Filming Where Did We Lose Each Other in Barcelona!

Written by Your Favorite Enemies. Posted in From Upper Room To Higher Sky Tour

We left Cannes who was covered in a very uniform grayish dress, white and very light yellow buildings offering very little contrast through the van windows blurred by raindrops. We were sad to leave this place, as it already holds so many meaningful memories for us, making the weather a perfect representation of our feelings. But at the same time, we were at peace, knowing that those memories were not located in Cannes, but that we were bringing them with us on the road, now a part of who we are. 

We stopped at the FNAC, French music stores chain, and bought some music DVDs, figuring out that we’d endure the screen as it was…!

So far, having slept only a very few hours a night, making our nights closer to naps than actual “nights”, we all enjoyed the ride and the few additional hours of sleep we were graced with! No snoring turbines, but I can tell you that most of us woke up their mouths pretty dry!

At around 8pm, all awake, we decided to watch a DVD, Ramones’ RAW documentary, filmed by Marky Ramone, showing the band on tour and backstage… A truly impressive documentary, which title totally fit the contents. If you’re a fan of the Ramones, or a fan of music in general, and that you haven’t watched this yet, I strongly suggest it for your next movie night! 

We arrived in Barcelona at around 10pm and started unloading the gear and bring it into the apartment. The good news is our apartment is very large, the bad one is the elevator is broken! Hopefully, it’s on the first floor, so it helps (a little)! Jeff received a call from the producer of the video, who wanted to meet us right away! Super excited about the video (and happy not to have to unload), we went to meet him… It was great walking those same streets we walked so often when we came last year in October, as it brought back so many memories… Even in February, the city is alive and filled with people… Yes, we are in love with that city! As Alex said, this city is our home away from home! The time we had with the producer was incredible! He is just as excited as we are about the filming of this video clip, the different scenes, the script, the locations! His enthusiasm made us even more enthusiastic! 

We came back to our apartment and told everything to the other band members, while telling them about the scenario, which had until then been kept secret! This scenario is one that Alex developed, based on one of the multiple layers of understanding that there can be to the song. We shared a meal and decided to go to bed early… Well, that is until we started talking about us, us as a family, including all of you, about the funny stories we’ve heard, about what we have been through, about who we have become, about the blessings we have received and are still learning to count… Then we skyped the family at the HQ and then we went to bed early… Or 2 am! Not exactly the definition of early, but it’s surely not that late in the YFE universe. Some of us pushed it, and went to bed past 4… 😉

6:30am, alarm clock! One of the worst feelings ever! But hey, the excitement didn’t have time to fade in those 2 hours of sleep, so waking up, at least for me, hasn’t been that hard. Quick detour at the Starbucks, and we were on our way to the filming location! 

Old wooden door, brick walls, interior court of what used to be an ancient castle… This is where we are going to film today! We haven’t set foot in the place that we are already in love with it! The door opens, it’s dark, it’s cold, it’s humid… Wow! We meet the producer we will be working with today, as well as the whole crew and actors! It’s early in the morning, everybody went to bed way too late, but we are all very excited about being here! 

Passion was at the rendez-vous from the very first moment we started filming! Lots of contrast between light and dark, not only with the lights but also in the play between the different characters and during the band’s live performance (and what a performance!), as well as in the camera play with the different shots, large or close. 10 hours of filming! And at the end of the day, completely exhausted, shivering and without any sensation in our feet anymore, even more excited than we were at the beginning! 

Another short night and we were on our way to the first of 2 filming  locations for today! A small place, but with a truly wonderful vibe. Clear, well lit, mostly white, and very warm, it seemed to be the complete opposite of where we were yesterday! We spent only a few hours over there, but those 2 hours were soulful and heartfelt! 

And we were on the way to the next filming location! We couldn’t believe how fast time went by! After getting a little lost on the way there, trying to turn back with the huge English touring van in the narrow Spanish streets, we made our way to the top of a mountain, in a place called The Bunker, that was used when the civil war was raging in Spain. 3:30pm, the  sun is shining… In what has been one of the most beautiful day in Spain, as in the distance we could see an island, Mallorca, something that had not happened in 15 years. Usually, even on good days, the island is invisible to everyone… A little wink reminding us that this video clip is blessed beyond measure! This mountain was very close to the one we’ve climbed last time we were in Barcelona, we could see it from our viewpoint… And it was a great testimony of yet another meaningful moment that we have allowed to change our lives. We stayed there until sunset, until the lights of Barcelona would start shining from down below instead of up high above us. 

Being too many people, we went back home in 2 groups. Miss Isabel and I with most of the crew, and the rest of the band with a few other crew members. And on both sides, we’ve had incredible discussions, meaningful moments, talking about us, about life in general, about the Catalan culture, about traveling & discovering who we are through it. Being stuck in traffic has never been that nice! 

Arrived in downtown Barcelona, we said goodbye to one another, promising we would meet again very soon. Then Miss Isabel and I ran to The Cat Factory, a bakery owned by very good friends of ours and that we discovered last time we were in Barcelona. They had prepared a special birthday cake for Jeff, in secret. So we ran through the small backstreets, trying to read the map as well as possible, finding ourselves in dead ends quite a few times…! We managed to make it in time to pick up the cake! On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at a public place that was having a multimedia presentation, outside, on the walls of a church. It’s February, people are gathered outside, taking pictures and filming, having a good time, and taking the opportunity to meet some new people at the same time… Yes, welcome to Barcelona!

We hopefully arrived before Jeff and thus succeeded in making this a complete surprise to him. We also went to buy one of his favorite food – burgers – as well as wine to make it a perfect evening for him. I mean, what more could you ask for? Burger, red wine, and cake… Perfect match, no? 😉 

And as I am finishing those lines, we are about to leave for a traditional Catalan restaurant, to celebrate the filming of the video clip for Where Did We Lose Each Other… But especially to celebrate the new friendships that were built during this filming! 🙂 

– Stephanie 

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Comments (1)

  • Ben (YFE)

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    What an adventure it is to be in this amazing family! One day you’re in Cannes, and the day after you’re in Barcelonia shooting a video…lol! I feel so privileged to live all those crazy experiences. What touches me the most sincerely is not the big production or anything… but to realize that we are really building new friendships every time we’re working with new people. It’s funny to meet producers, actors and technicians on the set to finally end up super close to each other 3 days after. That’s what I love the most about those moments… I realize even more the privilege of meeting new people and discovering their stories. To know that our music has been able to gather people from as far as Catalonia to share a moment with us always touches my heart so much. As for us in the band, we never lived an honest and real peace like that between each other ! Can’t wait to see what’s next !

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