Ultimate le riprese del primo video di Giacomo Celentano

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

La settimana scorsa ho diretto a Milano, per la Santa Chiara Media Company, il primo video di Giacomo Celentano cantato in duetto con la moglie Katia. Il pezzo, intitolato “Quanto amore c’è” è tratto dall’album “Inevitabilmente noi”. Gli interpreti della storyline sono due promettenti nuovi volti : Caterina Mazzucco e Federico Amoni. La fotografia di Gabriele Cipolla e la direzione della produzione di Stefano Mascali. Oltre a ringraziare tutti, che hanno lavorato brillantemente frantumando i limiti conosciuti della fisica produttiva, ringrazio anche la Lombardia Film Commission che ha appoggiato l’intera operazione.

“Brand new day” – Acknowledgements

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

Mission accomplished: this first very particular music video series is now complete. I have to admit that, for a variety of reasons I’m not going to enumerate, Roseanna’s video has been the most difficult to drive home… nevertheless,  despite all the snags we hit, the video was presented to the producer and everybody is more than satisfied with the outcome. First and foremost I would like to warmly thank John Brown, whose help in this production has been priceless; Patricia Brown, Gerry brown, Jonathan Brown. Many thanks to actor Sam Burn who played the role of the “the boyfriend” without any blemishes. A special thank goes also to Canon Inc: the fabulous lenses we used for this production allowed us to reach a very interesting picture quality we are very happy with. Shooting a pop video in the land of pop is an enticing and demanding challenge that Roseanna embraced very profesionally: it was her first music video, she never took it for granted and devoted herself totally to it. Furthermore, being humble is a feature that always conquers me and makes me work well. As we know, in the entertainment business pride is always around the corner, but I am convinced that the mature and fruitful self confidence I see in real artists stems from full humility. So, many thanks to Roseanna for working so hard around her schedule to be always  “present” and meet my needs of director. And last I would like to thank the bunch of guys who are holding the signs in Trafalgar square, they were selected on the spot and they acted brilliantly.

Roseanna: “From Harry Potter to music videos”

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

Well what can I say? Well firstly, Manuel, thank you for doing this video was so much fun, and giving me the opportunity to work with you, allowing me to learn more about how it’s all done!

So I am Roseanna Brown, a singer, songwriter, teacher and actress (I like to think). I have always had a passion for music since I can remember so I want to be able to do everything that I can in it. I love writing music not just for myself but other artists; it’s just too much fun to even explain. I teach piano and singing and love every single moment of it. I also act and do film work, more recently and over the past few years I have been in the Harry Potter films; it’s such a great experience and I think helped me to be able to perform in front of a camera (which is harder to do than it looks).

I met Manuel de Teffé firstly in Rome when I was about 13, when he was working with my father on a music video for a boy band called Wot Nxt. I’ve changed a lot since then but the passion for music just grew stronger, so when he asked me to do a video I jumped to the opportunity.  I’m an excitable, bubbly person who always loves to laugh so you can imagine how much laughing and joking around went on, but I still worked hard, I promise. At the same time I had teaching and I was doing a performance of Carmen Jones, and Harry Potter filming, but somewhere in there, there was more than enough to do this too, I wasn’t going to let it pass me!

It’s very different to working on set at Harry Potter. On set there are over 100 people at a time smaller depending on the scene you are doing and there is a lot more waiting around and checks. It’s a great laugh chatting and getting to know the cast and crew too. They are very precise with what they want from us to the point where we did a wand camp so we knew exactly how to fight with spells and the moves you use with them, attacking and blocking. I have made some of my best friends there and will always keep them close to me.

Manuel told me one day ‘we need to get you a boyfriend’ at the time I was a little confused, so I rang up my actual boyfriend asking if he knew anyone to replace him for a few days to be in the video, but I had already thought of Sam to do it. I have worked with him in many shows so I knew we would have a good connection and be able to work together and he would also be professional enough with the time frame we had to get everything we had to do. Hey presto! We did it.

I wanted to make sure that in the video there was a sense of knowing that the past is the past and the future always holds something new and amazing that you don’t expect, that things that have always been there for you, like your family, will never go away and hold you close no matter the mistakes you make. I found this almost a challenge, trying to completely bring across what I wanted from the song to the video and I hope that I did it justice. It’s the most fun yet hard work I have done, and well worth it.

It all wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Manuel though. Having to work and put up with me with all my jokes, but he truly made the video to what it is, helping me to get into the song more to try and bring across it’s messages.  I have to Thank you Manuel for thinking of me for this and for putting up with me for the weeks we did this. It looks great!!! I cannot thank you enough.  I hope you all like it too!

Introducing Sam Burn

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

A huge hello to whoever is reading this post. My name is Sam Burn, and I am an aspiring actor currently studying Theatre and Drama at the University of Essex. I’ve just turned twenty years of age, and with my teenage years left behind me comes the yearning for new challenges and experiences. Working with Manuel de Teffé has been one of those new experiences, and acting under his direction has been an uttermost pleasure.

I’m guessing you’re wondering how I came to meet and work with Manuel, I was actually very lucky in my honest opinion. My old friend Roseanna Brown, who I’m sure you have heard of if you follow this blog, contacted me asking if I would like to act in a music video for one of her songs that of which Manuel was directing. I had just returned home after finishing my first year of University, and naturally the idea of acting in a music video interested me as it was something I had never done before. I accepted the offer and was given the times and dates of filming, and that was that. I didn’t know that Manuel was directing, or what I was expected to do upon set, but I was still excited and eager to start the process.

In the past I had not done much film acting and the majority stage, so my initial thoughts dwelled upon how to act in front of a camera, and how different it would be compared to stage acting. From these thoughts I prepared myself mentally, as I would do if I were acting in the theatre. My character as I later found out was the boyfriend of Roseanna’s character who had split up with her. The song is all about remembering a better time when the two of them were together, and showing how the break up happened. The way I imagined my character was as a calm, chilled individual, who just floats around on a breeze, a sort of free spirit if you will. Manuel gave me the direction I needed to shape the character, and from this I flourished. There was really no explanation on how the break up actually came to be, so in my mind I just imagined a situation: Keeping a calm and cool demeanour, my character just got bored and decided to move on to another girl, just telling Roseanna’s character outright, not caring about her emotions. I feel I played it well, and was shocked when Manuel stated in a certain scene I looked just like James Dean or Tom Cruise in Top Gun, a very flattering compliment indeed!

The process of filming the video seemed to go quite quickly. It only took place over two days for me, and although they were long days filled with location changes, travelling, and waiting for the sun to show its face, it was still very enjoyable. Shooting in London for me on the second day was a personal highlight, as spirits among everyone were high due to the location and positive reaction of the general public. I feel filming could not have been better, and was brilliant the way it was, apart from when I got a rash on my legs from wading around in a wheat field for an hour. Oh well, you must suffer for your art.

As an actor, I have been under the command of many directors, and I can safely say that Manuel falls under the rare category of directors that are both good at what they do, but also have a sense of humour. Again, he is one of the few directors I have worked with who I truly respect, a pro who knows what he wants, and knows what he is doing. I would very much like to work with him again in the future, and would encourage anyone else to do so. You will not find a nicer guy so focused on his work, I’m guessing it’s because he’s Italian.

If you’re still with me and are reading this, I thank you. You’ve managed to sit through and read my shambolic sentence structure and grammar without closing the page. I would like to thank Manuel once again for putting up with me for two days, and hope he enjoyed himself as much as I did.

So for now my friends, Arrivederci.

Sam

“Brand new day” by Roseanna Brown. Music video in pre-production

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

The third music video of our project boasts a very young and promising british artist: Roseanna Brown. The shooting will take place the last week of June in London. Pre-production has just started. Roseanna who is a music and drama student at Royal Holloway College in Surrey and lives in nearby Windsor, is currently recording her debut album.

Albicocche. Di Giulia Perelli

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

Forse, solo una poesia può descrivere il sapore delle albicocche. No, anche…la faccia di qualcuno che si gusta un’albicocca.
Sono giorni che penso e ripenso alle parole per commentare l’esperienza della nascita di questo videoclip, e questa cosa mi tormenta proprio come se dovessi descrivere, a qualcuno che non lo sa, il sapore di un frutto così originale (sto ancora parlando di albicocche).
Quello degli attori, è un mestiere speciale per molti motivi. Uno di questi è che lascia addosso l’anima delle persone con cui hai lavorato. Di questo scambio profondo posso parlare.
Provo un’immensa gratitudine per Manuel. Manuel de Teffé è una persona generosa non solo per ciò che dà ma, soprattutto, perchè sa ricevere. Ho avuto una grande fiducia in lui. Sapevo che avrebbe percepito ogni sfumatura delle mie emozioni perchè è un regista che “sa vedere”.
Di conseguenza, un uomo che prova stupore di fronte ai mondi delle persone. O almeno, di fronte al mio mondo.
GRAZIE, col cuore, anche agli altri complici di “Beside you”:
Francesca Bellucci, che ho sempre sentito emotivamente partecipe. Una regista (in questo caso aiuto regista) che ama il suo lavoro e una donna che ama la vita.
Gian Marco Tavani che è stato un amico, di quelli che non si stancano mai di aiutarti, e che mi ha trasmesso la sua grande positività.
Grazie a Francesco Ciccone e al suo team: sempre professionale, energico ed entusiasta.
Grazie a tutti quelli che si sono divertiti a giocare con noi.
Coltivo in me il desiderio di creare ancora, insieme…Un albero di albicocche!

Giulia Perelli

La mia esperienza di attore in un video musicale. di Gian Marco Tavani

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

Credo di sì, credo d’aver girato un videoclip con Manuel de Teffé. Dico credo perché quei 3-4 giorni sono volati nella mia mente e l’approccio al lavoro è stato talmente pratico e di collaborazione da non sembrarmi reale. L’unica idea che mi balenava finito di girare era quella di ricominciare subito a girarne un altro. Pazzesco. Pazzesco se consideriamo il modo di lavorare qui in Italia. Ma cominciamo per gradi. Il casting con Manuel è avvenuto in un bar di Roma con una bibita ghiacciata e un cellulare da cui poteva mostrarmi tutti i suoi ultimi lavori e spiegarmi “praticamente” cosa stesse cercando. In una chiacchierata di mezz’ora ha capito più lui di me di quanto mio padre in 29 anni credo. Credo di sì. Poi cominciano le riprese e si presenta con una macchina che sembra una foto-camera. Non faccio in tempo a rimanere stupito della cosa che lui ci sta già riprendendo parlandoci della scena. Nel giro di un paio d’ore avevamo già girato la parte centrale del video divertendoci come matti. A questo punto estraendo un portatile di alta tecnologia ci mostra il girato e ci spiega in che direzione vuole andare. Pratico ed efficace. Continuiamo a girare (Roma, Sabaudia…) e continuiamo a conoscerci e a un certo punto ecco che ho quella sensazione: di essere in famiglia, tra amici, senza imbarazzi e con quella voglia speciale di creare qualcosa insieme. Mi sento all’improvviso un bambino, pensavo di averne girate un po’ di cose ormai, tra film, serie TV e spot vari. Pensavo che ormai fossi rodato al lavoro…e invece ecco che all’improvviso quando meno te lo aspetti incontri quel regista che ti fa ritrovare nuovi stimoli. Ricordo momenti magici in ogni giornata che abbiamo girato, non che non mi sia capitato altre volte, ma credo che la leggerezza e la praticità di quei giorni fosse qualcosa di unico. Poi dopo una settimana eccoci tutti radunati attorno ad una pizza a vedere il risultato…spettacolare. Ringrazio tutta la squadra che è stata veramente formidabile, dall’insostituibile Francesca Bellucci alla bravissima Giulia Perelli senza dimenticare il maestro Francesco Ciccone che ha curato la fotografia della scena della festa.

Ringrazio tutti coloro che mi hanno dato la possibilità di partecipare a questo progetto che loro chiamano “videoclip” ma che per me è vita.

Gian Marco Tavani (www.gianmarcotavani.com)

“God’s plan”. Acknowledgements – part II

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

Derek Ryan and Daria Bayklova

Finally some time to properly thank the whole team behind this second video. I would like to start thanking my friend Gerry Brown (former Wot Nxt’s producer) for introducing me to Derek Ryan. A special thank to Derek, who believed in the project and trusted me: we’ve been talking on the phone since November and we never met until his arrival in Rome. And yes, it’s been an honor to work with you as well Derek! Thanks to my assistant director Francesca Bellucci and her crazy upbeat attitude, she had to reorganize several times the whole production because of an unprecedented bad weather that persisted shamelessly for the entire month of May.  DP Francesco Ciccone, who was looking forward to flying to ireland (our first plan) and ended up coping with a huge studio in Rome instead (our second back up plan). Paolo Fidemi (www.studiofidemi.it) who immediately understood the actress I was looking for. Our russian actress Daria Bayklova, whose iconic interpretation of the bride has been flawless. Olivia and Daniele Taddei, whose special care at their STUDIOS (www.studiosinternational.com) made us feel at home during the whole working process. Many thanks to assistant producers Gamey Guila and Cosimo Caroppo, make up artist Tiziana Troiano, hairdresser Anna Solazzi, wardrobe assistant Louise Unger and Bledi Beqo. And a final very special thank goes to the fantastic Gabriella Costa and the Turris Eburnea’s friends: Silvia Leone, Francesca Lione, Valentina Ercolani, Rita Civiero, Giovanni Battista Borgiani, Carlotta Gomez, Maria Mazzetti di Pietralata, Chiara Mazzetti di Pietralata, Giuseppe Scicchitano, Emanuele Vincent, Maxi Unger: you guys have been really important for the outcome of this difficult project. You have no idea.

Manuel de Teffé

“God’s plan”. Acknowledgements – part I

Posted on by Manuel de Teffé

For the amazing outcome of Derek’s video, I would like to thank the Scuola Formativo Sportiva Ritmica Roma by Noemi Sirtore, and  istruttori Goffredo Sara (tecnico e giudice uisp), Lauretti Laura ( doppia laurea in scienze motorie e scienze infiermieristiche, tecnico e giudice Nazionale Fgi, giudice internazionale uisp)

In the picture, from the left hand side: Booth Scarlet (Campionessa Nazionale uisp ), Leone Tiziana(Campionessa Nazionale uisp), prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (who visited us on the set), Booth Arlene (Campionessa Regionale uisp e 2^ class. al campionato nazionale uisp), Noemi Sirtore (Tecnico Nazionale FGI, Tecnico Nazionale Uisp, giudice Nazionale FGI, giudice Internazionale Uisp, Direttrice di Giuria Nazionale Uisp), Bonini Giulia (Campionessa Regionale uisp e 3^ class. al campionato nazionale uisp), Leone  Valentina (Campionessa Regionale e 2^ class. al campionato nazionale).

La partecipazione alle coreografie del video musicale ha dato la possibilità alle ginnaste di riproporre  i propri esercizi con un’ epressione artistica ed un contesto molto speciale, creando quella straordinaria ed armoniosa unione tra arte e ginnastica che lascerà nella loro mente il ricordo unico di questa meravigliosa esperienza.  (Noemi Sirtore)