Human Ken doll is filmed in São Paulo

For some it might be wonder or shock; for others, prejudice is the first reaction when they see Rodrigo Alves, a human Ken doll and a Brazilian television personality who has transformed his appearance through plastic surgery. A Story Productions crew accompanied Rodrigo for a two-day shoot in São Paulo, the city where he grew up, for a special report for German broadcaster Sat.1.

The shoot took in a handful of locations. First up, Rodrigo met with his plastic surgeon before taking a walk along Avenida Paulista, São Paulo’s main financial avenue. “It was difficult to film Rodrigo amongst the crowds,” explains the Story Productions sound operator. “Traffic stopped and people stopped to take selfies with Rodrigo, but that was exactly the reaction we wanted to capture on camera.”

The Story crew had to be agile to make sure that Ken wasn’t swamped, but to also capture the excitement on camera as well as vox pops with locals on their reaction to seeing him. Filming in crowded situations takes experience, something we have plenty of, from Carnaval street parties to major sporting events.

We also filmed Rodrigo appearing on one of Brazil’s most popular chat shows, doing a live performance in the studio. It wasn’t all about the sensationalism that comes with embodying a plastic doll, however. Sat.1 wanted us to capture the emotional, personal side of the trip – Rodrigo going back to visit his old school where he was bullied, and meeting his family, some of whom barely recognised him after so much surgery. A big family reunion was the climax of the shoot and it demanded tact from the Story Productions producer to get the balance right between capturing the tension on camera whilst having the sensitivity to respect the family’s space.

“Rodrigo is a TV professional and he knows better than anyone what he has to do when the camera is on,” explains the Story Productions producer. “We had to create a friendly, positive environment so that he could do what he knows how to do best. We did this by having empathy, respect, no prejudice and a team that is cohesive and knows how to work together.”

For Rodrigo, that made all the difference; "The Story Productions team was great. The cameraman and the sound guy were both very proactive. The producer was very experienced, and it made my work much easier. Their creativity and experience meant we were able to get more done in a day, and film more content.”