remember that scene from “The Devil Wears Prada” where an associate editor had to choose between 2 belts before miranda priestly laments on cerulean sweaters and gowns? i never really gave it a thought it would happen at Landmark but there we were, Carlo​ and i taking 20 minutes just to pick one out of the hundred similar-looking WHITE CERAMIC SOUP BOWLS on display. too shallow, not too white, rim too wide, not enough rise, lip should be angled, too much angle, not enough angle.
.
juice colored.

“it’s a tough call. they’re so different.”

at eto yung bowl. #ilovemyjob #ilovemyjob #ilovemyjob #emilyforever

stop and rest awhile. keep still. breathe. the Lord is with you.

there are movies that move you to tears and some to laughter. this one makes you scream and curse and rage and hyperventilate over the awesomenessofitall. it drives you mad. to the max. now i understand.

a lot have been said over the direction and the design (the costumes and car designs have been unanimously praised) of the movie and i agree with everything. it’s so awesome it blows my mind. the musical score and sound design were phenomenal; i especially love the visual aspect of the score pairing the army drummers onscreen with the kickass doof warrior character doing riffs on that rig, it’s insane! george miller. colin gibson. jenny beavan. junkie xl. john seale. tom hardy. charlize theron. nicholas hoult. they’re all insane!

another thing i love about it was the practical effects the director took lengths to do. it harks back to the days when cg was so low tech and most people do live effects and puppets and all to create a tangible, physical world to shoot in. i dont know if they shot in film as well (too tamad to research) but the look was just gorgeous and the effect visceral that if it were not for the 3D glasses i had on, i swear i was back in the old decripit theater downtown in my province in the 80s gawking at the fast paced road rage going onscreen.

i hate 3D but if there was anything you needed to see in 3D iMAX this year, this is it. 5/5

i cried again watching this movie for the 2nd time. this clearly is not only an homage to the best magazine in the world, not just to film photography, but to the very core moments of life where you need to stop and take it all in, those moments and experiences that are just needed to be lived, an adventure by itself. i just had to watch this again, this time in 1080p. the cinematography is gorgeous and every thing building up to that end sequence just tugs at my heartstrings so hard id break. easily one of the best movies. EVER.

While having my overpriced but precious caffé mocha soy milk no whipped cream coffee for breakfast in makati, i chanced on this news article about rising unemployment rate in the philippines (link here). A migrants group was saying the rise is more now during/because of president aquino’s government, contrary to what the former might have said about migration becoming less during his term. While the article may be trying to be objective, it’s kinda off hook because the article did not mention anything about new graduates, children growing up ang trying to find new jobs, population rising and not getting accommodated in a non-expanding 7,107 island archipelago.

Right after the article, some related news articles are posted. Let’s put things in proper perspective. Here’s the screencap.

#agaaga

worked on the DOH ad about prenatal checkups for moms in their 1st trimester pregnancies. sent this out to my setman carrying minor technical instructions. ive tried google sketchup years ago but it was only last year that i relied on it to furnish my construction crew with clearer plans instead of my normal hand drawn sketches.

Lion trophies. Gwen and Gavin. Climate change. Binay as president. The world is dead as we know it.

HENERAL LUNA is in the last stretch of school tours and promotions prior to the movie’s release on september 9, 2015 and artikulo uno has already released a series of behind the scenes featurettes, including a production design video featuring carlo and myself. however, let me take you further behind the scenes and the design process for one of the sets featured in the current trailer, including trying to meet requirements for our first day of shoot.

a lot of the movie’s intense scenes was staged in this convent room where president aguinaldo’s cabinet staff would meet to discuss (argue) plans for the impending conflict against the americans.

we’ve started reading and studying the heneral luna script august of 2013.  the script called for the cabinet meeting to happen in a convent. historically, the philippine government often had to move around and meet where it would be convenient and church convents would be akin to board rooms/conference rooms in our modern life setting. by this time, our govt had been driven out of manila and aguinaldo held office in the provinces. i started researching on visual pegs with photos of convents in the 1890s and any local government meetings i could find.

here are some photos of church convents in europe in the late 1800s. as a general rule, anything that is 1898 or earlier is acceptable but i tried to find photos taken in 1898 to catch details that were different from anything earlier of the period.

archive photos of government meetings we looked at included these ones here (sorry, i may not be able to provide complete credits and links from where i originally sourced these on the web; credits would go to their respective owners).

although the photo below happened after 1899 (look at what seemed to be an older manuel quezon 2nd person from the left), i was basically going for the feel of the setup and how they were seated.

this photo below from the philippine american war website shows gen. gregorio del pilar seated third from left. this was the 2nd Filipino Peace Commission that happened May 19-20 1899 with del pilar as head.

our location managers then presented different options of churches with convents or some multi-purpose hall we could use. eventually we picked tanay church and made an ocular of the room.

based on this location, i then proceeded to draw out the floor plan of the room, chose fabric for curtains, what set panels needed to be added, and the like. this also included going through hundreds of photos of props we could get and rent or buy to furnish the set. i had to remind myself we were working on a budget and this room will only be shot for 2 scenes so i cant go overboard with spending on props. in general, anything that i purchase for this room should and can be recycled to furnish other scenes. the curtains reappeared in aguinaldo’s room, the planters in other office scenes, and so on and so forth.

my sketch is dated february 28, 2014.

notes on my sketch and assignments on who is in charge of procuring them props or if they were set builds. we were only shooting in this location for 1 day and it was also our very first day of shoot, scheduled on march 27, 2014. everybody was excited and anxious.

the costume department had a stressful time as well because it took the casting team a while before the actors for the whole cabinet could be locked in a day before the shoot. we’ve already had some generic sized suits tailored but we cant say if they’d fit well yet. some actors were cast early on like buddy caramat, who we dressed up as a chinese businessman, along with leo martinez, menggie cobarrubias, and nor domingo. the rest we had to rush tailor their suits, which were finished just a few hours before camera grind.

in the meantime, the director, jerrold tarog, and cinematographer, pong ignacio, just finished shotlisting the whole film on the day before we started shooting. i held office at the artikulo uno warehouse and was occasionally called over for clarifications or revisions on layout and setup in relation to their camera angles and framing.

photo of jerrold and pong’s shotlisting camera angles with the whole cast marked by toy soldiers and the camera as an army tank. jerrold and i would additionally discuss whether i can put additional furniture pieces in areas that i feel should have those despite jerrold’s actors bumping into them. as a director, he would normally have his way so on occasion i dont tell him everything so he cant kill off my ideas even before we get to the set.

i shot a video that evening where we celebrated with wine.

a sharp contrast to the relaxed tone (thanks to the wine) in the artikulo uno’s conference room is the organized chaos in the art department warehouse. here’s a video i took of the staff that night while going through last minute checks and reminders. like i mentioned, you can never have enough time to be ready so we were also discussing about props needed in 2 shoot days ahead of time. ive already plotted out service pickup schedules and calltimes on the white board. carlo had to double check dressing up actors in either gala military uniforms or business suits in the convent scene.

.

a short clip upon arrival at the location in tanay at 4AM. we had about an hour’s rest while traveling to the site. the set guys did an awesome job and now it’s time to burn some candles (also on limited supply) and smoke some cigars, leaving ash on the table for effect.

pong ignacio, cinematographer. i shot this as i was about to step out of the room prior to a take.

it was a successful first day of shoot for HENERAL LUNA. sandwiching antonio luna (john arcilla) in the photo are jerrold tarog and ed rocha, producer. woot woot!

watch this featurette on HENERAL LUNA’s production design featuring carlo and myself. the video was produced by artikulo uno and directed by jp habac. cheers!

the last two weeks have been overwhelming really. from the premiere of HENERAL LUNA to the jitters prior to opening day and now we are on the 2nd week of HENERAL LUNA. we opened with 95 theaters, whittled down to 45 for the second week only to pickup and reach 70 by friday today. we only wanted to do a good movie and the phenomenon that this film has become is crazy. we can only be grateful and humbled by it. as our producer, ed rocha, explained on cnn, this movie has become bigger than ourselves. a lot of people have taken ownership of it and generally, we couldnt ask for more.

reposting here in its entirety a few words from our producer, ed rocha, and executive producer, nando ortigas, posted online 3 days ago:

Dear All,

This is simply to take this occasion, this profound moment in time, to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your patronage, for your support, especially to those who’ve been relentlessly plugging away on Facebook or via social media, or by text, or even in person to spread the word and

promote our film to others.

We are very, very touched.

For all of us—the entire cast and crew and team behind HENERAL LUNA—this has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of our lives. To be honest, it is life changing. To constantly hear applause in different theaters at the end of the film, as the credits roll, is for us a reward that’s beyond our wildest dreams when we first ventured doing this film. Many of us ask ourselves, when was the last time we heard an audience applaud at the end of a film, Filipino or otherwise, in so many theaters? And to see your FB postings, Twitter and Instagram messages, collectively and individually (especially from those who’ve watched the film more than twice already in the first week alone) moves us so deeply, beyond any words can truly express. And there are those of us who suddenly heard from people we haven’t heard from in ages—long lost cousins, exes, former classmates or invisible FB friends who suddenly made themselves known and wanted to show their appreciation for our work, for this film. Indeed, the love that you’ve all shown us has made their way into our hearts, carving a mini-monument of sorts dedicated to the heroism of Heneral Luna and the heroes who’ve lived before us, and to those who continue to live in our midst today. This is something that will stay with us for as long as we live.

Which is perhaps why reality hurts even more. Earlier today, we’ve been advised that we will be losing more than half of our theaters—that from 101 screens, we will be down to somewhere close to 40. We know, on one hand, we should be lucky to even have those, thanks to our distributor, (and for that we’re truly grateful to all of you), but on the other hand, we’re saddened that this movie has to go away before many more of you can see it, before its full audience potential can be realized. Believe us please, when we say, that while it’s important for us that this movie recoups its investment and more, it is ultimately not about box-office, not about money.

When this movie’s initial draft was first written, it was not written at all with the thought of writing a commercial blockbuster. And when we cast the film, we merely wanted to cast the most brilliant actors who were perfect for their roles. It was not based on who’s the biggest box-office draw. And creative decisions that were made (by our genius director Jerrold Tarog) while making the film were not based on “kilig,” not on what would please the audience most, but based on what would be best for the film, artistically and narrative-wise.

Of course, the beautiful irony of it all is that, now, through some magic, we’ve been rewarded with a film that is pleasing its audiences to no end—with a film that’s entertaining, enlightening, and educational. While theaters may have pulled this movie out, we strongly believe that that this movie now has a life of its own. Yes, YOU all have given this film a life of its own. And while we may have made this movie about a slice of Philippine history, YOU now are all a part of history–our history.

So, as we say thank you once again, please keep the fires burning, please keep the spirit alive. If the film is no longer in your city, go directly to your local cinemas and ask the manager to bring it back or bring it to your movie house for the first time. Be the hero for your school, for your barangay, for your friends and family by being the one who called them or texted them and let it be known to them that this movie must play in your cinema because there are plenty of people who want to see it and must see it.

But we must not stop here. The bravado and vigilance that we all show must continue onwards in our daily lives, especially in time for next year’s election. If for nothing else, HENERAL LUNA has made you or any one person to stop and think and reflect on our nationhood’s future, then this movie would have already done its job, regardless of its final box-office gross. As one noted historian put it, “History is not meant to be memorized, but to be reflected and acted upon.”

It’s a “hugot” line that Heneral Luna himself might have been proud to say.

With our heartfelt thanks,

Fernando M. Ortigas, Executive Producer & E. A. Rocha, Screenwriter- Producer

well, it seems the audience took heed. VIVA LUNA! SULONG MGA LUNATICO!

yesterday i had to go out and buy a newspaper, something i havent done in years! and it struck me that the same thing is happening to people with Heneral Luna, saying they havent been to the theater in years yet here they are. the Lord be praised!

Production designers Benjamin Padero and Carlo Tabije left no stone — or should I say plate — unturned when it came to the food styling.

col boyd was not crazy about the local food

the spread prepared by chef toto gonzales and chef gene. i explained to chef gene the scene would have been after dinner where the guests would have milled around to chat and gossip. chef gene suggested this lineup. we also discussed plating and i took notes, including flower arrangement!

our awesome executive producer, nando ortigas, all dressed up beside ms annie rocha, wife of our producer, ed rocha. on the right is line producer, daphne chiu.

captain rusa (played by archie alemania) eating again on the set! here we served some english biscuits along with sconces. carlo even had to make sugar cubes from scratch to go with the tea. and yes, everytime we have food in our scenes, we have to make sure we have a bit more because the actors enjoy eating them. good luck nalang kung maubusan kami ng food props!

i had to go buy a copy of the philippine star because chef claude tayag featured the food in HENERAL LUNA in his article. we’re so honored to be mentioned. and im also glad we really took the time to understand the food along with consulting chef gene gonzales of cafe isabel and in turn was provided with the technical expertise of chef toto gonzales for the food in the banquet scene. we also consulted with chef gene on plating, even the use of brandy, and fencing!

thank you chef claude for the wonderful article. the HENERAL LUNA FB PAGE posted a photo of the newspaper in print yesterday. click on the photo for the full article online. a full description of the food we featured in film is in the article ;-)

mas bagay jan ang ensaymada!

been trying to write this particular article for weeks now. started this when HENERAL LUNA was still on its 3rd week and now, the film is enjoying its 5th week in the theaters (and almost on its 6th! fingers crossed). still overwhelming, really.

ive done movies for quite some time now.. small ones. not so small ones. mostly independent features. jerrold tarog. brillante mendoza. erik matti. pepe diokno. tikoy aguiluz. even a shelved project with chito rono. in all projects and in every opportunity, we work hard in each one of those features, regardless of scope, budget, and intention. successful at the box office or not, we’ve done that movie and we still do more movies.

all filmmakers do their art because it’s akin to breathing. we just create. that’s how we really live. every sleepless night, every cursed long day shoot, every triumph in an early packup, our own heart’s struggle. from the guy who runs around all day serving coffee to that guy in front of the monitor yelling cut over the PA system. that’s love. that’s passion. that’s all heart. and even if the movies we make struggle finding an audience, we rally on and strive on the next masterpiece and hope maybe this time, people will notice and watch that movie. watch it and recoup a little of our investors’ money.

when we got called by jerrold tarog to do production design for HENERAL LUNA, we said yes because, jerrold. period. the other minor reason was because we would be working on a period movie, something we’ve never done. but generally, we’ve worked with jerrold so many times before and the work was always fun and challenging, it was not even a question if we’d do it. we’re there.

we certainly did not predict any of the wonderful things that happened to HENERAL LUNA. we only knew it was a special project, like all the movies we’ve done before. like jerrold’s SENIOR YEAR. or romeo candido’s ANG PAMANA. like brillante mendoza’s CAPTIVE.  but what happens if our dreams come true? what if the audience connected to the film and raved about it? then watched it again with a different set of folks. and soon would gross more than 1 million in ticket sales? HENERAL LUNA was the movie that happened.  it was the film that went there.

HENERAL LUNA is almost at the end of its 5th week screening in cinemas in the Philippines. so far it has grossed 240 million in ticket sales. 240 Million! for an indie! for a historical movie! that’s history right there. who’d have thought this movie would become a cultural phenomenon, a critical and a commercial success? frankly, this movie has broken a lot of records and trends in the film industry.

BIG STARS. we dont have big stars in HENERAL LUNA, only big actors. industry practices believe the big stars draw in the audience. but our no-big-star film just made a killing at the box office. of course, a lot of factors play into that BUT, we just made it there by the strength of the material, the performances, and by the buying power of the audiences. thank you, Lord!

on the other hand, big star movies opening a few weeks ago suffered experiencing what we went through in our first week! piolo pascual’s SILONG got bumped off and shared theaters with nic cage, and nora aunor’s TAKLUB lost theaters halfway through its run. what the? in the meantime ETIQUETTE FOR MISTRESSES opened quietly and earned 15 Million on its first day, the same amount we earned in our first week of screenings. as what my tita vilma always said, you can never can tell.

HISTORICAL MOVIE. JOSE RIZAL grossed 90 million when it played to a captive audience in the 90s. with inflation that would be… hold on. i failed math in college. JOSE RIZAL made a lot of money. anyway, HENERAL LUNA is slowly getting there to be that big blockbuster historical movie that historically broke records.

AUDIENCE IMPACT. blockbusters happen when people go back to the theaters and pay to watch the same movie twice. or thrice. and drag more people into the theater to see that movie. with this, THAT THING CALLED TADHANA became the post-festival success story and box office hit. vice ganda movies hit 400 million also because they were shown during christmas and on an mmff run.for a historical movie, HENERAL LUNA is enjoying the repeated viewings of its captivated audience. furthermore, they embraced the film and it’s no longer just our movie. it’s everyone’s past and present. it’s their wake up call. it’s their life and rallying cry for change. big words!

meme by carlo tabije

RAVE REVIEWS. ive been so used to mixed reviews on movies ive worked on all my life. chos. there hasnt been a filipino movie that practically would rank 90% freshness on rottentomatoes.com, had it been rated. i can understand schools encouraging their students to watch the movie. however, it is a different kind of success when you hear companies, like this pharmaceutical company, sending out an email to all employees nationwide to watch HENERAL LUNA paid for by the company? when was the last time normal folk clamored for cinemas to keep screening a movie so they can get more people to watch it? we never aimed for this and yet the film continues to elicit raw, untapped emotions from people haha lahat na ng tao nagmumura!

PINOYS BACK IN THE SINEHAN! a lot of the posted reviews online also say things like, i havent been to theaters in a really long time BUT, or i would not normally watch pinoy movies especially in the cinemas BUT. they found a movie they all loved and they watched it in the sinehan that charges a leg. and they watched with family in tow. we have lost our Sinehan Culture and it shows with the few that do, opening of phones and texting while a movie is on, talking and putting your feet up. the couch culture prevailed, unfortunately. but going back to heneral luna, now all these people are finding time and getting babysitters so they could just go and watch in the sinehan. like wow.

50% DISCOUNT. when we first learned about it, two thoughts ran in our heads. 1.) that’s great, more students would get to watch it because ticket prices would be more affordable! and 2.) that’s great, but we’ll struggle at the box office because that would cut down the ticket sales by, like, 50%. lol. but when was the last time you heard a film producer practically giving away this movie for loose change just so you could watch it? fernando ortigas really has a heart of gold, bless this man. and two more things, students could afford to watch it twice or thrice because tickets are only around P100. on the other hand, there were also students who paid full price because they believed in the film, some even loved it so much they dragged their parents to the sinehan and made libre their dad and mom. like omg, ang saya lang.

FAN ART! this movie became some cultural phenomenon. good Lord, the memes and the awesome fan art. the use of the film’s memorable lines in every day conversation. there’s a whole album on facebook of people drawing scenes and characters from the movie. i dont think it has really happened before. so crazy it’s awesome.

screencap of the heneral luna fb page album of fan art. credits go to their respective owners. click on the photo to go the album page.

ENTRY TO THE OSCARS. we had a weak start when we opened in theaters sept 9. we made it through the weekend and reviews from people who watched it were positive and encouraging. ticket sales generally picked up on the 6th and 7th day so we slid nicely into a 2nd week screening schedule and sales went higher as payday hit. sometime after that, the film academy of the philippines suddenly announced HENERAL LUNA was representing the country as entry to the foreign language category at the oscars. naturally, more people now got interested and more news shows were talking about HENERAL LUNA. and then we made it to a long weekend break! the sales just kept going up that we warranted another week in the theaters.

meme by carlo tabije

a lot of good things happened for HENERAL LUNA. the circumstances surrounding the film made it a hit and these factors may or may not be had next time. maybe the success of this independently produced, historical film, HENERAL LUNA, was a one-time big deal . my realist self would tell me there is no trend to come out of this phenomenon. next time, it doesnt mean that if it’s a historical movie, or if it’s artikulo uno, or jerrold tarog, it will necessarily catch the same wave of support from the general public and will become a hit. however, my optimist self also tells me people will always support a well made, well written pinoy movie. and my optimistic self would tell me, this might be replicated come GOYONG (gregorio del pilar movie). but if more pinoys are now open to philippine cinema then we may just find our audience and by this, we will really have another golden age of Philippine cinema.

this series of tv ads just came out featuring celebrities michael v., carmina villaroel, and anne curtis. i had the pleasure of working with gian mawo, under straight shooters, and legendary producer dante nora with the over the moon ad agency on this campaign. the brief was originally a talking head against some chroma limbo background. the director, however, wanted to situate the tv personalities in their private spaces, some sort of comfort zone where they can easily take us on a journey to their past by way of pictures on walls or on albums, etc.  their personalities are reflected in that room, complementing the “interview” and the take aways of the photos. i especially loved bitoy’s set only because im partial to interiors with bare cement walls and i wouldnt mind living in that space.

these were the set pegs and the initial designs i prepared. we had to scale down bitoy’s set, making it more intimate.

set design for bitoy

set design for carmina

set design for anne curtis

i eventually reworked my sets into google sketchup nearing the construction phase. while the sets were all of the same dimensions, the sketchup output also served as a guide for my set decorator once we got to dressing up the rooms in the studio. btw, it was our first time shooting at the shooting gallery and wow, awesome studio.

the director and the creative team of the ad agency were generally happy with the sets so i was thrilled. it was tricky setting up bitoy’s photos as well as i had to configure the sizes of all photos prior to printing them on cintra boards. here is a screencap of the layout i made on a 10 feet x 20 feet wall. i had to eventually take out the photos that showed bitoy’s family as there were ad rules prohibiting us from doing so, i forgot what rule basta ayun.

and here are the full ads. woot woot!

the last two weeks have been overwhelming really. from the premiere of HENERAL LUNA to the jitters prior to opening day and now we are on the 2nd week of HENERAL LUNA. we opened with 95 theaters, whittled down to 45 for the second week only to pickup and reach 70 by friday today. we only wanted to do a good movie and the phenomenon that this film has become is crazy. we can only be grateful and humbled by it. as our producer, ed rocha, explained on cnn, this movie has become bigger than ourselves. a lot of people have taken ownership of it and generally, we couldnt ask for more.

reposting here in its entirety a few words from our producer, ed rocha, and executive producer, nando ortigas, posted online 3 days ago:

Dear All,

This is simply to take this occasion, this profound moment in time, to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your patronage, for your support, especially to those who’ve been relentlessly plugging away on Facebook or via social media, or by text, or even in person to spread the word and

promote our film to others.

We are very, very touched.

For all of us—the entire cast and crew and team behind HENERAL LUNA—this has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of our lives. To be honest, it is life changing. To constantly hear applause in different theaters at the end of the film, as the credits roll, is for us a reward that’s beyond our wildest dreams when we first ventured doing this film. Many of us ask ourselves, when was the last time we heard an audience applaud at the end of a film, Filipino or otherwise, in so many theaters? And to see your FB postings, Twitter and Instagram messages, collectively and individually (especially from those who’ve watched the film more than twice already in the first week alone) moves us so deeply, beyond any words can truly express. And there are those of us who suddenly heard from people we haven’t heard from in ages—long lost cousins, exes, former classmates or invisible FB friends who suddenly made themselves known and wanted to show their appreciation for our work, for this film. Indeed, the love that you’ve all shown us has made their way into our hearts, carving a mini-monument of sorts dedicated to the heroism of Heneral Luna and the heroes who’ve lived before us, and to those who continue to live in our midst today. This is something that will stay with us for as long as we live.

Which is perhaps why reality hurts even more. Earlier today, we’ve been advised that we will be losing more than half of our theaters—that from 101 screens, we will be down to somewhere close to 40. We know, on one hand, we should be lucky to even have those, thanks to our distributor, (and for that we’re truly grateful to all of you), but on the other hand, we’re saddened that this movie has to go away before many more of you can see it, before its full audience potential can be realized. Believe us please, when we say, that while it’s important for us that this movie recoups its investment and more, it is ultimately not about box-office, not about money.

When this movie’s initial draft was first written, it was not written at all with the thought of writing a commercial blockbuster. And when we cast the film, we merely wanted to cast the most brilliant actors who were perfect for their roles. It was not based on who’s the biggest box-office draw. And creative decisions that were made (by our genius director Jerrold Tarog) while making the film were not based on “kilig,” not on what would please the audience most, but based on what would be best for the film, artistically and narrative-wise.

Of course, the beautiful irony of it all is that, now, through some magic, we’ve been rewarded with a film that is pleasing its audiences to no end—with a film that’s entertaining, enlightening, and educational. While theaters may have pulled this movie out, we strongly believe that that this movie now has a life of its own. Yes, YOU all have given this film a life of its own. And while we may have made this movie about a slice of Philippine history, YOU now are all a part of history–our history.

So, as we say thank you once again, please keep the fires burning, please keep the spirit alive. If the film is no longer in your city, go directly to your local cinemas and ask the manager to bring it back or bring it to your movie house for the first time. Be the hero for your school, for your barangay, for your friends and family by being the one who called them or texted them and let it be known to them that this movie must play in your cinema because there are plenty of people who want to see it and must see it.

But we must not stop here. The bravado and vigilance that we all show must continue onwards in our daily lives, especially in time for next year’s election. If for nothing else, HENERAL LUNA has made you or any one person to stop and think and reflect on our nationhood’s future, then this movie would have already done its job, regardless of its final box-office gross. As one noted historian put it, “History is not meant to be memorized, but to be reflected and acted upon.”

It’s a “hugot” line that Heneral Luna himself might have been proud to say.

With our heartfelt thanks,

Fernando M. Ortigas, Executive Producer & E. A. Rocha, Screenwriter- Producer

well, it seems the audience took heed. VIVA LUNA! SULONG MGA LUNATICO!

yesterday i had to go out and buy a newspaper, something i havent done in years! and it struck me that the same thing is happening to people with Heneral Luna, saying they havent been to the theater in years yet here they are. the Lord be praised!

Production designers Benjamin Padero and Carlo Tabije left no stone — or should I say plate — unturned when it came to the food styling.

col boyd was not crazy about the local food

the spread prepared by chef toto gonzales and chef gene. i explained to chef gene the scene would have been after dinner where the guests would have milled around to chat and gossip. chef gene suggested this lineup. we also discussed plating and i took notes, including flower arrangement!

our awesome executive producer, nando ortigas, all dressed up beside ms annie rocha, wife of our producer, ed rocha. on the right is line producer, daphne chiu.

captain rusa (played by archie alemania) eating again on the set! here we served some english biscuits along with sconces. carlo even had to make sugar cubes from scratch to go with the tea. and yes, everytime we have food in our scenes, we have to make sure we have a bit more because the actors enjoy eating them. good luck nalang kung maubusan kami ng food props!

i had to go buy a copy of the philippine star because chef claude tayag featured the food in HENERAL LUNA in his article. we’re so honored to be mentioned. and im also glad we really took the time to understand the food along with consulting chef gene gonzales of cafe isabel and in turn was provided with the technical expertise of chef toto gonzales for the food in the banquet scene. we also consulted with chef gene on plating, even the use of brandy, and fencing!

thank you chef claude for the wonderful article. the HENERAL LUNA FB PAGE posted a photo of the newspaper in print yesterday. click on the photo for the full article online. a full description of the food we featured in film is in the article😉

mas bagay jan ang ensaymada!

been trying to write this particular article for weeks now. started this when HENERAL LUNA was still on its 3rd week and now, the film is enjoying its 5th week in the theaters (and almost on its 6th! fingers crossed). still overwhelming, really.

ive done movies for quite some time now.. small ones. not so small ones. mostly independent features. jerrold tarog. brillante mendoza. erik matti. pepe diokno. tikoy aguiluz. even a shelved project with chito rono. in all projects and in every opportunity, we work hard in each one of those features, regardless of scope, budget, and intention. successful at the box office or not, we’ve done that movie and we still do more movies.

all filmmakers do their art because it’s akin to breathing. we just create. that’s how we really live. every sleepless night, every cursed long day shoot, every triumph in an early packup, our own heart’s struggle. from the guy who runs around all day serving coffee to that guy in front of the monitor yelling cut over the PA system. that’s love. that’s passion. that’s all heart. and even if the movies we make struggle finding an audience, we rally on and strive on the next masterpiece and hope maybe this time, people will notice and watch that movie. watch it and recoup a little of our investors’ money.

when we got called by jerrold tarog to do production design for HENERAL LUNA, we said yes because, jerrold. period. the other minor reason was because we would be working on a period movie, something we’ve never done. but generally, we’ve worked with jerrold so many times before and the work was always fun and challenging, it was not even a question if we’d do it. we’re there.

we certainly did not predict any of the wonderful things that happened to HENERAL LUNA. we only knew it was a special project, like all the movies we’ve done before. like jerrold’s SENIOR YEAR. or romeo candido’s ANG PAMANA. like brillante mendoza’s CAPTIVE.  but what happens if our dreams come true? what if the audience connected to the film and raved about it? then watched it again with a different set of folks. and soon would gross more than 1 million in ticket sales? HENERAL LUNA was the movie that happened.  it was the film that went there.

HENERAL LUNA is almost at the end of its 5th week screening in cinemas in the Philippines. so far it has grossed 240 million in ticket sales. 240 Million! for an indie! for a historical movie! that’s history right there. who’d have thought this movie would become a cultural phenomenon, a critical and a commercial success? frankly, this movie has broken a lot of records and trends in the film industry.

BIG STARS. we dont have big stars in HENERAL LUNA, only big actors. industry practices believe the big stars draw in the audience. but our no-big-star film just made a killing at the box office. of course, a lot of factors play into that BUT, we just made it there by the strength of the material, the performances, and by the buying power of the audiences. thank you, Lord!

on the other hand, big star movies opening a few weeks ago suffered experiencing what we went through in our first week! piolo pascual’s SILONG got bumped off and shared theaters with nic cage, and nora aunor’s TAKLUB lost theaters halfway through its run. what the? in the meantime ETIQUETTE FOR MISTRESSES opened quietly and earned 15 Million on its first day, the same amount we earned in our first week of screenings. as what my tita vilma always said, you can never can tell.

HISTORICAL MOVIE. JOSE RIZAL grossed 90 million when it played to a captive audience in the 90s. with inflation that would be… hold on. i failed math in college. JOSE RIZAL made a lot of money. anyway, HENERAL LUNA is slowly getting there to be that big blockbuster historical movie that historically broke records.

AUDIENCE IMPACT. blockbusters happen when people go back to the theaters and pay to watch the same movie twice. or thrice. and drag more people into the theater to see that movie. with this, THAT THING CALLED TADHANA became the post-festival success story and box office hit. vice ganda movies hit 400 million also because they were shown during christmas and on an mmff run.for a historical movie, HENERAL LUNA is enjoying the repeated viewings of its captivated audience. furthermore, they embraced the film and it’s no longer just our movie. it’s everyone’s past and present. it’s their wake up call. it’s their life and rallying cry for change. big words!

meme by carlo tabije

RAVE REVIEWS. ive been so used to mixed reviews on movies ive worked on all my life. chos. there hasnt been a filipino movie that practically would rank 90% freshness on rottentomatoes.com, had it been rated. i can understand schools encouraging their students to watch the movie. however, it is a different kind of success when you hear companies, like this pharmaceutical company, sending out an email to all employees nationwide to watch HENERAL LUNA paid for by the company? when was the last time normal folk clamored for cinemas to keep screening a movie so they can get more people to watch it? we never aimed for this and yet the film continues to elicit raw, untapped emotions from people haha lahat na ng tao nagmumura!

PINOYS BACK IN THE SINEHAN! a lot of the posted reviews online also say things like, i havent been to theaters in a really long time BUT, or i would not normally watch pinoy movies especially in the cinemas BUT. they found a movie they all loved and they watched it in the sinehan that charges a leg. and they watched with family in tow. we have lost our Sinehan Culture and it shows with the few that do, opening of phones and texting while a movie is on, talking and putting your feet up. the couch culture prevailed, unfortunately. but going back to heneral luna, now all these people are finding time and getting babysitters so they could just go and watch in the sinehan. like wow.

50% DISCOUNT. when we first learned about it, two thoughts ran in our heads. 1.) that’s great, more students would get to watch it because ticket prices would be more affordable! and 2.) that’s great, but we’ll struggle at the box office because that would cut down the ticket sales by, like, 50%. lol. but when was the last time you heard a film producer practically giving away this movie for loose change just so you could watch it? fernando ortigas really has a heart of gold, bless this man. and two more things, students could afford to watch it twice or thrice because tickets are only around P100. on the other hand, there were also students who paid full price because they believed in the film, some even loved it so much they dragged their parents to the sinehan and made libre their dad and mom. like omg, ang saya lang.

FAN ART! this movie became some cultural phenomenon. good Lord, the memes and the awesome fan art. the use of the film’s memorable lines in every day conversation. there’s a whole album on facebook of people drawing scenes and characters from the movie. i dont think it has really happened before. so crazy it’s awesome.

screencap of the heneral luna fb page album of fan art. credits go to their respective owners. click on the photo to go the album page.

ENTRY TO THE OSCARS. we had a weak start when we opened in theaters sept 9. we made it through the weekend and reviews from people who watched it were positive and encouraging. ticket sales generally picked up on the 6th and 7th day so we slid nicely into a 2nd week screening schedule and sales went higher as payday hit. sometime after that, the film academy of the philippines suddenly announced HENERAL LUNA was representing the country as entry to the foreign language category at the oscars. naturally, more people now got interested and more news shows were talking about HENERAL LUNA. and then we made it to a long weekend break! the sales just kept going up that we warranted another week in the theaters.

meme by carlo tabije

a lot of good things happened for HENERAL LUNA. the circumstances surrounding the film made it a hit and these factors may or may not be had next time. maybe the success of this independently produced, historical film, HENERAL LUNA, was a one-time big deal . my realist self would tell me there is no trend to come out of this phenomenon. next time, it doesnt mean that if it’s a historical movie, or if it’s artikulo uno, or jerrold tarog, it will necessarily catch the same wave of support from the general public and will become a hit. however, my optimist self also tells me people will always support a well made, well written pinoy movie. and my optimistic self would tell me, this might be replicated come GOYONG (gregorio del pilar movie). but if more pinoys are now open to philippine cinema then we may just find our audience and by this, we will really have another golden age of Philippine cinema.

was able to travel to macau recently because we got nominated at the 10th Asian Film Awards for our design work in Heneral Luna. they covered airfare and hotel accommodations so of course we had to go! but more on that later. we decided to stay 2 extra days in macau just to go around. we were there between march 13 and 18. here are some photos.

peeked through the glass window of this barber shop. the folks in macau generally dont mind getting their photos taken without permission. they just stare at you then go back to whatever they were doing. i obviously would not want to intrude so there are very few people photos in my collection

fascinated by the layout of their corridors and streets. it was between 14 to 19 degrees celcius when we visited and everybody wore their parkas and heavy jackets. im not sure if it were warmer weather there would be more locals out in the street, like how it is in the Philippines.

macau is clean. coming from manila, i would say macau is spotless. so it was a hoot finding this spot where the pavement hasnt been swept. while in the Philippines this dirty look would be normal, in macau this would be the exception.

i took a lot more photos of macau’s mid rise buildings when i was there. so awesome. loving the simple commercial stores on the ground floor and that the remaining 2 to 7 storeys were residential (i think, i havent really asked but i assumed haha). a blogger commented the streets of macau looked the same in lisbon or wherever in europe.

evening lit shop with carlo as an unwitting model. as we were near the tourist district a lot of the shops were marketed for tourists. it’s awesome that there were more food stores for tourists than there were tshirt and ref magnets stores. egg tarts, beef jerky, and pastries are the go-to pasalubong stores here.

gorgeously laid out street and decked with lanterns. why is it so clean??? im jealous. we noticed the locals, when eating out in public spaces, they automatically cleaned up after themselves and threw their trash in properly spaced out waste bins all over the city. drivers respectfully letting sidewalk pedestrians cross first. no overspeeding except on major highways. taxi drivers giving exact change.

art reflects a culture’s past or current state of being. it is the artist’s way of expressing opinion or emotion. we have only skimmed the surface of macau’s art scene and based on what we saw, it may be “safe” but at least it is alive. here are some of the pieces we saw in galleries and on the street.

chanced upon a gallery exhibit on print artworks. gorgeous pieces by local artists and beyond, though im not really sure. the pieces evoked history and culture, very inspiring. this one here is a detail of a beatiful reductive woodcut print, “buddhist travellers,” by wu shuai wei.

a traditional piece of clothing at the macao national museum. jaw dropping detail on the embroidery.

i love street art and i love mosaic in hongkong and macau, and this one here is street art and mosaic together. so awesome

a marble sculpture on one of the tombs at cemiterio de s. miguel arcanjo along beco do almirante costa cabral in macau. the cemetery gates were open and based on google earth photos, this was one location i would love to see. clean, peaceful, gorgeous. and did i mention clean?

a small gallery shop out of nowhere. around the time we came about this area, all the shops were still closed. they were expected to open at 11am. lots of quirky art pieces.

somebody threw or left a pair of shoes in one of the alleys in macau. what to do? strike a pose. art in macau was generally better than in malaysia. it felt more at ease and not stifled (by the government or religion, maybe).

the selfie album. part 1.

tourist mode on the streets of macau. we walked a lot in macau because there were less cars hence less pollution. the streets were clean and safe. the weather was cold and we didnt sweat. at all. everything was fascinating to look at, we just had to walk all over macau. the only time we took the cab was when we left the airport going to our hotel.

selfie at a korean cafe with a filipino waiter. it’s awesome to bump into filipinos working abroad. we then hear stories of woe and i do wish the conditions in the philippines were much better so these pinoys dont have to leave the country just to get a good paying job.

one way to ward off homesickness in a foreign land is to be in the company of pinoys. and to eat food from home. getting tired of steamed fishballs or beef brisket noodles on just the 2nd day in macau, i wanted to eat tapsilog already. good thing filipino restos  and sari sari stores were aplenty along the r. da alfandega. they ran out of tapsilog though. so i ordered the next best thing. lechon kawali.

the fake sky at the four seasons cotai shops was amazing but dizzying. dont stare while walking. the venetian canals with their gondolas line the area and a lot of them singing gondoliers were, you guessed it, filipinos. it’s hard work too. imagine rowing a boat WHILE singing opera.

when we checked in at the holiday inn macau in central cotai, we did not know they’d give us a room on the 33rd floor! awesome view… of the next hotel building. and a view of the venetian hotel where we’d walk the red carpet the day after. woot woot!

while researching for things to do in macau, i read a lot about koi kei bakery. when i saw the shop near the ruins of st. paul, i thought it was a one-shop bakery. then i saw another branch just a few stalls away. and another. and another. na-over franchise ata itong koi kei, OA lang sa dami lol

I thought i was having a bad day. My meeting got cancelled 10 minutes after i got in an uber and was on my way to makati. I thought the toilet at starbucks was occupied (the lock indicated it was) until after maybe 5 minutes i tried pushing the door and it swung open and the toilet was empty. I was having a headache the whole morning. They were all ingredients leading me to say i was having a bad day.

Then i start reading about the things on my timeline feed. My inconveniences are nothing compared to what was happening around me.

Last night, the faculty building in university of the phils campus was on fire until 11am this morning. Gone with it are the student’s submitted bluebooks and classcards as well as the professors irreplaceable collections of books, artworks, and what have you.

Farmers in south cotabato built a barricade on the highway because they wanted the government to give them attention. They were hungry and in need of aid because there was a drought and maybe for weeks they havent been able to grow anything. And then some mayor comes in and the police starts shooting at them. And all they wanted was rice.

A flyover in india was being built and the administration wanted to finish building it before the elections this month and a turover of government takes place. And a portion of the flyover collapses on a busy street intersection.

Somewhere in africa and the middle east, villages are pillaged and women raped, children burned, and the media turns their back. Brussels was recently attacked as well and despite the unfortunate selectivity of attention between 1st and 3rd world countries, we mourn those who lost their lives.

Im ashamed to be complaining. Forgive me. My heart goes out to everyone who are having a real, validated bad day. Because you had nothing to eat for days. Because you lost a good portion of your history in a fire. Because a huge concrete slab fell and killed your friends. Because you got shot at. Because you lost loved ones in acts of terrorism. Maybe life is not fair. So forgive me for complaining. I hope i could offer you comfort and a prayer. God bless everyone.

Being stuck in traffic is nothing compared to what's happening in the world