As indie flicks go, “The Animals” certainly doesn’t look and feel like one.
“People are used to seeing indie films about the slums, and poverty and stuff like that. There isn’t anything wrong with wanting to make a film about that topic, of course, but I just wanted to tell a different kind of story for a change, a different part of urban culture, a different side of the Philippines,” declared director Gino M. Santos.
The narrative seems to have been appreciated. “The Animals,” the director’s first full-length feature after three short films to his credit, is a finalist in the New Breed category in the ongoing Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition.
“This is my first time to submit a script at Cinemalaya,” Santos revealed. “I thought I had a great story, so I just submitted a script, not knowing or expecting that it would get in.”
And it did. The neophyte filmmaker said “The Animals” is about a day in the lives of three “affluent, upper middle class” teenagers and where they go to after their classes are dismissed.
“It’s about high school kids who attend one of those clubhouse open parties that are popular with the youth nowadays. The story happens in 24 hours, so you get to see what they are at like at home with their families, or in school. Then you see the transition they go through when they leave their comfort zone, like when they’re partying with their friends.”
Having completed his bachelor’s degree in digital filmmaking in 2006, the youthful Santos admitted that he used to initiate these “open party” events during his own high school days.
“I used to organize these clubhouse parties back in high school and my co-writer, Jeff Stelton, who has been a friend since third grade would go to them, too, so it wasn’t hard for me to come up with a story, and for us to write the script because we experienced those things—the horror stories of people getting wasted, parties getting a little too wild,” he admitted.
“During college, I realized how interesting it would be to see it in a film since I never really saw [one] that talked about these things [although] I would see it in the news. There’s always trouble with the combination of spoiled minors and alcohol with no adult supervision.”
Three of these types of spoiled minors are brought to life in the film by Albie Casiño, Patrick Sugui and Dawn Balagot. Described by the director as “very charismatic,” Albie was picked from six talents recommended by Star Magic to their group.
“Albie fought for the role,” Direk Gino pointed out. “He really stood out in the auditions he was so to speak, ‘in it to win it.’ I was just intrigued by his ‘swag.’ Bagay na bagay siya sa role because his character Jake is your typical popular carefree guy in your high school batch.”
Although Albie insists that the devil-may-care Jake is not who he really is in real life, swagger is certainly something that the public has seen a lot in the controversial young actor, who recently got involved in a bar brawl with friends of ex-girlfriend Andi Eigenmann.
Former “Pinoy Big Brother” teen edition alum Patrick Sugui, who plays a teen who “just wants to fit in,” was “perfect” for the role, according to the director.
“Patrick is actually who I envisioned playing the role of ‘Alex’ when my co-writer Jeff Stelton and I were writing the script. When I saw him in ‘PBB Teens’, I thought he was perfect although I didn’t see him act yet or see him in person at the time. When I met him while we were casting for ‘The Animals,’ I proved myself right.”
Newcomer Dawn Balagot, a finalist in 2010 MTV Asia VJ Hunt, plays Trina, a character who “simply wants more”. Direk Gino admits she was the most difficult to cast since the role is ,in his own words, “quite daring”.
“I was actually having a hard time casting this role. I considered a lot of A-list stars but they either had scheduling conflicts or were not able to accept the role,” he recalled.
“Then one day I saw Dawn, who I’ve known since high school, went online on Facebook and uploaded a photo that popped up on Jeff’s newsfeed as well and he was thinking the same thing of casting her as well. Kind of serendipitous, if you believe in that kind of stuff.”
After casting the three, Direk Gino had Albie, Pat and Dawn take an acting workshop. “That’s where I saw them act and interact together for the first time. That was the first of many days wherein I was impressed with what they could do.”
Making the film was not without its own hitches. Fortunately, funding outside of Cinemalaya’s P500,000 seed grant did not become a problem.
“My folks were the producers of the film. We also got sponsors like The Bistro Group (namely TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Fish & Co., Krazy Garlik, and Bulgogi Brothers) who gave us food on the set on some of our shooting days, Oishi also helped us out,” Santos acknowledged. “Exposure Advance Lighting and Sound Services provided us with lights for our party scenes, and of course the help of Lunar Saints. It really was friends and family who helped produce this film, and made everything possible.”
“The Animals” was filmed in six days over the course of two months. As Direk Gino found out the hard way, continuity and logistics were big issues when it comes to
shooting a story that took place in a span of 24 hours.
“Being able to fill up the clubhouse with people was a pretty hard task. But I think one of the biggest struggles was chasing the sun during our day scenes and begging the moon not to go down during the night scenes. Sixty percent of the film happened at night, and we were shooting at the peak of summer, so the sun would go down very late and rise very early. Finishing 20 sequences in 9 hours was anything but easy.”
In the end, the director was pleased with the finished product and regardless of how it will fare in Cinemalaya and beyond, Santos is just happy to tell his story.
“To be honest, all I wanted to do was make a film about today’s youth. Something that I, as a viewer, would want to watch,” he said. “I think, in the end, it is really the story that will grip the audience, not the casting, not the drugs or alcohol involved, but the film in its totality, and I think that is something the audience should think about when they watch, not just my film, but the Cinemalaya films in general.”
Below is the remaining screening schedule for “The Animals”:
July 24: 9PM, CCP Little Theater
July 26: 1:30PM, Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3; 6:15PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute
July 27: 3:30PM, CCP MKP Hall; 9PM, CCP Main Theater
July 28: 12:45PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute; 9PM, Trinoma Cinema 1
July 29: 11AM, Greenbelt 3 Cinema 5; 9PM, Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3
source: interaksyon.com
