My Rakista Entry

Come July, it will be a year (A WHOLE YEAR!) since I started working for a TV show called Rakista. Every Sunday until the October of that year, I would handle the second unit art department for this show about friends in college, forming bands, hanging out, fighting, and in the end, getting the girls.

It was a busy set to be a part of; we would have to finish shooting an hour-long show every week, so we moved very fast. We would use up all 24 hours of our shooting days, from 6am Sunday to 6am the next day, just before classes would start in the school we used as a location. Preparing for the first episode was easily one of the most stressful times of my life, but every week after that got a little bit easier. The constraints of budget, getting the script late, and not having that much set-up time on days itself didn't allow us (the art department) to get very artsy fartsy about things, but here are some pictures of what we think we did well: =)

CC (Denise Laurel), the lead female character, is an artist.
This was her art classroom in Episode 2, where her
swimming team captain boyfriend, Sonny (Marco Morales), visits her.


Sonny, however, doesn't make it to CC's exhibit in Episode 3.
Instead, Caloy (Carlo Aquino), the male lead and main musician of the series, shows up.
By the way, Caloy has had a crush on CC since... well I don't know,
but you've just been introduced to the show's premise.


Episode 4 looked into the background of Sven (Wincy Ong) , a somewhat strange,
funny and loveable character who ends up being the drummer in
Caloy's band. He wears a new theme of clothes every episode,
and runs out of scenes spontaneously. This is his parent's house!
(It was made up of furniture pieces from my own house --
something I have to sacrifice to survive in this job!)


Sonny decides to run for Student Body President, and this is the
"electoral party party" held for his campaign. I think this was the start
of our using cloth and tarpaulin banners to dress up the scenes set in school!
We continued those tactics until the end of the show...


This is Rosemarie Joy (Bea Garcia), a cheerful character, full of sunshine on the show.
This is her closet!
This show was a lot of turning classrooms into closets/rooms/what was needed.


Sonny's victory party, still tarpaulin banners and cloth! hehe =)
This picture is especially significant because it was the first time both
units (1 and 2) would shoot as one. We would have a "rivalry" and
a silent competition throughout shooting the entire season, seeing which of us
could shoot faster, finishing their call sheet first. This episode was different
though, we borrowed each other's lighting and used the same set. =) Unity!



Carl Jr., Sonny's nemesis in the elections, tied up for his own good.
He went crazy when he lost!


We had to set up Caloy's bedroom in one of the classrooms, too.


The teachers' band! This show was full of weird characters.

After working on this show, I savored my weekends, and spent more time with my family and friends. I didn't get to see them so much because we would get busy preparing at the end of every week! It was very fun, though. I'm proud to say that I worked on this show, and that I'm still very good friends with everyone I worked with here. I can honestly say that at that part of my career, I knew why I was doing what I was doing and I believed in what I did. =)

Make Up School Update

I had three new lessons since last updating about make up school: Smokey Eyes, Make Up for Black and White Photography, and Make Up for Color Photography. Here are pictures of what I did to my very willing friends who were my models!

Cathy's Smokey Eyes
I have to say that so far, this has been my favorite lesson...
And I still love green eyeshadow! Thank you Cath!




Cam's Black and White Twiggy Look
This was my most challenging try at make up, yet!
I attempted a style I never tried before, with layers of eyeliner, and everything...
It's not as neat as I would have liked it to be, but I'm happy with the result
of my experiment! Cam was a great model to work with, super game for anything,
even funky stuff like this! Her eyes look huge in the pictures, something they
are NOT in real life hehehe Love you Cam! Can't wait to try something like this again...
This is definitely the style of make up I'd most be interested in pursuing!


Christel's Natural Look
For Color Photography, we tried out a natural look, and since Christel
already has a great golden tan, I tried to bronze her up a bit more!
I think I could have blended it better, but I love how her skin color blends
so well with the shimmery eyeshadow already... =) Thanks Telly!!

Hay Naku

Around two years ago, my classmates and I were extras for a music video that our teacher, Marie Jamora was directing. It was for a band called Silent Sanctuary, and we were all to be high school students walking around campus. We did it because we wanted to be part of a real shoot, having little to no experience in one, plus we would also get extra credit in that class. One of my classmates, Prime, got to be the star, and another one, Gino, got to play a small part as well.

Fast forward to just last month, and Gino calls me saying he gets to direct their next video! *confetti* It was a very fun shoot, but also a very heavy one for me. I had to build a lot of things for it, and I had not done that in a very long time. Gino wanted the location, Cubao X (a street of small shops and cafes) to have several booths along the road, like a fair was going on. A lot of people would be walking around, and some of the signs seen had to correspond to the new album art of the band, as well. The singer was to walk through the entire location, and at the end of it, a crowd would be waiting for him to perform the song. This would also be a sequence shot video, meaning no cuts during the entire thing. From start to the end, the video would be one shot! It was a scary idea to pursue, but also an exciting one for newbies like us!

I had a set-build day with my setmen to build all the booths! It took them from 10am - 7pm to build three booths and a ramp, and for me to help paint and prep for other stuff for the video.

Preliminary shot of two booths: the fruit juice stand (the orange one),
and a fortune teller booth (the black one).
Spot the cameo of the Only Summer panels!


And my setment behind the booths, building a skateboard ramp.


All part of the job. =( haha I stepped inside a bucket
of white latex while painting the top of a booth and
not looking before stepping down! =S


The tall booth I was painting! Actually I was spray
painting the pink lips, and a setman was smart enough to
make it lie horizontal after my fiasco. All for the kissing booth!


My garage after set build day! No space for cars.


My living room! No space for people.

To transport all the booths, the setmen made them somewhat collapsible. They took the booth sides apart to be able to lay them flat on the roof of our transportation service van. It took me about two more full afternoons of painting booths, packing props, and making crafts before everything was really ready for shooting day.

We arrived at 5am on location on the day itself, and the setmen were able to construct everything on time for the first shot at 9am.

The full set up!


Me + U Kissing Booth


Fortune Teller Booth


Fruit Juice Stand


The Skateboard Ramp!
Btw, this is just in my garage waiting to be used, but I
don't skate! So does anyone want it? I'll sell it hahaha. =)


Mixtapes and Memories For Sale!


Recognize the frames? I brought a bunch of art (CD's art!)
and the frames to create more pseudo-booths.


Ayo selling books! I've seen someone in Cubao X actually do this,
sell books off the side walk. =)

We encountered some problems with a restaurant owner in Cubao X, but by luck, were able to finish! Good thing! We wrapped at 2pm. =)

Indioboy and one girl!

And here's the video!

Honestly, I would have liked it in its bare form - without the thought bubbles, etc. But I'm still very proud of what my classmates have accomplished with this - a sequence shot video! It was by no means easy, and we've come a long way from being extras for extra credit! =)

This is always my preferred kind of heavy shoot - like the Chubibo shoot, I made almost everything, it was almost entirely up to me. I got to design something, and have it executed. I got to paint, draw, make crafts and even photoshop for a bunch of props for it, and that's really what I love about this job. =)

The Vader Project

Somewhere in the warehouses of a Pittsburgh museum, these precious heads need me to come over and take care of them!

http://www.thevaderproject.com/

100 artists made 100 different Darth Vaders! The exhibit is over, but I can't help but think of what happened to these masks! I love Star Wars, so I can only wish I was there to see them all... Maybe there's a big wooden crate of Darth Vaders somewhere in the museum's storage...

Mahiwagang Kamay - Chubibo Shoot

One of my favorite shoots this year was a music video for Chubibo. I had worked with the director, Nico Puertollano before (a Sugarfree video for Dencio's!), and when he first described what he wanted me to do, I was both scared and excited. He said he wanted the venue to look like a cabaret club, and showed me pegs with golden frames, heavy curtains, and light bulbs (nice, right?), but we were to shoot in an almost entirely empty dance studio (meaning mirrors all around! =s). His concept included pole dancing, and we were to shoot in the dance studio that held those lessons.

The idea of being able to come up with a design on my own made me look forward to the shoot, but I was also very nervous wondering if I could actually pull off what we had in mind. Half the "battle" in PD-ing has always been executing the design. Plus, I had a lot more work on my hands juggling other shoots I was helping out with. I literally squeezed in my shopping and prep for this video during prepping for those other shoots, didn't even get to re-pack and organize the props according to the set up, and went from one shoot on a Saturday, to this shoot on Sunday, to an out-of-town shoot on the Monday that followed. It was a tiring weekend! But I came out alive, and I'm very happy with what I did. Super thank yous to Denise and Harold who helped out, and of course, my setmen! You think those curtains hung themselves? Hahaha! I couldn't have pulled off any of this without them. =)

Main set up
I was able to find the giant frames and the chair in Evangelista st.,
and bought a LOT of geena silk for the curtains.
Good thing it looks thicker on camera!
In this shoot, I also learned that wiring bulbs is no joke!
It took awhile to get those set up!


My friend Marco having fun between pole dancing shots.


Trying to be a DOP hehehe =)


Setting down.
I wasn't able to take "before" and "after" pictures,
but you can see a little of what the studio looked like
without the par lights and curtains.
It took us around 5 hours to set up everything,
but just around 30 minutes to take it all down. =( Haha!

I saw the video once on Myx, but don't have a copy yet! I'll get one soon and post it! =)

Summer Bag

I started making my "bag for the summer" during Holy Week but only finished it yesterday! And summer's ending already... hahaha!

I made this one by hand because 1 - our sewing machine at home is faulty and I have yet to learn how to use it, and 2 - I find handsewing very therapeutic. I love it! Now I wanna make another bag! Maybe one with a lot of pockets this time...

Make Up School Day 5

Today, my good friend Essa agreed to be my model for make up class! The topic was Evening Make Up, and this is what she looked like after. I still get nervous when I put eyeliner on other people. =S

I've always liked green eyeshadow!


Essa in evening lighting.

Thanks so much Ess! =) Yay!

Buster Keaton Tribute

My friend Harold (from Indioboy Productions) made a short film about a Buster Keaton fan, and asked me to handle some props and to style it. Here's what we shot last week in High Street.

Gino as Buster Keaton Fan


With his "camera"


Stressed out Harold on colorful High Street steps
The short film is an entry to the Fort Passionfest video competition.


Spoiler! The end. =)

Make Up School Day 4

Today's topic was "Day Make Up," and I invited Melsy, my best friend, to be my practice model. I was supposed to stick to browns, beiges, nude pinkish colors. I'm still learning, and I know I've got LOTS to improve on. Should have taken a picture in a room/place with better lighting... I'll remember that for next time. =)

Location Shoots

Sometimes, I don't make sets or really have to handle any props. Sometimes, shoots are so dependent on the location that I literally follow the director and DOP around looking for nice spots to shoot in. Occasionally, I'll move a trashcan or pick up some litter or remove a distracting sign. Oh, and fix the band performance set-up!

Here are two of those kinds of videos! I was happy to be a part of them, but cannot take credit for how great they turned out. It was all Pong and Quark!!! Hahaha! =)

Pelicola.tv Stuff

Internet television work! Fun stuff! Short shoots, and I could do what I wanted given specific pegs and guidelines. =)

My "hard at work" picture hahaha


What was seen


What wasn't seen =( haha
I look terrible!

Thanks to Mackie for the pictures! I didn't get to take any.

Here's the link of the video! I can't embed it, but check out Pelicola's other stuff as well: Rogue Presents: Karl Roy, I Like It Like This =)

And another clip I helped out with: Alive at the Womb: Johnoy & Kakoy =)

Something Cool

I've always been interested in how DOP's get their shots, and what contraptions they have to help them. In my first shoot without any of my classmates, I saw this! I found it so cool. I totally forgot what it's called, but it's there so we can get a top shot. =)

EDIT: My DOP friend said it's a mini jib. =)

Early Work with Indioboy

I work a lot with a group of classmates that call themselves Indioboy Productions. Yes, they're all boys, and yes, I find myself the only girl in most of the projects I have with them. Here are the two of the earliest videos I had with them. These are also the two earliest projects I had with CD, the production designer/stylist/now full-time artist who showed me the ropes around shoots, and introduced me to practically everyone I work with now! It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. =)

Some pictures from the shoot:

As you can see, I like to recycle props aka the stars! =) You'll see them more in next projects.

And here is the second video! This was for my friend's band Wake Up Your Seatmate. For the set, I needed girl's room stuff, so I brought my entire room and my sisters' room accessories as well. This is how it turned out:

And just one picture:

More entries about my work with Indioboy another time! =)