MY LAWRENCE OF ARABIA DAY.

Sunday was damn tiring. I had to shoot two projects back to back. Plus there was Cecile’s family’s KALAW GRAND REUNION sandwiched in between. Woke up at around 5:AM to check on the equipment and wipe the lenses clear of any smudges. Everything was packed in my nuclear free containers. Then there was the tripod. That rickety old tripod. My STEADICAM hasn’t arrived yet and my monthly savings went to that. Was planning to get a fluid head but the stupid RECTIFIER AND BIKE BATTERY took care of that( Will deal with that in a special FLASH BACK EPISODE)

I guess I have no choice. I sat back waiting for THE SUNDANCE KID who is co-producing the documentary with me.

The weather was fantastic for riding the motorcycle. Nary a cloud in the sky. DAMN! THIS WAS MY LAWRENCE OF ARABIA DAY. I’d clean the bike and then take her out for a spin in the nice green countryside. REALITY CHECK came knocking seconds later. Yes THERE ARE NO GREEN SCENERY HERE IN MANILA. BUT THAT WAS THE SPIRIT!

SUNDANCE arrives on time and were off and running. AS I told SUNDANCE I’m not really into documentaries. It doesn’t give me the control I want in shaping the film.Before embarking on a single footage being shot I always board it and plan the shots and what lenses I will be using for a particular scene. RIGHT DOWN TO THE FRAME COUNTS! BUT IN A DOCUMENTARY, I m at the mercy of the subject matter. And no amount of techno gloss and camera wizardry can make a droll subject exciting. I’M AT THE MERCY OF THE TOPIC!

CECILE’S ANCESTRAL GATHERING was at 11:30. The general plan was to shoot up until 11 and then SUNDANCE would drop me at ROCKWELL. In this rest called the DISH. The clan rented out the entire establishment for the day.

That was the plan. But when I was on location I discovered that I needed as much footage that I could get and in the middle of the shoot I realized that I had to forego the GATHERING and stay and finish what I can finish.

SUNDANCE: “ Wouldn’t Cecile get angry? “

FLIM: “ NAHH… She knows this is important.”

I was then handed a plate of spaghetti, some roll sand a sandwich. It wasn’t cooked very well but then again Im a picky BASTARD when it comes to spaghetti. However I do appreciate the spirit in which it was given. And there was so much caring and warmth that permeated the interaction that the taste of the food hardly mattered at all.

FLIM: “ Lets get the tripod out so that I can do steady shots.”

SUNDANCE: “ UHHHH …we can’t. I left the keys inside the car.”

Well that rather puts out the steam in our sails. Well I can’t get a decent shot on that tripod anyway.

SUNDANCE then mysteriously disappears after contacting a KEY SMITH. After an hour the SMITH comes to me and tells me that the car doors are opened. I then called SUNDANCE.

FLIM: “ WHERE ARE YOU? “

SUNDANCE: “ I GOT A SPARE KEY FROM MY FRIEND. I HAVE IT NOW.”

FLIM: “ Your car door is opened now.”

SUNDANCE: “ Ohhh..”

I was home at around 1;45 p.m. I rummaged thru the fridge for some lunch. Unfortunately the cook didn’t…cook. So I was stuck with some PANDAN cookies to carry me thru the day for the second shoot which was to occur at around 3;00 P.M.

I just sat there in the cave and edited. Because I didn’t want to sleep in fear of not waking up on time.

The car arrived at 3 and I hauled the guns and the grenades and the lighting equipment and zoomed back to ROCKWELL to pick CECILE and SELINA up. Also met with GILES my actor for the film that afternoon.

We picked up RICHARD in Cecile's dads bldg where we have the entire building for ourselves. But Giles wasn’t able to get the keys for the main office room. So we had to go to MAKATI SPORTS and pick up the spare key.

The weather was beautiful still. And I noted how the sun was slowly going down. The scene that we were supposed to shoot was supposed to take place in the morning. Well anyway. We got into the office and shot like hell!

We finished at around 7:30. Cecile sent me a JUNK FOOD AND DIET DALANDAN AIDE PACKAGE for my two actors and me. Very sweet of her. I didn’t eat the junk food and just gave it to my actors. I was worried that we might run out despite the fact that I’m starving to death because all I had was that stupid PANDAN CAKE!

Once we took Giles home I slumped down on the chair and devoured some canned sardines. Cecile insisted that I watch THE RING >(JAPANESE VERSION) with her. Which I did and she got pretty weired out and its not easy to weird her out.

As much as I love THE RING I couldn’t stay awake. I was too tired to even get the willies.