Forgive the silly title. I couldn't think of anything better. :-P

It was a good call to leave The Moondog (my Canon 300D) and trust in all things lomo for this trip. I armed myself with more than 20 rolls of film (120s, 135s - negs and slides) and just winged it. Here I am at Bangui shooting the wind turbines, as taken by my new friend (our client, really) Char. With Petrie (Lomo LC-A) stuck to my face (yes, i look thru the viewfinder!), I snapped away.

I've been hoping to get at least one nice shot. I think this here is one nice shot. :) There are others, I'm just sifting thru the rolls now. Will upload later. Nanginginig pa ko sa saya. Hehehe.

Labels: lomo, photographs, tv work

Tired, but generally ok. Didn't get to take a lot of photos (didn't even fill one 512MB CF card and finished only a roll of film). But we got good material for the show. And everyone's home safe. I'm almost completely recovered from my night of terror on the road from Baguio to Manila on Friday night.

Now to put episodes 5 to 8 together in two weeks.

Labels: photographs, tv work

next time, i think i'll opt to be a segment producer instead of an EP, especially if it's for a corpy client. that way, i can have moments when i'm not thinking or being forced to think of the show and its requirements.

i really am just so tired now. but i know at the end of this whole thing, i'll be glad of having done it. i'm sure i'll feel accomplished because it is a demanding job, and i stuck through it. so yeah, ok, i'm glad to be EP.

we finished and aired episode 2 yesterday. and at the same time, we were (and still are) editing episodes 3 AND 4. we are doing all these episodes this week to free up our schedule next week, because we're going on the second leg of our shoots.

we are set to cover lucena, cebu, baguio, davao, and manila. the locations will be split up among three teams. the team assignments are still sketchy. i have a feeling that we'll only find out our final final final sked and assignments two days before we leave.

but wherever i end up going, it'll be tiring for sure. i'm just glad to be working with great people. no prima donnas, no grumps. everyone just laid-back, but on top of the tasks.

---------

on top of work, i'm finding time to do a project for lomomanila. it's a secret.

for now, anyway. hehehe.

Labels: tv work

I surf the net while waiting to check on the edit. After that, I usually have to spend the night tightening the edit, revising things, sometimes even changing the script during edit.




Then, we have to call the talent back for a re-voice.

We have a long way to go till the end of the season.

Labels: lomo, tv work

Client asked for very few revisions to our first segment. That was a good thing. We just need to tighten the edit a little bit more. And add a few elements. So far, so good. I was afraid they'd ask for a complete revamp. You never know with corpy clients. But, with this corpy team, I've had mostly good experiences working with them. So here's hoping to more positive feedback after we finish the whole thing.




More editing to be done tonight and Saturday and Monday again. I hope I can slip out of work to go to the Flickr party in Ayala Museum. I'm interested in that book.

I'm looking forward to Sunday for that much needed break.

And I hope that next weekend, I'll have two days off. But, I won't count on it too much.

Labels: tv work

I haven't had one of these things in years. But, I had no choice but to eat instant noodles tonight because I had no time (or energy) to leave the editing room. I'm not even supposed to be eating this inside the editing room. But, so what!!! I'm tired!!! I'm hungry!!! I'm sleepy!!! And my skin is shrinking from being in an airconditioned room all day!!! And now I'm eating instant freakin' noodles. As protest, I will eat it here.

Forgive the rants, I just needed to do that to release stress. We are currently trying to finish at least one segment of the show that we're airing next Wednesday, because client is coming tomorrow at 4pm to view it. We hope to at least have something to show them. Damn that holiday on Monday! Damn the holiday LAST Monday. Why do these holidays have to happen right on our hell week when we're not affected by holidays??

It's fun to rant. :)

Labels: tv work

Labels: tv work

My production team has been waiting for months for our show to start rolling. And the shoots are finally happening this week. Everything is happening this week. In fact, nothing much happened in the past months except waiting, and now work is raining down on everyone.

Three crews will be shooting simultaneously beginning tomorrow up to Sunday. I go to Calamba-UPLB on Friday, then fly to Davao first thing Saturday, come home Sunday last flight. And then there's this typhoon complicating things!

Then we all hit the ground running.

Sunday: digitize material
Monday: transcribe and shotlist; SPs write
Tuesday: Submit scripts to client and get feedback
Wednesday: Edit
Thursday: Edit
Friday: Master and submit to client.

At least it looks like we'll have a bit of rest next weekend, even just one day.

Then we resume with revs on Monday for airing on August 29. By this time, the cycle repeats for episode 2.

If things go well, you'll see the show on MYX next Wednesday. Airtime to be confirmed. Watch out for "Kantabataan" (with Sponge Cola and Patty Laurel). :)

Labels: tv work

Finally, I get to go home and rest. Not the kind of rest that I had last night (a 3-hr nap), but a real break from work. We pick up our tasks again on Monday, and hopefully, it won't be as tough as the past few days.



The project involved a lot of waiting time, as people who are in my line of work are aware. So, I got a bit of doodling in. Most of the doodles are items that are on my desk. And this other one, which I drew early today after my so-called break from 3AM to 7:30 AM, while waiting sitting with my editor. Yep, that's my editor. Still hard at work after 24 hours.



The office was abuzz with 3 projects at one time, it was chaotic. By lunchtime, I was a bit of a zombie already. I like my sleep. I don't go for the insane and unhealthy schedules that some media people thrive in or even find cool.

Let me chill out at the end of the day. Let me have a proper dinner. Let me have time to read a book or click around the net.

But, I guess I have to bear with occasional uncomfortable deviations from my regular sched. And as long as it remains occasional, I think I can bear it ok.

Now, to try to sleep. Usually when I'm really tired, it's hard to get my mind to settle down.

Labels: art, paperjournal, tv work

Been working late at the office for the past few days because of an AVP that we're rushing for a client. I've been looking forward to Saturday for some much needed rest and space-out time, but it turns out that I'd have to wait longer for my rest.

Check out the equation right now: three projects with similar deadlines, two editors on two machines. Trouble? You bet.

I'm so tired. No matter. This doesn't happen to me a lot, so I really shouldn't complain. I'm still hopeful that I'll get to go to my 2pm Saturday valamoot.

Labels: tv work

I guess it's just the law of nature -- when a long break is just around corner, all projects that have been pending will suddenly push through at the same freakin time. There were all those months that we could've done all the shoots at a humanly reasonable pace. But no. All the clients just had to say "ok let's do it" at the last week of November. And they all need the videos between December 8-15.

It's a good thing D'yan Banda is going on replay for one episode. Otherwise, I'd really be tearing my hair out.

Last week, we were shooting up until the storm was threatening to blow in from the south (thank goodness it bypassed Manila); I got sick on Friday; got a bit of rest on Saturday; spent time with my lola and tita on Sunday.

And today, our calltime for the shoot was 5am. And now it's 5pm, and I'm still waiting for one last interview here at the office. 5am to 5pm isn't really that bad, if you think about it. And if I were younger.

But I'm the age that I am, and right now my mind is on the blink. I really think my brain is about to fold in on itself.

The good thing is, most of the shoots are finished. Just one more next week for D'yan Banda (which I don't count as being too stressful), and a last one for the electric company next next week (which shouldn't be too complicated).

Will go lounge on the couch while waiting for my last interview...

Labels: tv work

I went to Avilon Zoo last November 15 to shoot an episode of D'yan Banda. This episode will air next Wednesday, 23 November, 10PM Myx.

Labels: photographs, tv work

Shots from a 50's diner in Makati called The Filling Station. It's right smack in the red light district, with foreigners chatting up their local lady friends there. But it's a decent enough place where you can play billiards or just drink with friends. They've got cake and ice cream, too.

We went there yesterday evening to shoot some scenes for D'yan Banda. I like how my shots turned out. They look a little like scenes from some stylized movie...

All taken with The Moondog (Canon 300D). Click photos to get a bigger view:

  
 

The rest of the set here.

Labels: photographs, tv work

When you shoot with a great bunch of people, it's always fun -- no matter how tiring the shoot is, how uncomfortable the locations are. I'm thankful that the people involved in the show we're producing are all likeable and professional. It's a big deal when you have to make the most of the day and shoot as much as you can between 12 noon and 12 midnight.



It makes the load a lot lighter when you can goof around with your co-workers and laugh at mistakes. It makes it easier to brush off things that go wrong that way.

I didn't know anything about our talents before I had to produce this show. And I was half-afraid that given their celebrity status they'd be difficult to work with. Thankfully, they're only difficult to book for shoots but only because they're so busy. But, everything else is just great. Fun shoots, fun output.

And even when fans crowding around our shoot hinder us from doing our job quickly, it's still nice when i overhear some of them say "Para yan sa D'yan Banda siguro!" It's good to know people know the show, especially 'kazee fans.



I'm regretting not bringing my camera (any camera) on our first two shoots. And I feel sad that we're almost finished with our shoot days.

Two more to go. I'm sure they'll be hectic as hell like the other shoots, but I don't mind. In fact, I can't wait!

More photos in my D'yan Banda flickr set. D'yan Banda airs every Wednesday 10pm on MYX, with replays every Saturday 10am and Sunday 12am.

Labels: photographs, tv work

Just got my xpro results. And while I'm happy about them, I'm far from ecstatic. I still haven't gotten a mindblowing shot out of all this xpro-ing.

I tried lowering the iso setting on the LCA to 50 for my kodak elitechrome (rated at 100). I read somewhere that over-exposing might be a good thing when you plan to cross-process. Thing is, it was overcast that day and shooting at a lower iso setting meant slower shutter speeds and more blurring.

The images are fun enough though. I haven't used my LCA in a long time and I'm relearning how to compute distances.

Labels: photographs, tv work

From today's shoot in Chinatown. Yes, that's in Chinatown. Yes, i know the shot looks like it could have been anywhere.

Jay sat down in an eskinita while waiting for the mics to be set up for our shoot down Benavidez street. On that road, you'll find Masuki noodle house and a yummy fried siopao stall.



Taken with a Canon 300D. I hope my Lomo shots turn out ok. =)

Labels: photographs, tv work

Please watch my new show! =)



ABS-CBN Interactive presents DYAN BANDA, a 30-minute download show-slash-travelogue featuring the hottest band in town.

Rock band Kamikazee takes to the streets of Metro Manila to visit and share their favorite hangouts and to discover new places to eat, drink, and generally just goof around with friends, fans, and complete strangers.



Armed with their tsinelas, tattoos and a dedicated camera crew, Kamikazee tours their homecourt of Teachers Village where two of theirmembers and many of their musician friends live. Watch out for their visits to their alma mater UP Diliman and see them chat it up with the current students and the former dean of their college. Join them for some authentic italian food care ofSignor Bellini of Bellinis Ristorante in Cubao.

And in between their crazy antics, youll hear the hottest mobile downloads offered by ABS-CBN Interactive.

With Kamikazee as your tour guides in Diliman, Cubao, Quiapo, Chinatown, Marikina and a whole lot of other colorful spots around the metro, its bound to be one crazy ride indeed.

And who knows, you just might bump into them, dyan lang banda.

D'yan Banda airs Wednesdays at 10pm starting October 4 on MYX.

D'yan Banda is a Red Balloon production. =)

Labels: tv work

Karen on Flickr by ulan25.

Walked around Recto yesterday with Karen to check out the place as a possible shoot location for the new show. Snapped a few photos, but this is the only one I really like.

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Thinking of making a few changes in my house. I'm sorting out my things, ruthlessly throwing away a lot of junk, and selecting things to be sold. I hope to get some shelving custom made soon, and the walls painted. No, i don't plan to do the painting myself despite how some homecrafty people might say it's fun. I did it before with my kitchen and while it was fun...it just took too much effort and time. And I didn't do such a good job with it either. So, might as well get it done by a pro to be quick about it.

It's gonna cost a bit of money, but it should be worth it. :)

Anyway, I'm still in the de-cluttering stage. I have three bundles of junk near my front door ready to be taken out on garbage day. So far, so good.

Let's see if I follow through with the rest of the plan hehe.

Labels: photographs, tv work

Here's the BotR gang -- pic taken in Capones Island in Zambales. I propped my camera on a loose hollow block (tilted it up using 9volt batteries wedged under the lens) and framed the lighthouse. The original shot is a wide shot the shows the length of the building. But, I decided to crop it close like this so the people can be seen. Sort of. (Thanks to quirkygirl for pointing me to that fancy sloppyborder script!!!)

We're working on episode 10 already (which will air next week!). Sigh. 4 more episodes to air and the season will be finished.

I miss the shoots.
I'm going to miss voicings.

Oh, well.

Good luck to direk and me -- we're hoping to swing a miracle and keep the show the way we want it. But, in the end, it's not up to us. Friday, we'll find out what's in store for BotR.

Labels: photographs, the bloomfields, tv work

Anak ng! is the name of this dish; which is actually a serving of putanesca. Get it? Hehe. That was my lunch at Oh My Gulay! in Baguio when we went there for a shoot last Sunday.

i'm so tired. i wanna blog about my baguio trip, but i haven't had the time. i've been spending a lot of time in the office, or elsewhere but still working.

i'm still not complaining, though.

i'm just hoping i get the job done right. i think i have way too many things happening at the same time and it's a little taxing.

will sleep now.

Labels: photographs, tv work

i've been shooting so much in the past weeks -- in and out of town -- juggling shows, plugs, avps, and what not. i'm still not complaining, the work is still manageable. but i need moments when i can just pause and chill out. like isabel here in this photo, taking time to be quiet while we were setting up the shot. and while our camera man was getting his angle, i was snapping away with my camera.

i'm hoping this week won't be as hellish as last. i have an out of town shoot scheduled for the weekend, the last leg of the Band on the Run shoots. i haven't had a proper weekend in a while. it's crazy to be doing two shows on top of a 'regular' job, plus supervising scripts for yet another show on the side. i'd be happy when things settle and start to move like clockwork. but who knows, maybe that won't happen haha. oh well. one hurdle at a time is what i always tell myself ;) today, my segprod for LS called in sick and said she'd be unable to edit the segments this week. i had already filled in for her during the Bataan shoots. So since it ws too late to find a replacement segprod this late in the production, i thought i'd just do everything myself, and earn extra moolah (not a bad amount, too). Besides, i had done this same location/topic for last season's LS. So i knew the material well, plus I directed the shoots...

But after an hour of considering it, I figured I'd rather have my sanity than the money. So there. I bought a little peace and quiet and gave it up. Instead, I worked on getting the schedule fixed so that the segprod can work on the episode.

Haaay, goodbye extra money. But, hello sanity.


so tomorrow:
1) start edit of BotR episode 2 (for Wed airing, ack!)
2) check and submit LS script
3) two meetings
4) voice R and L for BotR
5) start BotR episode 3 on the other machine
6) write last 4 episodes of BotR for the weekend shoot
7) finalize LS shoots for thurs-fri
8) finalize LS episode 2 content
9) brief LS segprod for ep 2
10) FIX the goddamn audio of the LS diving segment
11) Finish everything by 6pm to join my Tito and Tita in Alabang.



Beauty before stress is annesy's mantra. =P

Ok, that's Tuesday. Wednesday hopefully will be lighter.

Here's to a good and productive week! With no bouts of panic or shit like that!

Labels: photographs, tv work

60's-inspired rock n' roll band The Bloomfields dish out the hottest mobile downloads from MobileMyx while exploring Luzon's summer hotspots.

While on the road trip, the boys receive a series of MMS messages from a mystery girl on her own road trip. The boys decide to follow her via her message trail.

Thirteen 15-minute weekly episodes chronicle the band's trip from Manila to Laguna, and then north towards Pampanga, Zambales and Baguio. On the trip, see them trying out exotic food, enjoying water sports, exploring an old lighthouse, and having some good ol' summer fun.

Band on the Run will air every Wednesday on MYX starting May 10, 10pm, with replays on Saturdays at 10am, and Sundays at midnight.

---- END PRESS RELEASE ---

my show. please watch ;)

Labels: photographs, the bloomfields, tv work

Taken during last Wednesday's shoot. This was somewhere in Pakil or Paete. We had stopped the vans to take a few road scenes. It was too hot to step outside, so I just poked my head and camera out of the van's window and snapped the view. The scene was blazingly white cos it was near noon, but some beautiful colors were under that white hot light =)

Labels: photographs, tv work

Kid at a roadside fruit stand on the road to Laguna, busying himself with his top and a mug of coffee

Uh oh. I'm liking desaturated images a lot these days.

Eh wala, ganon eh.

I'm so excited and anxious about tomorrow. I opted to stay away from practice this afternoon because

1) I had to fix the script for the shoot, and

2) I didn't want any extra adrenalin preventing me from getting some decent sleep.

Ok, I'll go now. The sooner I sleep, the sooner tomorrow will come.

Haha, parang bata.

Labels: photographs, tv work

I went to Subic, Olongapo, Zambales and Angeles yesterday to do an ocular inspection of sites we might use in this new show I'm working on. It was fun -- the boss lent us his car and our cameraman drove us to the different locations. First stop was Pundaquit to check out the beach. It was an okay beach, but we decided that there won't be enough vistas on the beach itself to fill an episode.

A boat ride took us to nearby Capones Island to check if it's worth shooting there. The island has a lighthouse and we thought it might make a good backdrop for some of the spiels and montages we need to shoot.

The bangkero brought us to the island, gave very vague directions on how to reach the lighthouse, asked what time we wanted to be fetched, and then left. I don't know why we didn't insist on getting better directions, maybe we just knew that that was all we were going to get from that boatman. So, we said bahala na. But, we were already uneasy about the whole thing.

The beach where we landed was short and led to jutting rocky points at both ends. The lighthouse was to the left of the beach as we noticed while approaching the island. But since we couldn't see beyond our stretch of beach, we decided to climb a small hill that led to the middle of the island. We bumped into two men bearing coconuts, who gave us only slightly more definite directions. We were to cross to the other side of the island via the talahib path and then just walk along the beach. And then we'll see the path daw.

And so, we do just that.

The beach isn't your regular sandy beach. It was packed with dead coral and rocks. Some would move when you step on them, so our way was slow and arduous. AND FUCKING LONG.

This is what happened. We had to go AROUND half the island, which took us more than an hour, just to find that path that the two men spoke of. Around 45 minutes of walking, K and I were about to call it off (the ocular and consequently, the shoot) when I bumped into one of the men we encountered earlier (he had passed through the island, thru the talahib etc. He had decided to just accompany us, after seeing from a highpoint how wretched we were. The island was ringing with curses at one point.

After another 20 minutes of rock-hopping, we finally arrived at the dratted path. It's a dirt-and-rock path that winds up to the lighthouse. I was just happy to finally be making my way up that I didn't mind it so much. Although, in my head, I was already dreading the way down. I had to concentrate on my footing so I didn't take a single picture during this time. 10 minutes of climbing and we arrived at the lighthouse.

My companions plunked down and refused to move. But, I had come all the way lugging my camera and extra lens and I'll be damned if I leave that place without taking a million shots.





Going down posed a problem, because we just couldn't imagine walking all the way back the way we came. So, we mulled on how we were gonna go about it. And while we were doing that, we saw that the main gate of the lighthouse led to a different path from the one we climbed.

Larry (our kind sort-of guide) said it led to the beach right beside the one we landed on. The beach that our bangkero said we couldn't land on. Larry suggests that we get our bangkero to pick us up there. But, he had left the resort already when we called so we had no way of contacting him. So our guide sent his own bangkero to run to that beach (i guess he took the long way) to get our boatman to bring the boat there.

So, down the path we went and it led to... concrete, honest-to-goodness steps down to the beach. Anak ng!

Eh may putang inang hagdan naman pala. Lord.

We made our way down, with relative ease and periods of hysterical laughter, to the rocky beach where we rested and waited for our boat. The boat came. So, it WAS possible to land there. It just requires a bit more effort.

And that was it. We boarded the boat (gave Navyman Larry and his bangkero a small token of our gratitude) and went back to the mainland continue the rest of our ocular. That was just the beginning of our site visits, but thankfully, nothing as eventful happened the rest of the trip.

It was fun pa rin, we concluded during the banca ride back. We're still shooting on that rock, btw. But, maybe then we can hire Larry's boatman. Good thing K got his cell number!

Photos here.

Labels: photographs, tv work

Back from my shoot out of town. Very tiring. But I guess it was fun enough. At least I got to see some pawikan hatchlings. That's a real turtle up there -- it doesn't look real, 'no?

Glad to be home, but the work's far from finished. Resume on Monday to rush all three segment scripts.

So tired. Weekend won't be a breather, but at least it's disc and not work.

Snapshots from the shoot here.

Labels: photographs, tv work

Ganito pala sa boracay habang may bagyo. Ok lang sana sa kin kung nagbabakasyon ako (NOT), pero since trabaho 'to and i'm supposed to bring home an episode's worth of material, it's a huge problem indeed.

We arrived here on a very wet Wednesday. The skies were all grey and rain, although not terribly strong, was continuous. And some parts of the island were already flooded (the roads leading to the main hi-way).

I didn't get to shoot anything when I got here. Ok, I tried to be optimistic and imagined Thursday to be better. Konting ayos ng production sked, cool. Hala, I woke up Thursday AM and the weather wasn't any better. Naghalu-halo ata ang mga bagyong paalis, parating, at pati na rin ang low pressure area! Grrrr. Umaraw (sort of) nang konti ng Thursday morning kaya naka-shoot ako ng, count 'em, 3 spiels. And that's it. The rest of the day, we went to the Talipapa to shoot.

Our second day ended and I had approximately 10 minutes of footage of our host on the actual beach. I had zero footage at all of the beach without the host.

I knew I only had one last chance to escape screwed-ness. So, I fuckin prayed harder to my sungoddess to please make an appearance today.

Friday: Gising ako ng 5:30am, dungaw sa balcony. No rain. But, the sky was still very overcast. But, I noticed that there was less wind. I was hopeful that today would be better. Dedma na ang araw, basta walang ulan! I needed to shoot the goddam beach without people walking around in raincoats (i was one of them)!

During breakfast, i watched the sky (and the sea and saw schools of fishes jumping out of the water!) and saw, thank god (and all the saints), that the sky was clearing up considerably. If I strained my eyes, I could see thin lines of blue in the horizon.

Cut to 4PM, I'm sun-browned and I've got more than 2 hours of footage in the bag. We've gone snorkelling (with Kermit, my frogeye camera!), flyfishing (di ako kasama, no budget), paraw sailing; we've shot all the spiels and standuppers; and I. Am. One. Happy. Producer. I think between 9am to 4pm, I was thanking God every two minutes.

Funny, as soon as I wrapped up my last shot, the clouds gathered again like a curtain closing on my sunny day. Ok lang, no complaints. =) At least ayos na ang trabaho.

I've got two more days here, and whatever weather we have, I promise not to complain.

Too much. ;-)

Frogeye photos to follow! Woohoo!

Labels: tv work

I have one script to check before I go to Boracay in the morning. If it doesn't arrive in fifteen minutes, I'm gonna turn in and check it at 4am.

My flight isn't until 930am, but my call time at the office in Makati is 6frickinAM. And from that time on, I will have to be on my toes to direct the crew and the talent, up until we reach the island, where I shall continue to be on my toes until the sun sets and the moon rises. It's going to be a loooong day.

I hope we'll have good weather during the shoot. Starting tomorrow, I'll be waking up at 5am/6am to make time for everything that we have to get on tape. I'm doing two segments about the place, plus the opening and closing spiels of the episode. The entire ep will sort of be all mine, except for one segment.

Dumdedum...no script yet.

--------------

I'm all packed. Plus, I've decided to bring my purple (ultimate) disc, the (compact) disc player, my journal, and two cameras (the LCA and the Frogeye).

D will follow on Friday, in time to shoot her segment at the Mandala spa.

Ah, there, an sms informing me that the script doesn't need to be checked tonight. So, I can sleep now. Good night, see you guys online on Friday afternoon when I log on from the beach to check scripts for dtour. =P

So there, bye people.

Labels: tv work

Sa set kanina, dumating ang headwriter namin showing off her new toy, a pink ipod mini. Lapit kay Ry sabay:

danisha: di mo pa nakikita bago kong toy!

ry: woah, ganda!

(ry injects: the pitch of danice started with her whipping it out of her pocket!
she had me at hello!)

after testing the gadget, which involved attaching his badass Sennheiser headphones, putting it in the back pocket of his new 'girlie' jeans, and 'sashaying' into the set, he considers purchasing one for himself. BUT only if someone buys his cd/mp3 player.

(hosts move into position on the set, cameramen still setting up for the take...)


Now, I have been secretly in love with that cd/mp3 player. Yes. So, I asked casually (sort of):

me: how much did you get that player for and how long have you had it?

ry: P8,000. 3 months old.

me: (heart sinks) shit! that means you'll only go down to 7000 for that.

ry: If I sell it for 5000, would you buy it?

me: (heart lifts) Talaga?! (but I sober up when I realize it's yet another unplanned expense for October) Shit, shit, shit...

ry: well, you don't have to buy it right away...

me: when do i have to tell you if i'm getting it?

ry: after the show.

me: kaagad?! shit...

(pause)

me: is it shockproof?

ry: it's shockproof. it's slim. it's silver. it's got stickers on it na...

...and it's psychedelic.

me: and that's the clincher.

Or so i thought.

ry: and it looks like a frisbee.

me: aggggghhhh. don't do thaaaat!

(pause)

me: ok, i'll buy it.

And then our FD calls out the start of the taping.

Labels: tv work

I swore that I would never ever do it again, but the invite I received was just too good to pass up. So, five years after I last did it, I'm doing it again -- go to Boracay for a shoot.

I normally wouldn't want to go to Boracay to work. I won't be able to stand it! But, seeing as how I manage to spend some nice leisure time there every year anyway, it won't feel so bad now to go there for work.

I checked my worksched for RN and I worked out a way to be away for a while. We leave on a Monday and fly back on a Thursday (in October).

BUT. If my RN schedule permits, my co-prod and I might even get the chance to extend our stay a couple more days (heck, until the very end of the week!) for some fun in the rain/sun. And Kermit (my Frogeye camera) will have a chance to do his stuff.

Hmm...now that I think about it, I'm kinda excited to actually shoot in Boracay. I'm just a little anxious about one aspect of that shoot, but maybe it will turn out ok anyway. Cross fingers!

Labels: tv work

The episode went berserk on air last Saturday. The machine that was playing the tape was defective and the tech people, instead of transferring the tape to a different machine, thought it would be best to see if everything will clear up next gap. And next gap. And next gap. Until the entire freaking show ended with NOTHING at all being imparted to viewers except audio and pixels going haywire.

And the hilarious thing is: our show still got higher ratings over the competition.

The bosses were relieved. And I was puzzled at the results AND the bosses' reaction. I was waiting for someone to say that there was something weird about the results, but no one did. As long as we won, I guess. And the whole tv industry is being controlled by these numbers.

Fuck ratings.

It's the death of tv.

Sigh.

Labels: tv work

Just got back from the Probe Team's farewell party. Well, it wasn't just a party for people who worked for the Probe Team perse, but for the whole Probe Productions family. Last week, old employees got calls for a get-together to celebrate the sixteen years of Probe. And tonight, everyone got together.

Twas a night of celebrating the blood, sweat, tears, and sleepless nights that made the company an institution in Philippine broadcasting.

I never worked for TPT. But I worked with Cheche once or twice for a special. And gave my best years to Probe's baby, 5 and Up (originally Junior Probe).

We were a family who shared the same ideals, who worked to keep the integrity established by the ones before us.

Tonight was filled with a few tears, and a lot of laughter. There were familiar faces and unfamiliar ones. But that hardly mattered. And the issue of the show's cancellation didn't bother us. We were there to relive the glory days, when we all put everything we had into something that had meaning for us. This was where we learned everything we know, where our ideals were formed and strengthened.

We were not simple workers here who punched keys for no tangible end. We knew exactly what kind of product we wanted, and Cheche gave us the challenge and the opportunity to make it. And now, it's about to end. The flagship show will air its last episode next Tuesday.

There will never be another Probe, try as we might to replicate it in our own little groups. But never mind that. Tonight we were all together. And we were home.

Labels: tv work

the night before the event and i have nothing but rants.

my posts for the past week got stuck because ftp was down. and looking at the updates suddenly getting published all at once, it looks as though i've exploded with negative energy.

hayy. 23 hours to go to the event. i had been feeling better (sort of) having found out that my compensation has been nicely adjusted, by my boss's own decision no less. but, he strikes again. he's been known to forget his own instructions. and upon seeing the budget again (which he has signed already), he started questioning the figure that he himself quoted.

the thing is: i'm ep of the show (and ap of the event). so how come the headwriter will be getting twice as much as i am? i don't doubt the hw deserves that amount. but, it just doesn't feel right.

i'm too tired to argue. so i will just do what i do when screwed.

here's to punk zen.

whateverthefuck that is, stomp, but it sounds apt.

Labels: tv work

Do they assume that I'm awake (or at work) 24/7? What the fuck?

Sending me a message at 11 pm, forwarded from my boss's boss, asking me to write a fucking spiel for the stupid hosts of a morning show to plug this stupid project that won't freakin end?!?!

Can't they just read the punyetang concept paper (or the fact-sheet, if they can't be bothered to read thru too many details) i slaved over just so everyone gets a fuckin CLUE what we're trying to do?

ANOBA? Pati ba script ng ibang show ako pa rin ang gagawa?!

Labels: tv work

There is a difference between producing a telemagazine show and a full-blown ground event involving artistas.

I've never produced an event in my life. And I don't like artistas.

The former should be enough to convince some people to explore other options. But, no. Talk about dismissing real concerns.

Labels: tv work

Last night at 9pm, I got a message from my boss asking for a concept paper and budget for this show we're putting up. He said he needed it for a ManCom meeting. I said ok (even if i didn't have shit prepared) because I figured I can turn it in by the end of the day today. In a following message, he informs me that the ManCom meeting is at 10am today. And I'm part of it, so "see you at 930am". Helloooo....

So, armed only with the concept that my team and I came up with (plus other details I uhm, invented) I looked thru my wardrobe for something decent to wear, which was a green linen indian shirt. I thought jeans would do, so I jumped into my trusty pair.

I got up early enough today so as not to rush, so I wouldn't be frazzled at the meeting. As I was getting into my cab, though, my "trusty pair" ripped right above my knee. Great. Now I look like a roadie.

And in the company of all those corporate types, I looked even more like a roadie. A hippie roadie talking about the concept of the show. I was the hippiest of them all there, until Tie-dye boy stepped in in all his rainbow glory and orange striped sneakers.

Dang, how I wished I had worn my glasses so I could read the print on his ID hahaha.

Thank goodness I was excused out of that stuffy meeting after my presentation.

I'm guessing there'll be more meetings in the coming days. Haaay.

Labels: tv work

Where we get our Juice

Juice Mondays were always fun, even when the problems were at their peak. I found that this past year, I felt most alive when we were brainstorming and building our shows.

Last Monday, we got together for a a Christmas lunch at Kulinarya and yeah, I still think we make a crazy but great team. Let's see what 2003 brings.

Note: These were shot using quirkygirl's fantabulous Fujifilm S1 Pro with Nikkor 24-120 mm lens and 55 mm Micro lens. Droooooollll....She couldn't pry the camera from my hands. Haha. I couldn't stop clicking...well, they don't call me the madshutter for nothing. Here are some of the pics quirkygirl, peej and I took.



More photos at quirkygirl's pbase.

Labels: tv work