over fwendster the producer of our last movie thanked me for my pro-bono work as the film's still photographer. ahay. syempre she's always welcome, although a part of me--the practical, pragmatic part--is somekinda feeling like a huge sucker. in some other part of the world, in another time and place, maybe i would've gotten rich out of doing the things i'd been doing here for free. but reality is the here and now.
masaya din naman. kasi sobrang na-enjoy ko talaga yung pagpi-piktyur-piktyur. hindi lang sa mga eksena (which doubles na rin as my guide for action continuity, call it two-fold purpose flashtography), kundi sa mga nangyayari sa likod ng camera. yung mga taong katrabaho ko. capturing moments, ika nga ng kodak. collecting memories for future smiles-upon-recall.
lalo na sa project na to. i've never had as much fun since my last movie shoot for 2004. para kong bumalik sa adventurous side ko. even saigon pales in comparison. kasi noon sa saigon all i could think about was how many days til hometime.
and now we're starting another project again. with the same happy troupe, minus a few missing factors. which kinda makes me sad. cause the people who would not be able to join in this time are the people i've come to really, really be endeared by. like my roommate of an underwater photography stalwart (who's probably diving through shark-infested costa rican waters now as i speak). and her uber-fun, uber-alaskador gaffer. and her ever-reliable, quick-as-lightning 1st assistant camerman. and of course, the direk.
hay, direk.
this new project, a seven-day shoot, is goin to be part of a trilogy for the local Metro Festival this Christmas season. the famous horror franchise from the notorious movie matriarch. notorious, because she's known among inner circles as someone who doesn't pay her laborers on time. late na nga, inadequate pa. ahahay. ewan ko ba kung bat napasok ko and proyektong ito. siguro nga hindi naman talaga ako nagtatrabaho para lang sa pera. kasi napakatino ng mga katrabaho ko. napakabait ng producer namin. wala akong masabi, parang pamilya na halos ang turingan. at sabi nga nila, if you don't get a taste of r3gal, your experience of the local film industry won't be absolute. kasi sya na daw yung may pinaka-dreary working conditions. haha.
the other day during the meeting the matriarch herself sat with us. despite the unflattering funny things i've heard about her (the stories have somekinda transformed her into a caricature of the typical tsinoy businessman in the film biz), i still couldn't help marveling at the mere fact that i was in the presence of someone who's been a big influence in the film business for the past twenty years. and someone who's helped shaped the careers of people like ishma bernal, peque gallaga, jeffr3y j3turian, and other film "gods" i've come to regard with respect.
karakter si m0ther, she doesn't pull the stops when it comes to belching out comments. off the top of her head talaga. over the speaker phone she was talking to someone from the currently-shooting m@no p0. apparently she'd seen the rushes (the raw unedited footage) from the film's first few shooting days and she wasn't too happy with one of the film's stars. "sabihan mo d1na (bonnevie), magpapayat. she's FAT!" this drew guffaws from everyone in the room. "para syang...sino ba...ike lozada!" haha. candidly funny. she reminds me of someone like my mother, embarrasses people without even being aware of it.
kumusta na kaya si direk. isang shooting day na lang ang natitira from our other project, which is tentatively on saturday. kung pwede lang hatakin ang mga araw para saturday na uli. pati tuloy yung mga palabas sa TV na hindi ko naman talaga pinapanood, tumututok na ko dahil isa sya sa mga co-creators. hay. it's crazy whenever i go through this phase.
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