Highway 54 Revisited: The making of ‘20/20,’ Part II
In Part I of this post, Ely recalls how he was almost run over shooting a Pupil music vid right in the middle of EDSA. Here’s what happened next.
Day two. Originally, the production planned on shooting the band sequence on top of the Ortigas flyover but it proved hairy as there were even more vehicles on the street than the previous day. A mere two lanes to work with was logistically impossible not to mention dangerous. I was already near when Mads Adrias, our snappy production manager texted and gave a new location: Guadalupe Bridge.
Producer Erwin Romulo (who also directed Radioactive Sago Project’s “Gin Pomelo,” among other things) had broached the topic of a post-apocalyptic music video almost two years before but nothing really came into fruition. It was simply a foolish daydream. And, whenever Holy Week came around, we would all slap our thighs and say, “We should have done it, we should have done it!” In 2010 we came close to doing it, planning to shoot in Ayala, Makati even when there was no single to promote.
Timing was everything. Somehow with Jason Tan on board to direct and RockEd and Mons Romulo willing to help with the permits and Pupil finally in need of a new video (the original single was supposed to be a Tagalog song but “20/20” seemed a lock for the concept) we were all caught in the tide that would eventually carry us to one of the most unforgettable moments in our lives.
Giving motorists a huge headache
However, during the almost five hours we spent on that bridge I mostly felt nothing but crippling embarrassment for the huge headache that we were giving motorists and commuters alike.
Everyone obviously felt the same, and we all moved as fast as we could, Jason never calling another take unless it was absolutely necessary. Yani, who usually could not care less, looked increasingly like he would rather be somewhere else. Wendell the Indefatigable was similarly low key but his excitement was still palpable as always. Dok was nowhere to be found.
That morning we had the luxury of actually having a complete band set up courtesy of our friends from JB Music. We jammed in between setups and it helped ease the tension as the morning wore on and traffic jam piled on top of traffic jam faster than anyone cared to know. But this was what guerrilla filmmaking was all about, with the help of course, of several traffic aides and policemen.
We had two HD cameras, one with Jason and one with Dix Buhay our cinematographer (he’d also shot our “Disconnection Notice” video) and were still only able to stop the southbound lane. In film culture there is what they call the “money shot,” that one shot that would define and justify all the hard work, but can also literally mean “the shot that cost the most money.”
More money shots
The footage we took the previous day of me walking on Edsa was already riddled with money shots, but today it seemed even the public officials were in on the fun and aware of what was at stake: they agreed to stop the traffic on both the northbound and the southbound lanes, thereby giving us the granddaddy of money shots: Guadalupe bridge completely bereft of people except the band. And all we had to do was ask.
They gave us what would be, according to Jason, “the longest three minutes of our lives.” It would have to be just one take. When he finally yelled cut, there was a collective sigh of relief from the cast and crew as well as the loud rumble of engines revving as the MMDA finally stepped aside to let the herd of angry, weary, impatient, and bewildered motorists pass. Wendell and Dok was so relieved it was over that they couldn’t help but clap their hands like a pair of giddy school kids.
We spent an additional P30,000 (over the original P150,000 budget) to have the extraneous people and cars digitally removed. This final step, done by Goriotik Multimedia (who among other things worked on the Hollywood animated film Hoodwinked) completed the illusion.
During the editing however, Jason realized it was better to leave the ending as it is, with the vehicles crisscrossing behind the band. A moment akin to actors breaking the fourth wall (as when they talk directly to the audience) or to a magician revealing the secret to a trick. But rather than spoil the effect, it amps up the audience’s delight and hopefully provides more questions than it answers.
Watch 20/20 video here.
Ely Buendia has written for The Manila Bulletin and Esquire. He is the frontman of the rock band Pupil and co-author of “Against the Light: A Pupil Tour Diary” available now. His blog posts appear on OMG! Y! Rocks every week.
Vote for Pupil and “20/20” in the upcoming MYX Music awards here.
Read more of Ely’s blog posts:
Part I – Highway 54 Revisited: The making of ‘20/20’
A ballad for the birds
The Sounds Family
Read more from other Y! Rocks bloggers:
Rock star tattoos By Lizza Guerrero Nakpil
General Luna is a rock band. Seriously. By Francis Reyes
Three more music bloggers join OMG!
