Understanding         Portugueses

   by Vicente Alves do Ó

Ukbar Filmes was the first production company to reply to our emails, inviting us to a meeting at their offices in Braço de Prata. We were welcomed by Diana, the production director, who wanted to understand how she could help us.

We explained our project and learned that, with the end of the recording of Rabo de Peixe for Netflix, the production company was going ahead with Portugueses, a musical directed by Vicente Alves de Ó about April 25, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the date. Diana introduced us to the pre-production of the film, including make-up, costume and hair tests, essential for the black and white visual studies of the work. We visited the costume space and learned about the reuse of pieces from other productions, as well as the work needed to recreate the aesthetic of the time.

We received the production schedule and booked a trip to several of the film's sets, which helped us understand how a production manages to maximize resources while reducing costs.