Chapter 25
"Michele, I need to talk to you," I called, finding the door to his condo unlocked and going inside. I found him sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, and he turned in his wheeled chair and smiled.
"Yes, please come in, Tamzin," he teased, and I strode across the room, my camera bouncing lightly against me and sending a jolt of energy through me as I remembered my plan. I pulled up a chair next to his desk and sat, taking off my camera and holding it in my lap.
"Okay, so you know that short documentary that you had made about putting together the PBS special for "We Are Love?" "
"Of course," he said, tapping his pen in his palm. "Where they videoed us setting up and interviewed us about the concert."
"Exactly! It was great! The fans loved it! They loved having a peek into the background, how things get put together and how the plans are carried out! I posted some clips of it online again, just bringing it again to the attention of the Il Volovers, and they loved it! They all had good things to say about it, and some of them said they'd love to see another documentary made!"
"Yes…" he said, nodding, and I smiled, seeing I had his full attention. He waited for me to continue, and I set aside my camera on the desk and sat up straighter. "So don't you think the fans would love to see a documentary about how an Il Volo album is put together!? They'd get to see the process, see them at work in the studio…"
"Uh-oh, what am I agreeing to here?" he asked, and I smiled.
"I want to have a documentary made about the album-making process, and what better time than now, as you start on this CD!?"
"Tamzin," he sighed, and I paused, my hands in the air in front of me, illustrating my vision. "It sounds nice, but I'm not sure about this. The other one was expensive, and kind of a pain to have made. There was so much editing we had to be present for, and the company we hired got in the way of our working. Plus, that documentary was filmed in a very short period of time, and one about the album-making process would span the whole time we're putting together the album. I'm not sure if we could find a company that would-"
"I'll make it."
His voice faltered, and he raised his eyebrows at me, and then leaned back in his chair, watching me.
"You want to make it?"
"Yes! I took film classes at Harrison, and I want to try to put together this documentary. My camera is a film-camera too, not just photography, and I want to do this!"
He sighed, tapping his pen in his palm again as he observed me.
"Tamzin, I don't think you know what you're getting into."
"Maybe not. But I want to run with it!"
"We might not use it, though, if you make it."
"I know. I've taken that into account. But if it's good, then you'll want it, at least to put online or something. And it'll be good, I promise you!"
"Okay, but just know that I can't guarantee we'll use it."
"I can't guarantee I'll listen to you if you tell me not to make it."
He raised his eyebrows, stopping the rapping of the pen in his palm and studying my face.
"I'm taking care of my responsibilities, Michele, and I need a new project to focus on. You thought I'd like to go home for a while, but I want to do this instead! Give me this project!"
He was quiet, watching me and thinking, and then he slowly nodded and leaned forward, reaching out his hand to take mine and squeeze it gently in his.
"Okay…Go for it."
I immediately jumped up, grabbed my camera, and was gone, laughing excitedly as I dashed back out the condo, hearing him laughing behind me.
"Okay, first day of official recording!" I said excitedly as I stood on the steps of Ignazio's condo, filming him coming outside.
He smiled sleepily at me as he reached back inside and grabbed his mug of coffee from the cabinet. Then he shut the front door behind him and came down the steps, as I backed up to keep him in the frame.
"So how do you feel?" I asked, and he smiled sweetly at the camera as he approached me.
"Like I want my good-morning kiss- or am I not allowed to say that on camera?"
"You can say whatever you want. I'm editing it after," I reassured him, dropping the camera to my side to lean forward and kiss him.
"You'll have quite a bit of film to sift through after we're done. It's mid-March now, so you'll have…about a million hours of film," he remarked as he let me take his coffee from him and sip it.
"I'm game," I shrugged, smiling as I handed him back the mug. I stepped back and raised the camera again. "I'll also try to stay out of the way as much as possible, but I'm being very paparazzi-ish today because it's the first day of recording."
"It's okay, Tamzin," he said, and then he smiled playfully and struck a dramatic pose, "I'm used to the cameras."
I laughed.
"Then tell me, now that you've gotten your good-morning kiss, how do you feel about today?"
He held up a finger, and then leaned over and set the coffee on the pavement, turning and running back up the condo steps.
"I feel excited!" he said, and then he ran forward and jumped off the step, clicking his heels together and smiling brilliantly before he landed.
"Nice!" I said, and he took a dramatic bow and picked up his coffee again, raising it in a toast to the camera.
"To the first day of recording and documentary-filming!"
"So how does this work?" I asked, sitting with the boys on a small couch in a cramped recording studio. The producers who had come in sat at a huge switchboard, getting things ready for the recording.
"First, we each sing acapella the whole song we're trying to record," Ignazio explained, flipping through a page of lyrics in his lap. "Then the producers decide which parts we sang the best, and we add harmonies and practice it, and practice it, and practice it, and practice it, and practice it…"
I laughed, and Gianluca leaned forward to catch my eye.
"Seriously, though," he agreed, "It's intense."
"Okay!" one of the producers, whose name was Humberto Gatica, said, shushing the four of us. "Let's begin!"
Ignazio applauded, and Gatica laughed and pointed at him. "Okay, Ignazio, you can go first. Into the booth you go."
He stood and made his away across the room, and went into the little sound booth, going to adjust his microphone and his music sheet.
"Documentary girl- Tamzin, was it?" he asked, and I nodded. "I love this idea about making a documentary of the album production. You're welcome to film in the booth, if you want."
"Really?" Ignazio called eagerly from inside the booth, and I laughed.
"Really," Gatica said, holding up his hand as I jumped up, "But…you must be…"
"Absolutely silent," I assured him, as he put a finger to his lips and nodded.
"And no distracting Ignazio, though I'm sure Piero will find a way to do that before you do…"
He shot Piero a look, and he laughed and made a face.
"They just love to play around," he said, shaking his head at me.
"It'll make some good shots," I shrugged, slinging my camera over my shoulder.
"At least some good will come of it. In you go. Silence."
I nodded and went to the sound booth, stepping into the tiny soundproof room and closing the door cautiously behind me.
"Tamzin!" Ignazio shouted, breaking the silence and startling me as he bounded forward and scooped me up from the floor, holding me up and beaming up at me.
"Ignazio!" I said, shaking my head. "You have to sing!"
"I know, I know."
He turned and carried me over to the mic, setting me down beside it. "Okay," he said, putting his arm around me, "Now that I have my Tamzin, we can start!"
"Nope," I said, ducking out from under his arm and patting his cheek chasteningly. "I am not here. I'm just going to sit in the corner all day and record you and Piero and Gianluca singing…and be absolutely silent…"
I raised a finger to my lips, and he repeated my gesture, smiling playfully as he leaned his forehead against mine.
"Not you! You sing!" I instructed, and when he laughed and nodded I stepped away from him and went to the chair in the corner. I sat and held up my camera, focusing it on Ignazio and waiting.
"Okay, Ignazio! Ready!" the other producer, Tony Renis called, and Ignazio slid a set of headphones over his ears and stepped closer to the microphone, taking a breath and beginning his beautiful rendition of a traditional American song.
I sat silently in the corner, filming as Ignazio and Piero and finally Gianluca came into the booth and sang their renditions of the song. I sat listening blissfully to their beautiful voices, in my own quiet realm of photography. I was tucked away in my corner, like a fly on the wall, taking it all in as they conducted their recordings. The producers paid no attention to me, allowing me to sit quietly in the middle of the activity and capture it all on the camera. I expected the boys to pretend I wasn't there as well, but as they sang, they watched me and sang to me, especially Ignazio, who hardly ever looked away from me as he sang. All morning I sat in my spot in the corner, until they gathered together outside of the booth to listen to the recordings and decide who would sing what. It was dizzying how many times they listened to the recordings, but I was too busy filming to be bored. I pictured the documentary coming together, and I shifted and silently turned to capture the best angles I could from where I sat, documenting all the action as it happened.
At the end of the day, when we drove to the condos at dusk, Michele turned to me in the car I was riding shotgun in with him, Ignazio, Piero, and Gianluca and smiled.
"How's the filming? Are you bored with it yet?"
"Oh, no Michele!" I exclaimed, clasping my camera to my chest. "I love it!"
"Do you?"
"It's brilliant! I've never actually filmed any projects before, but the angles on the film look great! I can't believe I'm making a documentary! Oh, it's so great! This is so much fun, Michele; I can't wait for you to see it!"
I laughed, and the boys in the backseat laughed at my excitement.
"She's like a little mouse," Piero told Michele, leaning forward and poking his head in between our seats. "She's absolutely silent in the corner, just observing us and filming everything we do!"
"Oh, but have you been watching her back!?" Ignazio asked him, leaning forward beside me to kiss my cheek when I turned and smiled at him. "She's so happy! You just put a camera in her hands and she's on a roll, creating, inventing, running off with whatever project she's created!"
I laughed and nodded eagerly at him, and he kissed my cheek again.
We pulled up in front of the condos, and when Michele parked we all climbed out the car.
"Come on, I want to walk you home," Ignazio said, moving his arm warmly around my shoulders, and I nodded and walked with him away from the car.
"Oh, Tamzin," he breathed as we left the others behind us. "All day that spark's been in your eye. You've been silent and sitting in the corner, but you look so exhilarated!"
"It's so exciting!" I cried, looking up at him, and then leaping away to stand in front of him. "Ignazio, I'm single-handedly filming a documentary!"
We laughed together, and then he jumped forward and cupped my head in his hands, kissing me, before we turned and continued toward the condo.
I ran forward, ahead of him, and he jogged behind me, following me down the pathway and up the condo steps. When I reached the top I turned and waited breathlessly a moment for him to catch up.
"Let me see?" he asked, reaching for the camera, and I cautiously pulled it off and placed it slowly into his hand. He turned and simply hung it on the handle of my door, turning back to me and smiling playfully.
He reached out and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly as we both breathed heavily from the running. He held me to him and I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling his intake of breath and wrapping my arms around his back.
We were quiet, looking out into the darkening sky, and then I felt him kiss the top of my head.
"I love you, Tamzin."
"I love you too, Ignazio."
I looked up and caught him closing his eyes as I said it, and I quickly kissed him, surprising him.
He opened his eyes and smiled when I pulled back, and then I felt his arms around my waist and he lifted me up to sit on the railing of the porch, his hands around my back to keep me from falling.
I reached up and took his head in my hands and pulled him toward me, and he quickly moved closer and kissed me, his hands keeping me secure.
He moved even closer so that he was against the railing too, against me, and I let my hand slip down to his chest, feeling his warmth under the T-shirt he wore. He pulled back and smiled at me, his smile bright and energetic. He leaned his forehead again mine, his expression turning to a tender gaze, and he kissed the top of my head and then pulled back to look at me.
"Goodnight, Tamzin," he said, and I smiled.
"It's still early in the evening, Ignazio."
He smiled and shook his head.
"Not for me. I'm so tired!"
I smiled and reached up to pull him back to me so I could kiss him again, and then I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"Then goodnight, Ignazio. Sleep well."
"I will, Tamzin. You too, okay? Today was your first full day in the studio, and you need to be ready to go back and have another tomorrow. Make sure you go to bed soon, alright?"
"I will, I will."
"Get some rest, and have sweet dreams."
I nodded, and he leaned forward and kissed me again for a long moment, then stepped back and lifted me carefully from the railing and set me down on the porch.
I went to the front door and unlocked it, taking my camera from the doorknob and slinging it over my shoulder. I stepped inside and turned to him, putting a hand on the door to close it.
"One more!" he said, and then came forward and rested his hand on the door as he leaned into me and kissed me one last time. Then he stepped back and smiled happily at me.
"Goodnight."
He walked backwards as I slowly closed the door, watching me until the very last second.