finally posting photos and video of the charmee shoot we did with sarah geronimo. prod design by me. costume design by carlo, tailoring by young fashion designer gerswin qua. carlo didnt disappoint as even sarah herself loved the costume and asked to keep them after the shoot. a week after, we saw her wear the boots on ASAP. the design process of any undertaking is not at all easy. im posting a few of the original set and costume sketches and pegs upto the final output. cheers!
shoot of one of revicon’s TVCs featuring robin padilla mid february 2008. heard a lot of comments re robin’s shorts from local viewers. many didnt realize this is muay-style, that’s why its leg opening is a bit larger than usual. carlo and i opted to use alibata for his muay shorts instead of the traditional thai text. robin was thrilled we decided to do that. script reads pa-di-ya or padilla. there are no L’s in the alibata.
director is torts villacorta for abracadabra. cinematographer boy yniguez. production designers peter collias (scenic designer for moulin rouge) and benjamin padero (umm, masahista?). worked with peter before in a german beer regional ad for china. cool guy.
the final cut
setup in binondo. love the effect of the big windows,with light from the 12K HMIs streaming in over the banana bags
ben what are you doing?
ben (in a boxing mask), former movie villain val iglesia, peter colias and carlo
jhem posts his pictures of our shoot for pharex-b with mel tiangco and the b-meg shoot with the pigs. pharex-b tv commercial director jessel monteverde for abracadabra. cinematographer odie flores. prod design benjamin padero. b-meg tvc for fat lion productions (formerly videofilm and rhythm and hues). director dindo angeles. cinematographer ka maning. prod design. me ! both commercials are by ace saatchi and saatchi creatives (agency). haha
The UP Film Institute is most proud to hold the Philippine gala premiere of Brillante Mendoza’s Tirador (international title: Slingshot) this Monday, 3 December 2007, at 7 p.m. as the opening film of Cine Veritas Human Rights Film Festival.
The film is the sixth feature in three years from Brillante as practically all of his previous works have grabbed major international prizes. Tirador had its world premiere at Toronto (Canada, 6-15 September 2007); was exhibited for the Dragons and Tigers Out-of-Competition at Vancouver (Canada, 27 September-12 October, 2007) and got its Asian premiere no less at Pusan, South Korea (Window on Asian Cinema, 4-12 October 2007). It is slated to date for further showcase across the globe till middle of next year in prestigious filmfests foremost of which are the Marrakech (Morocco, 7-15 December 2007) where it vies in main competition for the Golden Star Grand Prize and the 58th Berlin (Germany, 7-17 February 2008) for the International Forum of New Cinema.
For those who miss out on films by Mendoza, take note of his latest masterwork, Tirador (Slingshot) an intimate glimpse into the lives of criminals who have to deal with police raids and other hardships on the gritty streets of Manila. The film has already been picking up speed in film festivals, including Toronto, Dubai and the US. Filipino viewers will have their day as TIRADOR premieres at the UP Film Institute on Dec 3, 2007. The film stars Jiro Manio, Nathan Lopez, Kristoffer King, Coco Martin and veteran stars Julio Diaz and Jaclyn Jose.
Slingshot (Tirador) dir. Brillante Mendoza; Philippines, 2007. 86 minutes
Opens December 3, 2007 UP Film Institute
pic by neil daza. cheers!
visited caramoan island in camsur bicol a few weeks ago for a location check for the film. we brazenly took to the 8 hour road trip and hopped on a 1.5hour bangka ride to “shorten” our trip, that eventually got us at casa del roa by 11am the next day, almost 13 hours after we left manila. we then had to proceed to gota beach and get on another bangka to see the islands including honongan, lahos, matukad and tayak.
caramoan is beautiful. too bad when i got back last weekend to start work on the preparations for the film’s shoot this week, i learned that they clean-shaved the island forests in time for survivor asia’s leg here in the philippines in february. so what we saw of lush jungle forests set against the limestone rocky mountains in the middle of clear blue waters are no longer existing.
ergo hindi na pwede pang shoot! on top of that, the weather forecasts tell of thunderstorms and a low depression area in the vicinity and most likely a storm on its way. around 12hours after we arrived on camsur this weekend, we get a text from the line producer that the shoot there is packed-up and postponed indefinitely. and that we had to hurry back to manila immediately. good luck.
it’s been a few weeks since i started work with the new movie and we’ve so far only shot 2 days. the grueling task of casting the last main lead has been daunting for the rest of the staff, catching up on last minute decisions on whether to shoot or not and if the production fund would be released with enough time to prepare for props before we are called to the set. and to top it all off, because of such reasons we all havent been given our downpayment.
in the meantime the children have been starving. the system and policies of the production company hasnt been much of help in the way that they tell me my request for fund has been denied days after i submitted it because it was supposedly in the wrong format. and hey, theyve already approved it the first time they received it!
exactly my reasons for submitting it early so they could look over it and tell me if something was wrong. in the first place, they havent been transparent on certain standards and rules on requesting, reimbursement, and even in what to purchase or not. one time during the previous long night shoot, they told me my request didnt pull through for the next day’s shoot and i got really furious that i started cursing in the queen mother’s tongue. it wasnt the first time they did that to me and evidently, i thought we already had an agreement on imaginary terms and policies on format and other bureaucratic bullshit.
they also informed us that i couldnt do any purchases for costume. everything should come from the actors and other talents (and they mean everything), or is acquired through x-deals from companies and clothing shops. that’s really no problem with me, i can work with that. however, ive already spent a few thousands on costume for the 1st day shoot because nobody warned us before hand (i come from an advertising world where we practically dont curtail on expenses for costume and props). the field cashier, who was supposed to know all these things, allowed us these actions and got berated for doing so (again, the rules should have been made clear to all, if such rules existed). she then spent the next few weeks lamenting and whining about it. and we had to keep up with it. help.
i am a reasonable man. i believe i can work with systems and rules and redtape but if these are tailored to the fickle decision-making of the superior officer, then they are not rules but merely suggestions. my stint as designer for this film has become a lot trickier and challenging everyday. that includes giving a list of props requirements to the supervising producer and letting her do my proppings for me, because they have to get all these for free. good enough for me, that means less legwork for my staff and me. unfortunately, how long will it take before they tell me they did most of the work and i dont deserve what i was paid for?
ill slap them silly. that’s why they hired me as designer in the first place. i do the design –and the producer is supposed to produce. haha! 2 days down, 28 to go. rak en roll.
it’s official and im gonna write about it.
was offered to work as PD for chito roño’s new horror film. that got me scared shit. direk chito is one of the industry’s biggest directors, and the most demanding. i wouldnt know if i could handle the stress! but i realized this would be the 3rd time a chito film offer passed through my hands. ive been asked to work with him before (one film for london, another for something else). feelings of inadequacy or just being plain terrified to be berated on set would have to be conquered. opportunity is not a lazy visitor (so says cinderella from “into the woods”). so i accepted the project 🙂
i did survive our first day of shoot though. yey! shoot was just 1 scene, 4 shots, 1 location and featured assunta making her architectural and fengshui presentation. 1 down, 29 shooting days to go.
artdept staff on first day high: deans, carlo, ben, lola fer and jopay.
the Lord is my shepherd; though i cross through the shadows of the valley of death i will fear no evil. after the movie i hope i wont be reduced to a sliver of a soul, an imprint of digital shit. haha.
one day at a time please ! yey
Originally slated ngayong August, ayon sa Manunuri member na si Mario Hernando, ang Gawad Urian 2007 awrds night ay sa September na itatanghal. Target venue nila ay ang Meralco Theater, produced by APT Entertainment, Inc. nina Tony Tuveria and Malou Choa Fagar…
And the nominees are….
BEST PICTURE: Huling Balyan ng Buhi; Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo; Kaleldo; Kubrador; Manoro; Todos, Todos, Teros; Rome and Juliet
BEST DIRECTOR: Connie Macatuno (Rome and Juliet); Jeffrey Jeturian (Kubrador); Jose Javier Reyes (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Brillante Mendoza (Kaleldo, Manoro); John Torres (Todos, Todos, Teros); Joel Lamangan (Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah); Sherad Anthony Sanchez (Huling Balyan)
BEST ACTRESS: Maricel Soriano (Inang Laya); Judy Ann Santos (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Cherrie Pie Picache (Kaleldo); Angel Aquino (Kaleldo); Gina Pareno (Kubrador); Jonalyn Ablong (Manoro); Mylene Dizon (Rome and Juliet); Andrea del Rosario (Rome and Juliet)
BEST ACTOR: Ryan Agoncillo (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Mark Gil (Rotonda); Rustom Padilla (Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah); Alcris Galura (Batad); Mario Magalona (Rekados); Jett Pangan (Tulad ng Dati); Sid Lucero (Donsol)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gloria Diaz (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Liza Lorena (Inang Yaya); Tala Santos (Inang Yaya); Tessie Tomas (Rome and Juliet); Agot Isidro (Tulad ng Dati); Gina Pareno (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Pops Fernandez (Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah); Meryll Soriano (Rotonda)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ping Medina (Tulad ng Dati); Rafael Rosel (Rome and Juliet); Allan Paule, Lauren Novero (Kaleldo); Archie Adamos (Raket ni Nanay); Jeffrey “Eppie” Quizon (Rotonda); Soliman CruZ (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo); Domingo Landicho (Kubrador)
BEST SOUND: Mike Idioma (Kaleldo); Kubrador, Raket ni Nanay, Tulad ng Dati, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
BEST MUSICAL SCORE: Huling Balyan ng Buhi, Jerrold Tarog (Kaleldo), Kubrador, Jerrold Tarog (Manoro), Tulad ng Dati, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
BEST EDITING: Kaleldo, Kasal…, Kubrador, Romeo Candido (Pamana), Rome and Juliet, Rotonda, Todos, Todos, Teros
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Odie Flores (Kaleldo), Kubrador, Huling Balyan…, Manoro, Odie Flores (Pamana), Raket ni Nanay, Rome and Juliet, Rotonda
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Benjamin Padero, KALELDO; Kubrador, Huling Balyan…, Brillante Mendoza (additional design Benjamin Padero) Manoro, Rome and Juliet, Rotonda. Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
BEST SCREENPLAY: Huling Balyan…; Boots Pastor (Kaleldo); Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo; Kubrador; Ralston Javier (Manoro); Rome and Juliet; Todos, Todos, Teros; Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
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this is fun hehe apparently this is my 2nd nomination from the urian (the first was for masahista last year) and the 3rd nom for my work in kaleldo (was nominated also for the star awards and the famas hehehe).
im connected to three films up for nominations in this year’s urian. the first would be kaleldo where im prod designer. manoro got a lot of nominations as well. prod design was by dante but i did additional design for the film as well as doing the film’s poster so im thrilled it got that far, including getting a nod for aeta actress jonalyn ablong. the third film is pamana (the inheritance), nominated for editing and cinematography, which i also worked on prod designer (with dante as design supervision). coolness ! thank you Lord 😀
benjamin padero 