Day 83. Done… for now.

Fast forward to Feb 21.

The films are more or less finished, except for a little more sound design, an adjustment to the music, and complete end credits. We rushed the post to make the deadline for this year’s Cinemalaya, whose deadline is tomorrow. With any luck, you should see both films at the festival. Unless I either get politicized for having too many films in the festival, or if the shorts in the jury’s minds suck eggs.

A lot has happened since the shoot. For one, we finally have actual titles.

Sammy and Felipe is entitled Lakad ni Sammy.  During the working edit Mario put the title Too Much Walking at the front of the film. The title grew on me after a bit and is now the official English title. Connie is now called Ang Ibang Mga Pamilya, taking off from the title of the short story it was based.

It’s my first time to work with HD, and I had a little worry about not actually holding in your hands the tape containing your footage. True enough, a couple of weeks ago Tracy my producer experienced the scare of her life when she and Mario couldn’t find the footage of Sammy, which was only stored in hard drives. They found it eventually; good thing they didn’t tell me otherwise I would’ve set the building on fire.

I’m extremely happy with how both films turned out, exactly how I wanted them with surprises. Sammy is nostalgic, heartwarming, thanks to the two actors; Connie is melancholy and jagged, with a syncopatic beat – just like the character herself.

Corinne de San Jose, who also did Mansyon, Jade’s Endo and Khavn’s Three Days of Darkness, did the sound design.  We’re not yet done though; especially with Connie, which needs a lot more designing. I wanted everything to sound like we’re holed up. stuck in a room where it’s dead quiet, where everything outside sounds muffled.

Vince de Jesus of Zsa Zsa Zaturnah the Musical graciously agreed to do the music for both films. Sammy especially needed a lot of music. He even wrote a song for the film. Connie had no scoring at all, save for a bit of incidental music that plays for 2 seconds.

Connie was difficult for me as I’m forced to compromise for a shot that I feel very strongly about; More later when I’ve processed.

Day 60. First cuts

First cuts of both shorts came in today. I had both my editors do their own versions of the story, with my input later on.

Connie came first. Lawrence Ang, editor of Tribu and eventual editor of my full-length Baby Angelo did Connie. Strangely enough I was nervous. Had to take two shots of brandy which were somewhere in the back of the office before I sat down to watch, and again after watching the cut. The cut was 20 minutes, longer than I wanted it to be. Lawrence did a good job. Did brash cuts that I would’ve otherwise not been able to do, including excising an entire scene in an already short movie. The cut was based on his understanding on the script; though he did a great job I felt that the Connie character got a bit diluted. A quick explanation though and he got it right away. Love that guy.

Still nervous when Mario Cornejo, director and editor of Big Time, came with his cut of Sammy and Felipe. Mario even put in music. The cut was great as well; the guy knows how to tell a story (syempre). I even liked the music. As with Connie some fine-tuning needed to be done, but otherwise, fantastic.

This was a good day. I loved both movies. I felt I succeeded in telling two very different stories stemming from one encounter. Yehey.

Day 36. Shooting Day 3

Pivotal moment: our three main characters come crashing into each other. This is the last day of the Sammy story. The next two shooting days will be the spinoff story Connie.

We’re shooting the one common scene both shorts have today. The team(s) decided to act independently of each other, I told both art departments to have their own rendition of the scene. Hence, the funeral parlor scene in Sammy is brighter, and the Connie character, not so grave.

Lanterns go a long way

Because we were working on a shoestring budget, our main lights were Japanese lanterns. Neil the DOP was very fast and worked well with the lights.

Niv, D and Mai

The “big” scene in the film is the gamblers outside the funeral parlor, which we populated with bored mourners from the neighboring chapels and friends, like the three above.

My attempt at storyboarding

Paulken as Sammy

Day 34. Workshop, part 2

Another workshop today, this time to do the pivotal scene between our heroes and the eccentric old lady they meet: Connie.

Connie is played by the great actor Lui Manansala, and her audition blew me away. Connie is a supporting character in Sammy and Felipe, but is the star in her own short. Ten minutes, all on her. It’s a lot like Mansyon in some ways, but I assure you it’s different.

Lui is beautiful. Her skin is soft and betrays none of her age, which will remain a secret. Connie the character is not that old but the years have been unkind to her, which is a minor problem with this beautiful woman portraying her. But her performance, even in the little workshop that we did- astounding.

I love women. So complex, with deep wells inside them that no man, or person, can’t fathom. For me they’re a puzzle; though I’m surrounded by them, I will never figure them out. For the rest of my career, I think my films will be about them. And the effect they have in the men in their lives. That includes me.

Lui doesn’t want to overthink her role, she wants to feel it. Exactly the way I want it. A brief explanation of the story and the character was enough for her. I can’t wait til we start shooting.

Meanwhile, my AD Bombi had to quit for personal reasons and Sig Bernardo has graciously stepped up to the role. She also plays a minor character in Connie, which is a plus. Paulken and Randy rehearse their scene with Lui, and though Lui says only a few lines, she grounds the scene, anchors it deep into the ground from a place of respect, love, and not a little bit of pain.

You’ll understand more when you see the movie. I for one, can’t wait til Saturday, when we finish the first short and begin the second.

Day 22. Shooting day 2.

Today, lots of walking. The day begins in Tambo, at the palengke. First thing in the morning, just when the throngs are out buying the day’s food.

Good luck shooting with this throng. Margie (producer/art dept/extra) in the foreground.

First hitch today: Bombi the AD is sick. Mario, director of Big Time, our first full-length as a company, stood in today. I like his style. Very, very fast. And it helps that someone’s more worried about the time than I am. I find that when shooting, I can’t shake off the producer hat. I think of cost, logistics, all that. Not good.

At least it’s just a few scenes today, primarily of the two walking around the city. Thankfully the sun is cooperative and shone down on us with its beautiful, but oh-so-hot rays. It’s a light day, but because of all the walking Paulken ran out of steam come dusk.

Me, my actors, and Arkeo’s Tres Marias hamming it up for the cam:

Jake (art dept), Popo (continuity) and Jeck (LM)

At dusk is one of the key scenes of the movie: Sammy comes to the end of the day. While shooting it, I felt it was a special scene. That, and Paulken nailed it. Maybe it’s because he was really tired.

With Neil (DOP) and Mario, our AD for the day.

We wrapped early today, at 7pm. Day 3, the final day for the Sammy part of the movie, is next year.

Day 20. Shooting day 1

I have to take a sleeping pill the day before a shoot, otherwise I won’t be able to sleep at all and end up a zombie. Woke up at 5:30 am, a little late, thankfully the location was just downstairs.

Randy Punzal (as Felipe) and Paulken Bustillo (as Sammy)

Butch Dalisay wrote the story a while back, and it’s based on a memory of his as a child. As such I wanted the film to be nostalgic, though it is set in the present I want it to feel like we’re watching something from the seventies. It will look like we’re watching Sammy’s memory of this day. We’re doing a color treatment that’s like a polaroid: very warm, with green shadows. Some details in the film are inconsistent, and the general feel is romantic; much like memory itself.

First scene is the biggest scene in the film: the pool party scene. Originally it was supposed to be a big swimming party full of screaming kids and lounging, Ralph Lauren’ed parents. But this being a zero budget flick, it’s become a patapos-na party.

Apparently I’m a head taller than my entire staff and crew. Small dudes L-R are Bombi (AD), Popo (continuity) and Neil (DOP)

As usual it’s hell for me to do scenes with lots of people in it (give me a lonely woman in a room anytime!). Randy (playing Felipe) was a little nervous, it being his first lead role and all. He quickly warmed up though and later on, I saw full on why we cast him in the first place: a natural charm, a certain unforced way about him, and that charming smile. His character’s a con-man after all.

Paulken (playing Sammy) was again, incredible. The kid is a triathlete. His energy doesn’t wane. Spot-on at every take. I wish this kid a big, bright future. He’s a find. He did pick up a few bad habits from his stint on TV but it was quickly dealt with.

Gerry Cornejo does a cameo as Mr. Manalo, as do my sisters as party-goers. And they threw themselves in their role, I have to say.

We made good time today, wrapping our day shoot ahead of schedule. The one night scene was in a cramped house, Sammy and Felipe’s home. It was so cramped I couldn’t find much angles. I really wanted to kick those damn walls down. On second thought we should have gone with a set. But, there it is.

The smallest set in the damn world.

The Arkeo team were troopers, as usual: Tracy is my AP and was characteristically strung-out. The others took dual roles. Monster became art department. Margie became art department-slash-driver. Popo was PM-slash-continuity. Pearl, our resident PA, experienced her first no-budget film and is actually close to losing her mind.

Neil the DOP was a great presence. Very cool, unruffled. Thankfully Bombi was there to handle Paulken, who is after all a ten year old boy, prone to distractions and fits.

Next: Day 2, where our two heroes walk the streets of Manila.

The main image of the film. Father and son, walking, and walking, and walking…

Day 16. Workshop

Paulken Bustillo plays Sammy. Paulken is a natural, possessing none of the annoying child-star habits of extreme pa-cuteness and sing-song speaking voice. I used him for Ang Kapatid Kong si Elvis. So it was really about finding who could be Paulken’s father. Several actors read for the part, including some well-trained, reliable ones, but we ended up getting Randy Punzal, a character actor. He was far from our original peg for Felipe, the hustler dad. First, he’s huge. And sweaty. But he’s a natural actor, a good partner for Paulken. He’s unexpected.

Sunday the 16th was our workshop for the two. Their first exercise together blew me away. They acted well together, and the bond was immediate. And, they’re both funny.

Meanwhile: our original DOP Ike Avellana, who was also our DOP for Big Time, couldn’t accommodate our schedule as he’s shooting Jade Castro’s new movie. Though that was sad, I’m happy that Neil Daza has graciously accepted.

Other staff woes: CD, our production designer for Mansyon, got food poisoning from some bad eggs at a shoot. Uh-oh. We’ll see what happens in the next few days. Shoot is on Thursday.

Sammy, Felipe, and Connie.

My latest project is two short films, entitled (for now) Sammy and Felipe and Connie. This project began last year when, while developing a story for a different project, Monster and Mario suggested I read Butch Dalisay’s short story, Some Families, Very Large from the short story collection Selected Stories. I was instantly drawn in by Butch’s prose, a delicate wordplay that draws fine pictures. I read his whole book in one sitting.

A year later that project I was working on was abandoned, but the story of Some Families, Very Large stuck with me. I was especially touched by the ending, wherein the protagonists have a chance encounter with an eccentric lady in the end. This random meeting of strangers suddenly becomes a moment of truth for all of them. I’m fascinated with moments like these, which defines the nature of being human – the joyful, heartbreaking point of contact. I decided to adapt the story itself, but with an addition: a second, entirely independent story revolving on the other party.

In the summer of 2007 Butch graciously gave us permission to adapt his story. I contacted my good friend, National Book Award-winning writer Tara Sering, and we crafted the stories of Sammy and Felipe, the father and son, which is the direct adaptation of the story; and Connie, the odd lady they meet in the end, a conjecture on what must have happened to her.

Though both shorts share one pivotal scene, the stories are independent of each other. Each is but a moment in the characters’ lives, but when viewed together I hope to create a larger story of how human beings connect.

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Arkeofilms presents our new short films: Sammy and Felipe and Connie.

Sammy and Felipe catches a day in the life of 9 year-old Sammy with his grifter father, Felipe. Sammy embraces the day’s adventures with Felipe who tries to make most of the day hustling money. Both forge a more meaningful bond when an encounter forces them to face the truth.

In Connie, a lonely old woman faces the death of her adopted son. She bides time in delaying the inconsolable grief, until unexpected visitors force her to examine her sorrow.

Production is set for the holiday season (yeah, what a bad time to work on it). I’ve started a dedicated production blog to it at sammyandfelipeandconnie.wordpress.com. Keep posted for more!