly in their super deluxe Trailers, discreetly parked in a quiet square, well away from the pandemonium. In short, Ry and Sergi were about to witness the night shoot of a scene from a Major Motion Picture. As yet untitled, the film was to achieve international acclaim as "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" winning an Oscar for Penelope Cruz, as well as several other major awards.
The boys hung around for half an hour or so, but there was no sign of Action, just the endless repositioning of lights with stand-ins and repetitive bursts of Playback.
But Ry would have stayed all night. He was becoming jealous of the A.Ds, the Grips, the DoP, the Gaffer and the Best Boy. He would have loved being part of such a movie crew and the buzz emanating from the Set only reminded him of his own situation. A month ago, he was strutting round a film set himself. Admittedly, it was only a small commercials studio in London's Camden Town, but he'd worked his way up from Dogsbody to First Assistant - and was bloody good at the job, too. He couldn't believe they'd made him redundant, though it was hardly surprising, as the whole Production Company went bust a couple of weeks later. Still, he had three months salary by way of compensation, so he reckoned he must have been doing a reasonable job. The question was - would he ever find another one?
Sergi picked up this vibe and dragged him away. "Come on, Fellini. Let's get over there. The old Bat's probably scoffed the tapas, already" The crowd was now bigger than ever and it wasn't easy to get clear of it, especially with luggage and an inquisitive dog in tow. A nondescript little man in a crumpled hat bumped into them and said sorry. But Ry was miles away and didn't notice. Sergi thought it best not to
mention that he'd just been apologised to by Woody Allen.