above is a photo of me and a mural found at haji lane in singapore. carlo and i had to go see this awesome street with curio shops but we were in a hurry and didnt have time to stop and make purchases. i did wish we could have stayed longer.

i finally deactivated my twitter a few days ago. i almost didnt go through with it because i thought id miss out too much on the world’s news. i have about a month before my account gets permanently deleted so i hope i dont forget to reactivate.

during the previous day’s shoot for regal film’s shake rattle & roll XV episode 2, i weaned myself from reading comics (as ive finished upto the last recent issues of the x-men, the walking dead, the massive, and saga) and finally started to read an e-book version of “hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy.” i found it easier to read white letters against a black background (perhaps due to my slight astigmatism) and i learned i could go longer without my eyes hurting.

this morning, i was going through my storage boxes in search of piano music sheets for use as props in a shoot tomorrow and i came across my unread books. i pulled out my copy of gabriel garcia marquez’s love in the time of cholera (didnt finish this in college) and started to reread it during lunch while waiting for jollibee delivery. i do miss reading and without the distractions of social media, i might actually finish this book finally, along with hitchhiker’s guide. finally. so help me God.

im both happy and sad that my favorite contestants were the top two at season’s end. it’s bittersweet that one has to bow out for the other. both sean and amanda had strong collections and was really hard for carlo and me to see only one contestant get declared the winner. and the winner of project runway season 13 is…

the cute one! congratulations to sean and to amanda!

shooting the last day of our shake rattle and roll part xv episode 2 today. it’s evening and my energy has gone down by 10.30pm. the dust in the house and maybe the weather (it’s been raining since after dinnertime) has kicked in my asthma after all that laughing this afternoon.

we’re trying to finish two big sequences with an average of 10 2-cam shots each before 3am but i reckon we’ll finish by daybreak. everybody’s brought sweets and pastries (and more food) to honor the last shoot day traditions and that might also have pushed me into my current compromised respiratory state. im trying to keep still, hoping the wheezing would also follow suit.

************

6 hours after and maybe 30 minutes into the next day’s sunrise, when all are basically walking dead, we finally hear our director call out, “it’s a wrap!” to new friends, old ones, and in-betweens, we love you all!

clockwise from top: bernard (2nd cam), mackie (dop), ara (scriptcon), bryan (sound), jerrold behind me (director), myself, relyn (ad), jaja (pa).

and this is where i am. maging proud sa body pain mo.

cesar hernando, production designer for most of mike de leon’s films (batch ’81, kisapmata), sent us invitations to revisit the college of fine arts at university of the philippines and celebrate our organization’s 16th year anniversary last saturday, 25th of october 2014. that org is CAM, Cinema as Art Movement. generally a group of film enthusiasts from fine arts who love to watch and dissect films, the org evolved to encouraging students to work on their own cinematic masterpieces and involving more to see cinema beyond entertainment. the broadness and loftiness of the concept that embodies the org’s name may lead to its own downfall but the org strived to meet each generation of members’ goals for the sake of cinema. and art. 16 years later and even 10 years since my batch has graduated, the argument on what the org really should be remain diverse; its implied goal elusive.

CAM’s pioneering members include esquire magazine’s editor-in-chief erwin romulo, photographers gary buenavista, richard de guzman, j lucas reyes, film cinematographer eli balce, and graphic artist tom estrera iii. some of the org’s advisers and supporters are cannes winner raymond red, cinematographers larry manda and dindo martinez, and independent filmmaker mes de guzman.

long ago its membership was exclusively fine arts students until the group, under my leadership in 2002, opened to accept students from other colleges in UP. we enjoyed a strong physical presence in the fine arts halls that year, aided by a healthy number of members, and even went as far as leveling up the org’s indie video film festival, inyorai, to become an intercollegiate event and saw entries coming in from ateneo, la salle, and PLM. towards the 2nd half of the year, we planned to hold workshops on various aspects of production with the hope that members and students would have the necessary know-how to produce their own works. a school year is too short and we were only able to hold 2 workshops and it was like starting from scratch the year after. such is life for a school organization.

photo of past and present chairheads of CAM

that saturday we did find ourselves again in the hallowed halls of hogwarths, communing with ghosts from the past and stray cats of the present. i was late coming into the program so i had no idea what was being discussed earlier. i had to introduce myself to the kids.

so it is with a reassured heart that we leave an impression with the young ones to continue what he had hoped to accomplish back in the day. however, i do fear (i believe) the key to success for this so-called movement lies with the alumni. and maybe even outsiders who can pursue that grand idea and move the call forward. this movement can no longer be contained in a college organization whose lifespan is limited to periods the length of a school semester before restarting its programs or do an overhaul with every new enrollment of students. maybe it’s time we pick up the camera again, this time armed with real world know-how and connections beyond the world of the academe.

class picture! i love you new cam members but i dont know all your names. on the front row are alumni from left: jopay cuntapay, peta stage writer and actress anj herjuela, tv commercial director mike talampas, esquire editor-in-chief erwin romulo, prof cesar hernando, myself, bates ad agency acd jhem manalang, prof ruben de jesus, comic book illustrator aj bernardo, graphic artist tom estrera iii, gma agency hotshot jimi diga, comic book writer and editor noel pascual, and chorva.

*special thanks to anj for sharing the last three photos in this article. for more information on Cinema as Art Movement, check out the group’s facebook page.

this was in response to an old facebook challenge on listing down top so and so of so that i didnt have time to post until now. since im not on facebook as of the moment, im posting them here. for my favorite sci-fi movies (not necessarily the best there is but a lot of them are), here is the list (in pictures) in no particular order.

and my sentimental favorite. take a guess what it is.

this was in response to an old facebook challenge on listing down top so and so of so that i didnt have time to post until now. since im not on facebook as of the moment, im posting them here. for my favorite sci-fi movies (not necessarily the best there is but a lot of them are), here is the list (in pictures) in no particular order.

and my sentimental favorite. take a guess what it is.

this is awesome.

a piece of news has gone viral locally about a dutch restaurant displaying the portrait of filipino actor cherie gil mistaken as the real maria callas. read about the news article here. i do wonder how stupid and lazy the artist could get to not have done his research properly, with the internet giving him hundreds of photos of the opera singer and he ends up picking the wrong one. this, however, amuses and thrills me no end. we were fortunate enough to have watched cherie’s powerful performance as maria callas in terence mcnally’s master class in manila in 2008 and up to this day, i still get goosebumps thinking about it. this maybe akin to people watching for the first time lea salonga perform as kim in 1989 or experience ted neely rock it out in the cinema as jesus christ. it is life changing. char.

i dont know if i would want to berate the artist for being so stupid or if i should just praise gil (and her team of stylists) for fooling the dutch portrait artist. for good measure, here is a photo (lifted from the net; i dont own rights to any of the photos ive posted in this article with the exception of the screencap) of the real maria callas.

excited to see a much more meatier trailer for INTO THE WOODS now out on youtube.

.

INTO THE WOODS, written by stephen sondheim (words and music) and james lapine (book), is a musical originally staged on broadway in 1987. disney picked up the material about this subversive entanglement of fairy tale characters, most of which theyve made famous in animated features, and decided to produce the movie version with rob marshall (chicago) directing.

ive seen the awesome PBS recorded version of the broadway show so many times we might actually have stretched the betamax magnetic strip to render it unviewable. the original cast (bernadette peters, chip zien, joanna gleason, etc.) holds a special place in my heart so i do struggle thinking how this film might water down so many nuances and bold, adult themes and the trailer right now looks too serious for such a funny (and serious) material and it may turn out to be an inferior version. the film cast may be promising but the original broadway cast’s performance was so perfect, so, however, still, regardless, i have mixed feelings of excitement and fear and am anxious and thrilled and constipated and giddy and doing an i-have-to-pee dance in fevered anticipation. ugh. cant wait!

if you wanna see the PBS show before this movie comes out in the theaters, come by the house to watch. special screening!

sometimes the things you most wish for are not to be touched.

careful the things you say, children will listen. careful the things you do, children will see and learn.

drew a kitchen set design that was eventually cut out from the director’s treatment of that particular tv commercial project. playing on blacks and neutral colors (cappuccino maybe) and brushed aluminum steel for the appliances, plus bright vintage acrylic lamps in orange for a pop of color.

in reality i wouldnt put the oven right next to the refrigerator but sometimes for a commercial, one has to employ creative license and in a second or two, establish the whole kitchen in a wide shot and in the succeeding frame show why the oven had to be positioned at the back of the talent standing behind the counter.

posting that drawing here. drawn via app on the ipad using paper by 53.

this was in response to an old facebook challenge on listing down top so and so of so that i didnt have time to post until now. since im not on facebook as of the moment, im posting them here. for my favorite sci-fi movies (not necessarily the best there is but a lot of them are), here is the list (in pictures) in no particular order.

and my sentimental favorite. take a guess what it is.

while doing research and working out the production design for the feature film, heneral luna, i got inspired by a scene from the script and decided to draw a sketch with antonio luna lost in thought playing his guitar and is about to be interrupted by his mother at the door. sketch is obviously unfinished but up to today i dont have the heart to finish it.

im sure a lot of you agree. in the depth and darkness of the crevices of your soul, you weep with joy for the 1st comment or like you ever get and thank the heavens for the validation of your being. nowadays, you are worth your likes. such a sad commentary of our times.

i am liked, therefore i am. chos.

manix will forever be my idol. comic strip originally appeared on gma news online. link here.

waiting for interstellar to start. so this would be the first movie carlo and i are watching in a cineplex since mariquina in august but that was at the UP film center so it’s sort of not counted. before that, we watched k’na and kasal during the cinemalaya film festival at the ccp in june. so that’s sort of also not counted. i watched lucy with my mom first week of july though. awesome. excited for interstellar! nolan, let’s do dis!

sure im off facebook. i do have a new game app addiction though. i went through farmville and pvz years back. it’s been a while since i got hooked on a game (my last one was pocket planes). my new addiction would be x-men’s battle of the atom game app on iOS and android. ive been playing for a month+ now and it’s enough to drive carlo insane about my playing hours ;-)

it’s like the card games in the 90s except everything is virtual. you evolve cards to make it stronger but unlike real cards that wont change color or power levels, your virtual cards change looks as well. you play with teams composed of strangers from different parts of the globe and battle with still other strangers every 4 hours of the day for 30 minutes. i havent played any of the card strategy games for real so this is all new to me and im loving it!

ive a long way to go compared to teammates who have hit above level 200s and have card decks with attack levels in 6 digits. i just got invited to join a team that’s ranked top 12 in the game so im stoked. they go as far as having a chat group to discuss strategies and all that jazz and be a real team. it’s kinda what i was hoping for in my previous team. there was promise but the leaders never delivered hence i jumped ship. i actually learned more chatting with a member from the new team in one sitting than the whole time i stayed with my old team. let’s see how far i can take my cards now. to battle!

this was in response to an old facebook challenge on listing down top so and so of so that i didnt have time to post until now. since im not on facebook as of the moment, im posting them here. for my favorite sci-fi movies (not necessarily the best there is but a lot of them are), here is the list (in pictures) in no particular order.

and my sentimental favorite. take a guess what it is.

looked forward to watching some movies in last year’s mmff mainly because i was involved in one of them. then because some of my friends were involved in other films too. our views can get biased but i could also be rather honest. here’s my two cents’ worth. dont worry, di ako mataas magscore talaga. lol.

.

movie 1: SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL XV

EPISODE 1: AHAS

casting wise, erich gonzales made a pretty ahas. in parts i liked her acting but i didnt like her swaying motions. the ahas design was good and i especially liked when dad ariel was holding the baby ahas in his arms. i didnt catch if alice dixon died or left the family, generally i just thought she was underused. i wished they could have shot in a better looking mall. i liked the cg statue. the set design of the ahas lair was pretty well made. this was one movie this year that referenced gollum’s schizofreakazoid conversations with himself. the other was kubot. writing for this could have been better actually. least favorite of the three. score 2/5

EPISODE 2: ULAM

this was the episode we were involved in. jerrold tarog directed his script written with zig marasigan. mackie galvez shot the movie with me as production designer, carlo working on costumes, and carmen on makeup and prosthetics. technically very well made and well-fleshed out script. editing was well paced and color grading was pretty and spot on. im impressed how tight dennis and carla’s performances were in the film. chanda was lovely to work with and extraordinary onscreen. i asked her to not put makeup on, i felt it would help her character. carlo built the aling lina look out of her dusters and aprons. i always hated lengthy climactic expositions. for someone who have read the script before, despite how well made it came out, i take off 1 brownie point. i love you, guys ;-) an epilogue was shot but was taken out of the final cut. also, if this was lined up as the 3rd episode, SRRXV would have been a better movie. score 3.5/5

EPISODE 3: FLIGHT 666 

i loved this episode, especially because they were able to shoot in a plane. there wouldnt really be a point shooting this material if they werent able to get that location! from the get-go, from the minute joy viado stepped into frame i got it this was a cray cray episode and i enjoyed it. silly and no logic whatsoever. you just had to enjoy it. the epilogue was totally unnecessary (SPOILER: -may isospoil pa ba ang formula films?- when rocky salumbides as a halimaw appears at the end) hence the score 3.5/5

overall, SRRXV was a surprise because i enjoyed it. and writing this “review” article is already getting me bored. moving on.

.

MOVIE 2: ENGLISH ONLY PLEASE

this was a real crowd pleaser. there were also a lot of people behind this film that are friends. i know tonette jadaone from college because she submitted a short film to our film festival competition thing at UP. i used to call her, “jada-one,” (referenced to padawans from star wars, whatever). this is a romcom but it broke all sorts of romcom formulas and although you know how it would probably end, you just smile through the movie and marvel at derek’s broad shoulders. ok, also jennylyn’s porselana skin. the writing is particularly smart and maybe it can still do a little more tweaking but it’s almost perfect. im not sure if derek should have won best actor but he was better than robin in bonifacio. sorry, robin. on hindsight, i applaud derek ramsay’s subtle acting as a fil-am business guy taking a 30 day off vacay to forget his girlfriend by flying to the philippines and hoped to blow her off with tagalog. and not sweating at all in humid weather. tonette, ano to? lol. but his accent was just right and his abs rounded it off for a rather convincing performance. whut? jennylyn was awesome in this movie. she was disarmingly cute and still smart despite being tanga in love. the design was very colorful but on another note, it looked too much like a star cinema movie and im not sure if they were aiming to be that or not. nevertheless, the design could have helped define characters more than just putting pretty colors everywhere. i am in awe that this production got to shoot in an actual SM mall. im so jealous haha generally, all the awards this film got was well deserved. score: 4/5

.

MOVIE 3: KUBOT: THE ASWANG CHRONICLES

this i looked forward to. worked on the first movie (tiktik aswang chronicles) as designer alongside peter colias (scenic designer for moulin rouge, the matrix and whatnot). this sequel went much more crazy than the first one and it was awesome. maybe the movie could have been edited a tad bit shorter and that factory sequence a bit tighter but overall it was all fun. the concept on the design was awesome. it doesnt make sense that the roof of a hut on a building’s rooftop would be made with window blinds but it worked. that gorgeous opening scene was something out of ridley scott’s prometheus! but as wonderful as the design on the kubot clan were, i was kinda perplexed on the too subtle differences the character design were for the remaining aswang clans. nevertheless, isabel looked awesome and id love to have her home’s curtains! lotlot was outstanding in this movie. congrats direk erik! kudos to ericson navarro and his art department for wining best pd and makeup, and the naked dave yu (naked in that factory scene; some things you can never unsee hahaha) for best visual effects. deserving win as well. score: 3.5/5

.

MOVIE 4: BONIFACIO: ANG UNANG PANGULO

technically this was the movie i saw first but posting last because of the picture above. lol. this movie had a lot of potential to be truly awesome. gorgeous sweeping shots, soaring orchestrations, the works. yet, sometimes, nothing can mask a rather weak script. one thing i thought of after the movie ended was that, that was it? yun lang ba dinaanan ni bonifacio sa buhay niya? it felt rather thin. and those present day sequences were unnecessary. early on in the movie, i loved the musical score. however, towards the end i started sensing a familiar motiff and then it hit me. the da vinci code! even the katipunan museum “steadicam” shot was reminiscent of that camera swoop through the louvre. nevertheless, i know von de guzman along with wildsound deserved their best music and sound design wins. special mention to carlo mendoza winning for cinematography, enhancing roy lachica’s wonderful sets. vina morales could have easily won best actress for this, i have to admit. her scenes were heartbreaking. robin, however well-intentioned, remained robin padilla, not andres bonifacio. i have to say, the controversy raised by this production was rather awkward and embarrassing. huwag na pagpilitan ang mga bagay na di naman para sa inyo. i feel tama ang pagbigay ng lahat ng mga awards this year. besides, bonifacio already reaped most of the awards. be content. honestly, because of this sourgraping, i was turned off a lot by this movie. hayy. back to regular programming. ay tapos na pala. score 2.5/5

so durr. carlo has a lot more to add but he might as well write another blog about it. i might just catch the amazing praybeyt benjamin on tv soon enough. feng shui 2 as well. i enjoyed the first one. just a sad reality (though nothing serious) for the mmff to be more of a sequel festival than showcasing original material. if the new template would be ENGLISH ONLY PLEASE, then im hoping next year wala nang sequels/prequels or rehashed formula films. dapat original material lahat. but dont hold your breath. asa ka pa. ;-) ok, quiet na ako. cheers and have a happy new year.

ps. at centrio mall in cagayan de oro, movie tickets cost only P151. that’s watching in an ayala mall cinema with awesome sound and seats! gateway cubao tickets cost us P231 per head. cinemas 6 and 7 (where srr and kubot were shown) was a much more smaller theater but had a great projector (a bit cropped though), crystal clear and bright image projection, and awesome sound system. cinema 1 (where EOP) was rather bad: dull colors, sound not as good as the other cinemas.

watched INTERSTELLAR (2014, christopher nolan) last november 13 and never got to blog about it. for the most part, i got lazy. but maybe also because it took me a long time to recover haha so did i like it?

i did not like it. i loved it! i just posted a list of my favorite sci-fi movies here weeks before watching and i need to revise it now. first of all, i wont start comparing it to 2001: a space odyssey because i dont think anything else can compare to that 1968 masterpiece. my cousin asked me if INTERSTELLAR reminded me of contact too. surprisingly it did not, knowing that jodi foster movie is in my list of favorites. in parts, i was more reminded of sunshine, sphere, and moon. i was mostly excited that the young murphy grew up to be jessica chastain. how awesome is that, right? i avoided reading about the movie prior to watching because im now easily dissuaded to love it esp if a lot more people are saying the movie is pretty good because i tend to be disappointed instead. the end went a bit off for me but i enjoyed the movie already too much to be bothered about it too much.

mcconaughey and chastain were great casting choices, hathaway was kinda meh. damon was a surprise. the rest of the cast were wonderful. hans zimmer’s musical score was great, as usual. on closer look, the redesigned space suits and their textures were gorgeous, courtesy of costume designer mary zophres. kudos to the design team with nathan crowley (also having worked with nolan in the batman series) as production designer, set decorator gary fettis, and art director superviser dean wolcott.

i wont bother explaining the film, in general it was pretty straightforward although carlo and i had to discuss lengthily afterwards on some things, which after doing research we were right on our presumptions. read here if you indeed wanna understand the film. the graph can get crazy but like the film, you might need to be in a certain mood to absorb the information. click on the photo below.

saw an ad posted on facebook advertising custom made stamps of illustrations done by robert alejandro. i met tito robert eons ago but got to spend more time with him when he came to have dinner at our pop-up restaurant, blumentritt cafe, 4 years ago. i teasingly call him tito (uncle) robert not because of his tv persona in the defunct show, art is kool, but just because. he used to be part of cheche lazaro’s probe team and is the RO in papemelroti.

i emailed him end of december inquiring if he’d consider doing a non-human and i attached a photo of pogi, our late chinese shar-pei who/which passed away february 2014. i received an email telling me how to send payment details and i told myself, ill do this probably when i get back to manila by jan 5. to my surprise, a few days after i got back here i received a courier package and it contained the now-finished stamp! i was thrilled it was soo cute.

the package contained the original signed sketch by robert alejandro, the stamp in a cardboard box, a stamp pad, and some postcards of tito robert’s fashion illustrations used in an ad for a real estate development. underneath the sketch is the quick sketch (displayed underneath the glass top of our dining table) he did when he was in blumentritt cafe in 2011.

it however took me almost the whole month to make a deposit for the stamp’s payment. eventually i did and that is why im only posting about this now. thank you, tito robert, this is soo gorgeous. i believe the custom-made stamps are a limited deal so check out tito robert via email at mto.rubberstamps@gmail.com if you want your stamps made. stamps are php 1499, including shipping. cheers!

the sprite tv commercial airing locally in the philippines last december may be confusing to some, knowing there was an indian version of it (click here to watch it). sometimes when a company’s tvc from some other region becomes successful, clients either allow that tvc to air in other territories or produce a similar ad with local talents and reflecting local culture. this sprite commercial is a mixture of both.

the gorgeous teacher, chalo apni chaal, from the original is clearly indian, with her sari costume, and the scene set in some church with vaulted doorways and stone walls. the reverse shot of the guys can pass off for the pinoy tv audience, though they are not necessarily filipino looking. we only needed to replace the shots of the teacher then.

somewhere in the series of meetings with creative heads, it was decided we avoid situating our version in a church. i tried to find a non-sectarian location that would tie up to the high-ceiling space and big doorways of the boys’ reverse shots (and maybe nobody will notice the left side of the shot that showed the painted glass windows). i thought a backroom of some auditorium or the side of a stage could nicely pair it up without getting too left field. cinematic license if you must. some groups do use backstage areas for music rehearsals or hold workshops where music equipment are kept.

my initial inspiration for the set design was the westminster abbey in the da vinci code, which actually used the interiors of the lincoln cathedral in the movie. so i was putting the church feel and merging it with the backgstage look. sketched out the set design on my ipad for presentation.

eventually the set design was revised to look like this (with photos of instruments scattered all over the set because i was trying to build less flats (panels) and install stage curtains on the right for illusion of depth. id have the rolling scaff as foreground as well. agency wanted me to add some filipino string instruments in the background so i added hegulungs (or kudyapi, depends on who you ask).

refining my paper app drawing of the set design with real-world measurements by going the google sketchup route by the time we started construction. this became the color guide as well for my painters.  further reduced the number of flats in this version, thereby cutting my construction costs further down. i also utilized the actual look of the studio if ever anything would be “peeking” beyond my built set.

here’s the finished set, dressed up and lit. head carpenter (setman) is the famous abrio. on the guitars behind the drum set is cinematographer odie flores.

we cast patricia tumulak, a pageant beauty currently groomed for binibining pilipinas, as the teacher. i hope she makes it to the top. more stills from the shoot

.

.

production house: filmex
director: ianne co
cinematographer: odie flores
production design: benjamin padero
wardrobe stylist: carlo tabije
assistant director: kristi gallaga