Logo from www.movfest.org

Just got news the news (and PR) about the upcoming 4th .MOV Fest from a friend and for this year, it will not only cover digital films but it will also include music and literature. MOVfest will happen on September 1 – 6, 2011 in 3 separate venues such as Podium, Ayala Museum and UP Film Center. The event will kick off on September 1st, just in time with the death anniversaries of slain film critic and journalist Alex Tioseco and Nikha Bohinc.

There will be three special events which will cover the film, music and literature genres. These are:

• Launch of the DVD of “Short Films for Long People” : a compilation of short films from previous SILVERSHORTS winners
• Launch of the book “Under the Storm”, an anthology of poetry from 150 poets in the country both critically-acclaimed and newbies
• Launch of the album “Songs from the End of the World”, a compilation of today’s best singer-songwriters in the local scene.

Artists, musicians and poets such as Bienvenido Lumbera, Pete Lacaba, Lourd De Veyra, Joey Ayala, Ely Buendia, Vin Dancel, Kate Torralba, and more will be gracing these launches.  Please do check MOV Fest’s website and Facebook page for updates and pre-event activities.

Schedule of events are:

September 1 – Opening Night, The Podium Activity Center
6:00PM

• DVD Launch: Short Films For Long People Cinema is Love: The Best of .MOV”

September 2 – Literature Night, Ayala Museum
6:00PM

• Book Launch: Under The Storm
• Poetry Reading: 24 poems, to be read by 12 poets and 12 celebrities

September 3 – Music Night, The Podium Activity Center
6:00PM

• Album Launch: Songs From The End Of The World
• Singer-Songwriter Shindig: Musical performances by 12 singer-songwriters

September 4 – Film Workshops, Mogwai Cinematheque, Cubao Expo
1:00-9:00PM

• Free Workshops by Vanja Kaludjercic and Joel Shepard

September 2 – 6 – Film Screenings, UP Film Center
1:00PM – 8:00PM

Do you want to be one of the three winners of the Philippine New Wave book signed by all the directors involved in it? All you have to do is to write an essay and answer one of the two questions below:

• Who is your favorite director from among those featured in the PNW book? Why?
• What is your favorite digital film from among those done by the directors featured in the PNW book? Why?

Send your entry to mabie.alagbate@gmail.com. Essays must have at least 1,000 words. Submit in a word file (Times New Roman 12, double-spaced) on or before August 1, 2010. Autographed copies of the Philippine New Wave will be given to the writers of the top three entries.

* Book launch will happen on July 14, 20 2010 at the CCP at 5 pm. Each book costs Php 700.

PHILIPPINE NEW WAVE: This Is Not A Film Movement

Edited by Khavn De La Cruz with Dodo Dayao & Mabie Alagbate

Introduction by Bienvenido Lumbera

Profiles by Chard Bolisay, Oggs Cruz, & Dodo Dayao

Published by Noel Ferrer, Instamatic Writings, & MovFest

Book Design & Layout by Gerard Lico

December 20,1987. MV Doña Paz was on its way to Manila carrying more than 4000 passengers. The ship’s capacity was only for 1000+ passengers but because it’s the holiday season, they allowed more than the ship’s capacity. MV Doña Paz collided with an oil cargo ship called Vector leaving more than 4000 passengers dead and only 24 survivors. Sulpicio Lines denied (and is still denying) that MV Doña Paz was overloaded with passengers because according to their manifesto, only about a thousand were listed there.

MV Doña Paz was labelled as Asia’s Titanic even though the size of the ship is just 1/4 of the real Titanic. This tragedy will be shown for the first time on the National Geographic Channel. The facts based on the senate inquiries and the heart-melting stories from some of the survivors themselves. While I was watching this documentary during the premiere last August 18 at Rockwell, I was almost teary-eyed and at the same time hating the negligence of the Philippine Coast Guard, Sulpicio Lines and the owners of MV Vector. I still believe that all of them were at fault.

The documentary was directed by Yam Laranas. This was the first time that a Filipino director was able to direct a documentary for the National Geographic Channel. Yam and his partner pitched the idea to National Geographic and was given funds to produce the documentary. They shot the documentary for 3 years making sure that everything is based on facts.

Basically, the documentary stuck to the facts however I am just concerned that it doesn’t give any plan of action. as what National Geographic documentaries have always been. I just hope that they gave an idea of the Philippine maritime situation we have right now and if there were changes since the tragedy happened. But despite my comment, I still believe that you should still watch the documentary especially to those who weren’t born yet to be able to do something and avoid this kind of mishap.

For those of you who have the National Geographic Channel, here are the showdates:

August 25, 8pm
August 26, 4am
August 26, 9am
August 26, 1pm
August 26, 9pm
August 30, 9pm
August 31, 1am
August 31, 5am
September 5, 6pm
September 28, 8pm
September 29, 1pm

With the recent death of the former president, many of us did not know that she had an interview about her husband Ninoy Aquino months ago. It was supposed to be in preparation for the 25th anniversary of Ninoy’s death on August 21. This project was a collaboration of the Benigno Aquino Jr. Foundation and Unitel Productions as a tribute to the late hero of democracy.

I was one of the lucky people to watch the docu-drama at Rockwell Cinema 4 last August 13 during the media premier. I was actually late because I had to finish some unexpected overtime work at the office; arrived 20 minutes before the end of the documentary. It was actually the climax of Ninoy’s life where he was narrating his last few days before coming back to Manila. Bam Aquino, Ninoy’s nephew, portrayed his uncle’s role. I believe that he’s the only person who can portray his uncle, aside from the very obvious resemblance. He revealed that he was very hesitant at first because he’s not really an actor but when he learned that the the people involved in the film were working for free, he agreed to do the docu-film.

Anyway, the images of him being escorted by the police escorts from the aircraft are common but it was different when I saw it in the big screen. Accompanied with the narration of Ninoy’s brother, Paul Aquino (Ninoy’s thought voice) and the background music, it brought me teary-eyed. And the thought of “how I wish Ninoy Aquino wasn’t killed” kept on replaying in my head.

Nobody knew about this project (except the people involved of course) but it was pre-empted by the death of the former president. Watching the docu-drama will make you feel that it’s Ninoy and Cory talking to each other, narrating their story and finishing each other’s sentences. I should say that the flow of the conversations just came naturally and wasn’t forced. This is what makes the documentary special. It’s not just the usual narration of a third person but there was creativity involved.

The docu-drama was directed by Jun Reyes and produced by Unitel Productions. It will first be shown on ABS-CBN and Studio 23 on August 23 (Sunday) at 10:30 pm and will also be shown in Rockwell Cinemas soon. Part of the ticket sales will be donated to the Benigno Aquino Jr. Foundation. I think that this is a good way to let the young ones know how this couple (Ninoy and Cory) show the importance of maintaining democracy. Good thing is that the producers are already talking to some schools so that they can show the film to the students. I just realized that by watching this film, it will make you feel good about being a Filipino. I know it may sound too unrealistic but despite of all the flaws that we see in our present government, it gives us a little hope that there will be a day when we will be able to surpass this political dilemma. This docu-film is highly recommended to be seen by every FIlipino to further appreciate who we are.

Watch the short interview Ka Edong did (and my showbiz question) with Bam Aquino here.

The night before the concert, I was up until 5 am. Supposedly, I was going to sleep early to prep up for this event but something came up. Anyway, I woke up at 11 am and headed to SM Mall of Asia with Karla. We first hung out at Bona Coffee opposite the concert grounds. Karla was wearing her Noytee shirt, the shirt I got didn’t fit me so I requested to meet up with someone from Noytee to get a larger size at 3:30 pm.

Around 4:00 pm, we headed to the VIP entrance as we are expecting that the gates would open at 3:00 pm. Apparently, they’re not letting anyone in yet. Karla and I were the 3rd and 4th person on the right side entrance (near the bay). Patricia and Gerard (newly found friends from Circus) were the 1st and 2nd on the line. We’re complete strangers but the Eraserheads binded us as if we’re already familiar with each other. The guards then were instructed to let the audience in around 4:30 pm. I was really surprised to see how near I am from the stage.

(Me and Karla posing for the cam)

(The Yellow Brigade of Bouncers. They have been there since 11 am)

(Some Circus members in the VIP section, hehe, minus me of course)

I brought a big cloth with me so that it would serve as a mat for us to sit on. Under the heat of the sun, we still managed to wait patiently. I went around to take some photographs using Karla’s camera. I just want to observe the people around. I saw lots of people that I know from Circus (the Eheads Mailing List) and had a quick chit chat with them. This event became the grand EB of Circus. I got my Circus ID courtesy of Jaz (thanks to Levan of course who really took the effort on making those for us).

Different kinds of Eraserheads shirts were worn by fans. Here are some of the pictures I took:

(Eraserheads Team Manila Shirt. Thanks Gerard for modeling for me! )

(Eraserheads Team Pupil Shirt)

(Another Eraserheads Team Manila Shirt. Thanks to Patricia for modeling!)

(Jazz Nicholas of Itchyworms (sessioning for the Eheads also) took a picture of us. I took a picture of him also )

As I was going towards the Gold section and looking at the view of the stage, I realized that the Stickerhappy piano was there. Oh yes, the ever famous piano of Ely Buendia filled with stickers. If you are familiar with the Stickerhappy album (Eheads’ 5th album), it’s on the front and album sleeve (with Joey Mead naked). I personally was able to touch it way back when it was in 70′s Bistro and during the Eraserheads Exhibit in Megamall.

(Ely playing the piano during the soundcheck last March 6, photo by Day Cabuhat)

As the sun was setting down, the concert grounds was beginning to fill up. Friends were texting and calling me to ask where I was located at the venue. Around 8:00 pm, the MTV vjs went onstage and did their hosting stints. As usual, they did their hosting stints as they are required to mention the sponsors (especially about their network, MTV). Anne Curtis, being one of the VJs, misread an Eraserheads song as “Tindahan ni Aling Nene”. What would you expect from them? It’s their job to read and make a fool of themselves in front of the crowd that nobody really cares to listen. I was getting impatient with them as they talk non-sense (promoting their shows i.e. their Paris Hilton show??); wishing that they would get off the stage at once. The people beside me were chanting “Dyosa” to Anne, she felt flattered but I know it was sarcastic. After they had their stint, it took about 10 minutes before the actual show started. I thought that the show would immediately start after their stint but apparently sponsors again flashed their ads in the big video walls. It’s business, can’t help it. Fine.

There was an Audio-Visual Presentation of old Eraserheads videos that came from MTV shows. It was like a timeline of how the band was formed and there were never before seen like the bloopers. Of course the video when they took home the Moon Man for the MTV Asia International Viewer’s Choice for Asia was shown.

“Salamat sa Diyos. Maraming Salamat to all the fans who voted for us, BMG Pilipinas, Aureus our director, Robin our producer, our crew, MTV Asia, our families and friends.
ELY: Mabuhay ang Noypi!
ALL: Bogchi!”

There was this interview with VJ KC (Montero) which he asked the Eheads “Is the Eraserheads going to disband?” and I think it was Raymund and Ely who answered “No”. The irony of it is that they are already disbanded. As one Eheads song goes “Marami ang namamatay sa MALING AKALA” .

After a few minutes, there was an alphabet countdown (yeah, this has never been done haha) and it ended up at the inverted letter E (of course as in E-raserheads). This was the cue that the concert is about to start. Fans were screaming as robotic looping sounds of “Eraserheads” were heard mixed with the sound of thumping pulse and beeping. The band was already onstage staring at the excited audience. Loop sounds of “Punk Zappa” were also played on the foreground with the pulse and beep as the background. As the looping sounds end, the outro of “Butterscotch” (the backmasked guitar riff) was also heard then BOOM! The initial fireworks lit up the stage with the word Eraserheads flashed on the videowalls. Raymund gave the cue to start the band to play “Magasin”.

(First Song: Magasin)

By the way, here is the complete setlist. Total number of songs they performed: 27. I will narrate some highlights for every set so bear with me please .

1st set:

Magasin
Walang Nagbago
Maling Akala
Maskara
Poorman’s Grave
Waiting for the Bus
Huwag Mo nang Itanong
Slo Mo
Alkohol
Insomya
Torpedo

Highlights on the first set:

1. There were fireworks after Magasin. Ely changed a line on the lyrics “Medyo pangit ka pa noon, HANGGANG NGAYON”. Well actually, he was doing that way back.
2. Ely almost forgot the intro of “Poor Man’s Grave” and took the everyone’s attention that he will do it again. (I can take over for him, hehehe).
3. Ely threw his Levi’s Denim jacket towards our direction and guess what? The 6 of us were literally holding on to the jacket. This is how we literally fought over Ely’s jacket. I wasn’t on the picture because I was dragged on the ground. Haha. The bouncer (without the cap) was already saying that the jacket should be given to the girls (i.e. MINE and the other girl!). Of course, the men wouldn’t allow it because their hands grabbed it also. And so this bouncer (with the cap) confiscated the jacket. The 6 of us were worried that he might not give it back to us. He came back to us after the first set and was asking for a bribe (pang-merienda lang daw). WOW. Of course we didn’t give in to his demands (ano ito, ransom???) and so the 6 of us decided to just divide the jacket among us just to compromise. We might be reprimanded with unruly behavior (and the concert might be stopped because of us) that’s why just to get over it (since we’re from Circus anyway), we decided to cut the jacket into parts after the concert since scissors were not allowed in the venue. The jacket became a ‘sacred object’, you know in the religious sense? It was so immature of me but what the hell, this would be the last time that i’ll be doing this. Haha.



4. During “Huwag Mo Nang Itanong”, they rearranged it into a reggae version and let Marcus do the vocals. Actually, Marcus does this during his gigs with Markus Highway. Jazz Nicholas (of Itchyworms) took over the drums as Raymund was frantically reggae dancing onstage. Marcus changed the first line of the song as “Chika ang inabot ko” and was singing “Hindi ko sasabihin sa yooooo” during the chorus. Ely also danced on stage (wahahaha), he never do that but he tried his very best (wehehe).





5. The audience were chanting “group hug” but Marcus heard it as “Bruha”. Ely then asked “Sinong bruha?”
6. The audience again chanted “group hug” he responded “Kayo muna!”. He saw us hug and he said “Eh ang konti nyo eh!”.
7. Raymund took over the vocals on “Slo Mo”, “Alkohol” and “Insomya”

   (I love this picture taken by Karla, they were asking the audience to sing the chorus of “Alkohol” with them)

8. 

   People were chanting for Buddy to sing solo; he mocked the audience by singing the first line of “Fabulous Baker Boy” -> “They come for me for doughnuts….”

There was a few minutes break. The Eheads were seen being lifted by a hydraulic stage. It was a ‘homie’ production set up with Ely seated at the sofa, Marcus and Buddy seated on high stools and Raymund of course with his acoustic drum kit.

2nd set (the Acoustic/Unplugged set)

Julie Tearjerky
Tikman
Wishing Wells
Fine Time
Pare Ko
Kailan
Back2Me (Plugged)
Trip to Jerusalem (Plugged)
Spoliarium (Plugged)
Overdrive (Plugged)

Highlights of the 2nd Set:

1. Raymund entered the stage with his skateboard.
2. Ely asked the audience “How do you like our new home?”
3. At the end of “Fine Time”, Ely gave Buddy the cue to sing the last line “Basta’t kayakap ka ay okey”
4. Ely joked “kung may gusto kyong i-request isulat nyo lang s 1/4 sheet of paper lengthwise tapos pabigay s waiter”.
5. Ely changed some lyrics of “Pare Ko” into “Yun pala, magaling na siya sa kama. Akala ko ay dehins pa”. Again, they’ve done this way back.
6. Ely stood up at frontstage right and sang “Kailan” with Jazz Nicholas playing the Stickerhappy piano in the background. This is the first time that Ely sang only with the accompaniment of a piano. Good job! While Ely was at the middle of the song, a guy near me shouted “I love you Ely” and Ely replied on the mic “I love you too pare”.
7. At the end of “Overdrive”, they played the outro of “Trip to Jerusalem” which goes like this.. “Spin, spin, gonna spin it around”. Again, this was never done before. Yipee!!
8. Ely threw his Puma sneakers to the audience. No, it wasn’t me who got it. haha.

There was a 6 minute break before the Encore Set. This was the tribute to one of their closest friends in the industry, Francis M. Kiko was supposed to appear during “Superproxy”. As we all know, this was the song they collaborated for Cutterpillow.

Encore set 1: (Tribute to Francis M)

Superproxy
Minsan
Alapaap
Kaleidoscope World (sang only the Chorus)
Ang Huling El Bimbo (The Finale)

Highlights of Encore Set 1:

1. Raymund stood up from his drum kit holding a folder with “Man from Manila” written on it. Obviously, that already hinted the audience that this will be for Francis.
2. Ely and Raymund sang the rap parts that was originally done by Francis. I still remember the rap part by heart.
3. Alapaap was rearranged. Ely was singing “Masdan mo aking mata” for about 8 times with the sound of sitar playing in the background. It was a mellow version; the other guys came in on the last chorus. This was the best Alapaap version I have ever heard before. Wow.
4. They sang Kiko’s song “Kaleidoscope World” but only the chorus. I remember they sang the whole song, together with Kiko, way back during the “Electric Fun” concert at the Folk Arts Theater.
5. They were finally able to sing the final song “Ang Huling El Bimbo”. To tell you honestly, I cried in the middle of the song. I didn’t anticipate the tears but it just fell down my cheeks. I think Buddy saw me crying. It’s really unexplainable. I know that I have already moved on. Maybe I cried because I finally saw that Ely is back. All throughout the show, he was enjoying himself and didn’t seem to be forced on doing something that he didn’t like. This was the Eraserheads that I saw way back when they were still together: joking around, didn’t care if they made a mistake on a certain part, etc. If i will be comparing it to the first, I like this one better because I know they were all enjoying.
6. The song ended and Ely said “ITO NA ANG HULING EL BIMBO”. During the instrumental, The unexpected happened. Ely lit up a piece of paper using a lighter and threw it on the Stickerhappy piano. It became a symbolism of the end of the Eraserheads. I don’t know if the other guys knew that he would be doing that. I think he just wanted to say to the fans to move on and apppreciate the present. I suddenly remembered Elton John as he did that too with his piano. Another famous singer I remembered was George Michael as he lit up his jacket to symbolize that the end of the “old” closet gay George Michael and the start of the out and proud George Michael.







(oh yeah, Karla took a picture of me crying. wahhh!!!!)

7. 

   There were fireworks again after the final song. They all bowed (and semi hugged ) and Ely said “We ARE the Eraserheads”. If you will notice, it was used in the present tense.

Encore 2:
Ligaya
Sembreak/Toyang

Highlights of the Encore 2:

1. Raymund came back onstage and asked the audience “Ano, gusto niyo pa?”. He asked the audience to call the others. Ely, Buddy and Marcus came back. I was able to read Raymund mouth, he said something like “Sorry…”. He was apologizing maybe because they weren’t prepared for anything for this set.



2. Ely changed the lyrics of “Ligaya” into “Gagawin ko ang lahat pati ang misis mo”…
3. Ely forgot some lyrics of Sembreak and immediately proceeded towards the last verse. Then he asked Raymund “tapos na?”. haha.
4. Ely went down to the audience and gave the mic to some people in the VIP section. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of the people who sang “Toyang” but I was able to hold his hand.
5. Ely gave Tim Yap the opportunity to sing “Toyang”, apparently, he wasn’t prepared. Lots of fans hated him because of that because it was a very common song. Well give him a break, he’s there to cover the event and was probably one of the ‘friends’ of Ely’s entourage.

Remember Ely’s jacket?? Here’s the documentation on how we divided the jacket. hehe. This is to be fair and square to everyone who got involved in this rowdy incident. haha. I have now realized that Levi’s is really good quality. A lot of effort was made to cut the seams dude!!

(This is my share; still have to decide what part to give Karla )

By the way, here are some additional videos or blogs you can view about the event:

Schizo’s You tube video- “Ang Huling El Bimbo” live stream

Karla ‘s blog post

Karla’s blog post 2

Nielsen’s YouTube video- Ely singing “Kailan” with piano accompaniment

http://zarathustralf.multiply.com/journal/item/36/Eraserheads_Final_Set_Experience_03.07.2009

Jake Yrastorza’s blog post

(if you have blogged about this one, just comment below and i’ll add it here )

]]> http://www.rockerfem.com/this-is-the-last-el-bimbo-my-eraserheads-final-set-experience/feed/ 72 http://www.rockerfem.com/marcus-adoros-violator-copy-the-combi-and-cubao-x/ http://www.rockerfem.com/marcus-adoros-violator-copy-the-combi-and-cubao-x/#comments Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:38:01 +0000 Sharlyne Ang http://www.rockerfem.com/?p=851 It was supposed to be just another Saturday gimmick for me. Karla and I decided to watch Makoy’s Violator Copy on a Saturday because I have work during weekdays. On the web, it was supposedly scheduled at 6:00 pm but when we got there (Robinson’s Galleria) it was scheduled for 7:30 pm. I got to see the Circus Listers at the theater entrance, they were going to see the film as well.

Violator Copy is a compilation of Marcus Adoro’s video works. The latest short film that he did was “The Artist Is In” which was last year and at last I was able to see it. This isn’t your typical film with dialogues in it; I would probably say that the film talked to its audience through the sound of the surroundings and the non-existence of sound. The lead character, the artist, quietly thinks of song writing ideas inside his room while on the other hand the outside world is full of noise. This shows the difficulty of some artists in the urban setting. I also thought of the struggle of an artist to squeeze their creativity juices given a little amount of time. There are deadlines to make but sometimes creativity lags behind and couldn’t cope under time pressure. It could be hypothesized that a typical day for an everyday worker, perhaps with expected tasks, is almost the same as an artist in under time pressure. Making art would become just like a normal activity and feeling of pleasure is gone.

Other videos that were shown were from his KamonKamon days (which I was able to purchase a long time ago in Sarabia’s optical) and the Pop-U-Mentary videos. The Pop-U-Mentary videos were something that I didn’t expect. It’s actually a compilation of some Eraserheads never before seen videos from previous gigs. It only made me reminisce of the old times and the Eraserheads gigs I’ve been to.

While we were watching the videos inside the theater, someone offered us wine and said that it’s courtesy of Marcus. And to my surprise, he is really there seated at the back part of the theater with his feet on the chair infront of him. There was a videoke part that was shown and suddenly he sang aloud. Haha, it was just literally us on the theater (probably about 10 or more people). Where could you experience drinking wine while watching inside the theater? Only with Marcus Adoro. Hehe.

The film was finished and there was a little get together outside. There were some more booze (hehe, GSM blue!) and biscuits, cheese, coldcuts and grapes. It was a simple thing prepared by Marcus for his fans who supported the film (Aww, so cheezy, literally hehe). We got to talk to him about the ‘heads and what not. He said that the Pop-U-Mentary will be part of the Eraserheads Boxed Set that will be released soon, so there will be more never before seen videos. I actually got excited when Marcus mentioned that it seemed that I was there in some of the videos (wahaha, If it was really me, I hope I was in my normal state and not in my psychotic fan freak state :p) . Anyway, I’ll just have to wait for it soon.

Do you see the plate? That’s my arm. Haha

Ok school bus ito! Marcus still holding the cup of wine in his hand

Haha Kulit lang ng mga busmates

The mall was already closing so Marcus asked if we would like to go to Cubao X. He said that there’s a gig there. We headed to the basement parking lot and holding the cheese pica-pica plate and went to his green combi (like the van used in Chippy Commercial before) with Ms. Mica and Nana.  Now this is the 2nd time I’ve ridden a vehicle with an Ehead (I was with Buddy Zabala then, refer to my blogpost here). I have concluded that Buddy is a safer driver than Marcus (haha, sorry Makoy! :p) Anyway, I’m still alive hehe.

It was the anniversary of Meighday! Meighday! that’s why there were lots of people there. CubaoX was filled with people, some of them familiar to me too. Lots of bands also performed such as Ang Bandang Shirley, Sandwich, Pedicab and many others. I was able to watch Sandwich up close, Raymund was already drunk (as always ). He climbed the amps and then slowly dropped himself behind the amps, good thing that their crew were there to the rescue. By the way, it was Myrene’s birthday (Happy Birthday Myrene!).

It was a fun night indeed; a much needed fun for me because I will be back to my normal persona when Monday starts .

Walang Kadala-Dala – Sandwich

*** Special thanks to Arvin for the photos and of course thanks to Makoy’s act of kindness

Marcus Adoro invites everyone to the world premiere of his unreleased and limited release video works.

Special appearances by:

• Jericho Rosales
• Pepe Smith
• Darryl Shy
• Dong Abay
• Regiben Romana
• The Fourth Wall Art Collective
• A Famous Pinoy 90s Rock Band
• The La Union Lokal Surfers
• and more!

Catch it out from February 4 to 10, 2009 at Robinson’s Galleria’s Indie Sine

Katrina ”hopia” Legaspi as the voice of “Anna” the vegetarian manananggal  

We were one of the first people who was able to watch Dayo at the big screen. The premier night was held at SM Megamall’s Cinema 10 and was attended also by some members of the cast who rendered their voices to the film such as Peque Gallaga, Nash Aguas and Hopia.

I have been curious about this film ever since we were invited to the studios of Cutting Edge Productions to witness how the animation was being done a few months ago. I appreciated the film more while I was watching the finish product though the studio tour already burst my bubble .

This animation film indeed is a Filipino digital animation breakthrough because this is the first time digital technology was used in all aspects of the film. In addition, all animation was done here in the Philippines and by Filipinos. According to some animators that I was able to talk to during the studio tour, the Filipino animation films before were actually outsourced internationally because of budget constraints. The whole film itself actually costed Php 1.7 Million.

The story of Dayo actually is based on a Disney formula. Probably the story writers thought that this would need to be commercially successful. I would understand that since due to market forces, they would have to since the movie is expensive and would need to at least break even from the expenses incurred. The movie of couse has sponsors and there were product placements all over. Bubuy even brought one of the sponsors’ product in Elementalia. Haha. This is how the massive film industry works with capitalism, they have to work with capitalism to achieve something. In their case, they wanted to break free from the ‘old school’ animation. Rationalization my dear and I won’t dig in deeper into that.

The movie is not a “thinking” movie, it’s actually a “moral lesson” type of movie. It’s actually a movie that would amaze your aesthetic pleasures. What would you expect? Kids are the target audience here. For me, it’s not really bad to have a ‘non-thinking’ movie. Well, we need it sometimes to get away from all the pressures in the adult world. Movies are really meant to transport your mind into a ‘make believe’ place and Dayo, I believe was successful in that aspect. You would be able to see the difference when the lead character Buboy, goes to Elementalia. I was not able to appreciate the fact that the landscapes or backgrounds are just static when the characters are the only ones in 3d. It was ok, probably it was due to budget and time constraints.

As a whole, the movie was great. Adults will also appreciate it and that’s also important since kids will be dragging their parents or guardians to the movie. Another good thing about the movie is that it’s distinctly Filipino because it shows common Filipino culture. From the icons, objects, the jokes, the locations, mythology, etc. everything was common to us. This is probably the reason MTRCB gave them a rated A. So watch this movie starting December 25 (Metro Manila Film Festival entry) and I assure you kids will surely like this movie

Congratulations to all the people involved in this movie!

* Special thanks to poyt for the invite

(Dayo official teaser trailer)

I got excited because I have never been to an animation studio ever in my life and that’s why I really prepped up to be early for the studio tour in Cutting Edge Studios at Greenbelt Mansion, Makati. The studio tour is for the promotion of Dayo, the first Filipino all-digital animated film. The place was filled with toys, which they really need to keep their imagination “child-like” .

It is a story of a boy named Bubuy whose grandparents were abducted by bad creatures from Elementalia. Bubuy then meets this vegetarian “manananggal” named Anna who brought her to Elementalia, an enigmatic land home of the lower Philippine mythological characters. Lower mythological characters, meaning they are the ones who are considered in the “lower” stratum of hierarchy in Philippine mythology such as “Nuno sa Punso”, “Kapre”, “Tiyanak” and many more. The only way Bubuy can save his grandparents was to collect the ingredients for the magic potion that “Nuno sa Punso” asked him to look for. The saga continues as Bubuy faces the different challenges in Elementalia. The story itself is just simple, easy to grasp. The movie isn’t just for kids, it’s also for adults. The writers made sure that the adults will be able to relate to the jokes so that they wouldn’t feel that they’re being dragged by the kids they accompany into something that they wouldn’t want to watch. Another interesting thing here is that while we were watching some scenes in the movie, it actually captured the Filipino identity. Filipinos can easily identify their “Filipinohood” on the locations and object that were actually utilized on the film most especially on Bubuy’s house. The movie itself isn’t a “stranger” to us, though the presence of the elementals are there.

Dayo wasn’t the first animated film to be done digitally, it was actually Adarna however at that time they combined the traditional animation with digital animation. As for Dayo, the digitalization starts from storytelling to editing. Of course human ability is still needed for drawing of the characters but the equipments they use are cintiq screen tablets wherein artists can use pressure sensitive pens to draw. They were so cool! Ehem, those are the actual equipments that Disney or Pixar animators use while they’re doing their animation. Everything here was Filipino made and done inside the Cutting Edge Studios. No work was outsourced outside the Philippines ( well they have to outsource work on their satellite offices in other regions of the Philippines). This is one of the issues that Filipino digital artists faces; that they are never credited on the art they do since most of the animation that is being done here are just for foreign purposes.

Also one thing to wait for is the soundtrack. The official theme song is “Lipad”. There are 2 versions of it, one is being aired now in NU 107 ( which is the rock version) and as for the film version, it’s Lea Salonga who sang it accompanied with Filharmonika, Gerard Salonga’s orchestra.

Did you know that the film actually started to be done 2 years ago? Starting from the conceptualization until the post production, it took them about 2 years to finish this project. The estimated cost of making this film is about $1 M, a very risky venture but I’m sure that Filipino audiences will be able to appreciate it. The film is due to be done by October or November and of course to be shown in the upcoming 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival on December. This will be the only animation entry in the film festival and this is something that everybody can watch out for. Popular Filipino actors and actresses will be voicing the major characters in the film such as Michael V., Laurice Guillen, Pokwang, Noel Trinidad, Peque Gallaga. Nash Aguas will be voicing Bubuy and Katrina “Hopia” Legaspi will be voicing Anna, the vegetarian mananaggal.

You can visit their official website at www.dayothemovie.com

Karla and I watched this film a few days ago at the Gateway Mall and I could say that it was ok. I really couldn’t say that it’s really good and cannot even compare it to the other “The Mummy” flicks since I haven’t seen the last 2. It was average so to say.

We have already watched 2 Brendan Frasier flicks this past month the other was “The Journey to the Center of the Earth” and comparing the 2 Frasier flicks, I could judge that I like the “Journey” better than the “Mummy 3″. It was much funnier. The only scene that I actually laughed in “The Mummy 3″ was when the dead skeletons were attaching each other’s body parts that fell while battling the terracotta warriors. I also enjoyed the fact that I am seeing Beijing, China one more time. It made me reminisce the time when I was at the Great Wall and seeing the actual terracotta warriors in Xian, China.