While we’re languishing in the most rushed post-production ever, I’ll be posting entries about how it was like to shoot Baby Angelo)
Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8 / Day 9 / Day 10 / Day 11 / Day 12
Call sheet: “Bong and Apple”
1 May / No. of sequences: 6 / No. of actors: 7 / Call-time: 8 am / Estimated pack-up: 3 am / Actual pack-up: 7 am
Photos courtesy of Sam Kioumarsy
Last day! People’s spirits were lightening up as this day finally arrived. As usual, the day went by smoothly and lazily. Note to self: stop making movies with everything happening at night.
Can you spot the straight person?
Camwhoring was especially prevalent today, which I believe is some kind of therapy for stressed workers. Alma consequently did the whole day with goth makeup on.
The rains came in the evening, and it wasn’t the type of big storm that would leave in an hour. It was the steady, gentle type of rain that normally would be refreshing and wonderful, but I WAS PULLING MY F@CKING HAIR OUT because it was pushing back my shoot. For two. f*cking. hours. And we had four scenes to go. And these scenes happened to be the meat of my movie. POTA.
The first time…
…and the last time. Diana Malahay (“Apple”) and Jojit Lorenzo (“Bong”) strut their stuff today. That’s all I can say without spoiling the movie.
Chased the night again today and had to shoot our last two scenes covered in miles of black backing. People were dropping like flies. Pearl was too sick to move. At around 5 am it’s like I gave away free lines of coke because people started moving like they were on speed to get the shots before night. At 7 am, we wrapped principal photography of Baby Angelo. Yesssss.
Pero pucha, unbeatable feeling. I can’t wait to shoot again. Up ahead: post-production in a mindblowing two months. Lord help us.
Who’s Who in Baby Angelo
Diana Malahay as Apple
Diana was supposed to play Julie in my new short Ang Ibang Mga Pamilya, but she had so much impact on me I wanted to save her for a bigger film. Initially she was going to play Laica, but after her re-audition, and seeing her in Skin Deep, I had to cast her as Apple. Diana’s a smart, thinking actress. This is her fifth onscreen puta, and I told her to play the role a specific, different way. With very little effort, she nailed it.
Mitch Literal and Mercy Chiu as Makeup Artists
Our makeup artists were sponsored by CAS, a makeup school, who backed out after our last day. Odd. So now we’re crediting the more than a dozen makeup artists who helped out during our shoot. Multiple staff also includes 3 assistant cameramen, daily additions to the art dept, and more than a dozen interns. Of all the makeup artists these two are my favorites. Mitch especially was very attentive and alert, and she quickly became part of the gang. Some of the makeup artists they sent were clunkers, choosing to kiss ass to the artistas (if I was a wannabe makeup artist I’d kiss ass to the producer!) and vanishing on whims. But the rest, especially these two, have my gratitude. I’ll be hiring them over and over and over (with actual pay this time!)
Tags: Cinemalaya, Diana Malahay, Filmmaking, Jojit Lorenzo
