Just thought I’d give you guys a quick update on what I’ve been doing these past months that I haven’t been blogging. (I actually forgot that I have a blog! )
3rd Quarter of 2012 to early 2013:
After finishing the “Lupang Hinirang” animation, I was again commissioned by Rock Ed Philippines, in cooperation with the National Youth Commission and the Commission on Human Rights, to make animated videos to celebrate our country’s freedom from Martial Law. You can see all three videos on this page.
February 2013 to the present:
Right now I have a few comic projects in the works: I’m illustrating Gerry Alanguilan‘s story “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby” which is a project we’ve been discussing for a long time already. I also illustrated for a comic in an anthology written by Chris Costello, and Jamie Bautista and I have also been working on reviving “Cast Comics”.
I also made a quick animated fan video for Pol Medina Jr’s “Pugad Baboy” comic series which I’ve loved since high school called “The Pugad Baboy Shuffle” . It’s a simple thank you to him for inspiring generations of artists like myself.
My personal project for this year is my first animated short, “Milkyboy”. The story is inspired by TV commercials featuring child endorsers that I used to see back when I was a kid myself. I’ve always wondered about how their lives are when they’re no longer famous. Are they happy? How did the TV stint affect their lives? I’ve had the idea since 1994 and it was supposed to be the 2nd act of a (yet unpublished) three-part anthology titled “Sell the Nation” that I was planning back then. Fast forward to the future — I decided to update the story and make it into an animated film. (One thing I realized about animation is that there are almost no limits to what you can do!)
This is also my first time animating dialogue so it’s been quite a challenge but I’m learning a lot along the way.
I’m very particular with naturalism in dialogue and I don’t want the film looking and sounding like it was dubbed — especially not with that singsong / “class recitation” style which I absolutely hate. So I asked friends whom I’ve already worked with in my previous film projects to provide voices for the characters: Mihk Vergara, Yvette Tan, Denise Mallabo, Chris Costello, Miguel Nacianceno, RJ Ledesma, Erwin Romulo, Gang Badoy-Capati to name a few. These guys were all wonderful to work with and did such AMAZING jobs. It was great seeing my story’s characters come to life through them!
We recorded the voices in a QC Studio called Independent Minds. Prior to recording, I sent my actors the script so they can study their roles and lines. I also made sure to give them a free hand in interpreting the characters in their own way. After receiving the sound clips, I listened to the different takes and spliced together lines that worked best and then animated based on the timing of the words and pauses. I saw it as a matter of imagining how the characters would act and move in relation to the spoken words. (This is something that I’ve always wanted to achieve in comics and now I’m seeing a world of difference between the two media!)
Right now the film is underway and I’m posting a trailer real soon. If you would like to keep updated on this project (and others), you can find me on Facebook — I update my profile there a lot more often than I do this blog. :D
UPDATE (Aug.29) – the page for Milkyboy where you can see the trailer plus some of my background notes is now up. There’s also a short feature on it on Manifesto.com.ph.