The Secret Life of Words

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As in the case of the previous film, Ma vie sans moi, it was produced by Pédro and Augustín Almodóvar. Esther García was in charge of the production.
Part was filmed on a Mexican oil-drilling platform that was in Belfast for several months for repairs. We hauled our equipment onto this platform, along with our power supply, observing very strict safety regulations. We sometimes built green backgrounds to make imperceptible adjustments to certain discoveries, but the heart of the project was filmed in a studio in Madrid.
Some outdoor shots were filmed in the region of Belfast and others in the region of Madrid.
This film was completed in six weeks using 35mm film, 1.85 format - Arricam Lite camera, rented in Madrid and fitted with 120 and 300 metres magazines. We used Kodak Vision 5218 and 250 Daylight film.
The set was designed by Pierre-François Limbosch.
The first camera assistant, Juan Carlos Gorriz and the second assistant, Emili Girao, were both from Barcelona.
The gaffer, Isaías Ibañez, and his team came from Madrid and the back-up technicians were local, from Belfast and London.
The film was developed by Technicolor in Madrid and London and finalised for photochemistry in Madrid, by the grader, David Rocher.

Technique

Film stock : Kodak Vision 500 ISO Tungsten and 250 ISO Daylight
Laboratories : Technicolor London and Madrid for the development and the video rushes
Technicolor Madrid for prints
Photochemical grading : David Rocher