Looking For Johnny Moon 2013

The Looking For Johnny Moon is a project of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte to train Ilocanos in the field of Creative Media Arts, and in a aim to promote Ilocos Norte as a "shooting ground" for national and maybe, international films. Johnny Moon is the English translation of Juan Luna, (Juan = Johnny, Luna = Moon) a national artist and an icon of art in Ilocos Norte.

Looking For Johnny Moon 2013 Poster

The Program and the Name Tag

This August 8-10, 2013, marks the 3rd year of the event. To my regret, I didn't join the first two which had more topics than this year. First reason being, I didn't know about this stuff, and second, I knew no one interested in these stuff, until last year when we produced 3 videos. It hurts just thinking about it. >.<

Here are the posters last 2011 and 2012. (Credits goes to the owners/designers.)

Looking for Johnny Moon 2011

Looking for Johnny Moon 2012

They only had 3 topics this year because it's free! (I think) Prosthetics, Production Design, and Production Management. Faye, Aljo, Lian, and me joined the Production Management/Location Management while Jeff, Eli, Venice, and Monique joined the Production Design. 

Having gone to the Production Management gave me a lot of insights when it comes to filming. Well, since I'm subscribed to some filming channels on youtube, I know a thing or two about film production. But I didn't know that there were a LOT of paper works! The title Production Manager is applied to a Location Manager on a bigger production, like a movie, and then you are called a Location Manager when you're working on TV series and stuff, if I recall correctly. The motto of a Location Manager (LM) is "First to arrive, last to leave." because we are in charge of everything in the location, from parking of vehicles, to managing crowds, to the cleanliness of the place, and a lot of other stuff. 

To be an LM, you must know the script very well, and by heart. "Graceful under pressure." as Sir Francis Bauzon described his experience as a Location Manager for TV5. He is a great speaker; you will never get bored when he speaks. He has this 'dating' that will keep you listening to him, and he is very enthusiastic!
All of the production staff must be coordinated so that everyone is aware of what's happening, especially the LM, because if anything happens on location, it's the LM's responsibility. 

Sir Francis Bauzon during the Ocular on the 2nd day.

After that workshop, I finally appreciated an LMs work. I personally think it's fun, you get to see places, you get to meet a lot of people, and that feeling of awesomeness when the show finally airs. "It is all about building a healthy and lasting relationship with people." as Sir Francis said in his e-mail to us.  I learned a lot from Sir Francis in the 2 days that he lectured. I miss him already :(. I hope that this will not be the last time we meet, see you again, sir!

The Production Management was only held for 2 days while the Production Design went for 3 days. Since we didn't have anything to do, and our friends were there, we decided to join the Production Design seminar for the 3rd day. Of course, some of our classmates from PM also came and joined in the fun. 

Our friends over at the Production Design (PD) were very lucky! Their guest speaker, Sir Fedeo "Buboy" Tagayon said that he will bring them to a live set in Manila. How awesome is that? Pretty awesome! Haha. They discussed how to weather a shirt and some simple make up and prosthetics. 

Sir Buboy Tagayon doing a laceration wound.

While they were doing that, we (Faye and me, since the Melchor and Aljo weren't able to attend the 3rd day) went to check up on the Prosthetics Workshop headed by Sir Adrian Batoctoy and Rene Arellano and we got invited by Ma'am Elaine to join and experience what they were experiencing. It was a simple prosthetic special effect, a wound of some sort. Start by applying latex on the part you want your wound to appear, (It smells awful, kinda just like ammonia) then heat it up to dry using a hair dryer. After that, you can now experiment on your wound effect, pierce the latex, then you can add paint effects. This was the outcome of my experiment. This was only done for a couple of minutes since they were preparing to have lunch when we arrived. 

My first prosthetic wound! Yay

The PD participants were divided into two groups the day before, because they have to design a set, a Chapel scene and a Living Room scene. That afternoon, the PD participants got busy preparing their respective sets while the Prosthetics participants were divided into four groups. They have to transform a person into a Zombie, a Witch, a Devil and into Freddy Krueger.

This is the Living Room scene.

Living Room scene designed by the PDs

And this is the Chapel scene:

Chapel scene designed by the PDs

Of course you wouldn't design a set without it being used. There was also a simple play on the sets. Now the Prosthetics. They did an excellent job transforming their talent.

The Monsters! Created by the Prosthetics participants.

There was a contest on which was the best looking monster. The Witch won (the girl on the right most part) because of her portrayal of her character. If only you could've seen her in action, it would freak the hell out of you! I even had goosebumps and felt a shiver as she walked to the stage. She even hissed at us! Crap that was sooo scary, they put red food coloring on her mouth so it's all bloody and stuff. Monique was so scared that she kept her distance from her. 

Here's the link to Eli's album if you would like to see more. (Link!)
Here's the link to the Official Page of the Looking For Johnny Moon. You can also check the photos of the events there. (Link!)

I had fun in the even, but more importantly, I learned a lot from the speakers. It changed my filming perspective. You cannot do it all yourself (well you can but that's hard), as a saying goes, "No man is an island." You must cooperate and coordinate with others to achieve something amazing. I will be looking forward for the next Looking For Johnny Moon. Who knows? It could be you. Or me. LOL. Cheers! (y)