I actually gave up on catching the new Superman movie on its opening date. But as luck would have it, the Rockwell cinemas had a couple of available seats for a 9:45 screening last night.

SO let’s get this out of the way first - I’m an unapologetic fanboy. I have the comics, I wore the armband when he “died”, I grew up on the Christopher Reeve movies and squeal at the romance of young Clark and Lana in Smallville.

Though I can also take my superheroes dark and brooding like Spawn, Batman and Morpheus. The Big Boyscout is still king in my book, the greatest superhero of them all.

After languishing in Hollywood development hell for years, finally, finally its out.

And it was all I ever expected and more.

The casting was perfect. Brandon Routh wasn’t Christopher Reeve, he was Superman. John Williams’ theme music, used in generous amounts thoughout the movie, never failed to give goosebumbs. The new score by John Ottman didn’t disappoint either. The story was compelling, the complicated relationships between the characters (Clark-Lois, Lois-Richard, Clark-Richard, Lex-Kitty) even more so.

I entered the moviehouse with the sole intention of trying to believe that a man could truly fly. To feel what I felt years ago watching the original Superman movie in Quad. To suspend disbelief. To be a kid again.

I did. (and I’m buying some red undies tomorrow).

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If you’re part of the laser sword wielding, saturday fun machine watching, lego-building, mighty-kid wearing generation, you undoubtedly know who the Star Rangers were. They were the most famous Super Sentai (literally “task force”) of our childhood. In Japan they were known as the Gorangers.I happened to chance upon action figures of the Star Rangers one day at Toy Kingdom. I felt so guilty blowing thousands of pesos on an unfulfilled childhood fantasy so I just bought one of five (which happened to be my favorite, Aoranger-Star2).

Segueway to my four year old kid who has graduated from Barney- the hypnotic dinosaur and Blues Clues with Joe and Steve (can you say stoners?). Here’s his reaction upon seeing his current idols - the Power Rangers, “live and in person” in Shang Mall two weeks back:

Everything comes full circle no? I explain to him that back in the day we didn’t have the Power Rangers (or the multi-billion dollar toy industry designed to milk the parents for all their worth). We had other stuff like Great Mazinger, the Planetarium in Roxas Boulevard and of course the Star Rangers. And he nods appreciatively, albeit chuckling deep down, laughing at how lame the cape was.

I tell him how everything was so much cooler (better, less expensive) when I was kid. That my friends is the sure sign of getting older. And it ain’t that bad at all. Especially when you have your own kid to shop with for your own toys.

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A better part of the last four weeks was spent wracking my brains for the conceptualization of an AVP for last weekend’s wedding. It was tough because the usual lovey-dovey stuff just wouldn’t work. They already had a son and it seemed moot to hark back to the days of “ligawan”.

With this in mind, we made Ethan, their three year old the central point of the video. It was especially hard because I wanted very specific things said by the interviewees but couldn’t force myself to put words into their mouths. As best we could, we just led along the conversation.

I loved editing this one because I had complete creative control. So you will see that no usual messages and well wishers appear on the video. For the very first time too, I edited some interviewees completely out of the video because the things they said, sensible no doubt, would not move the narrative forward. I had tons of footage so cutting this up was long and tedious.

The look of the video was all intentional, from the old film look, the camera motion during interviews, the color gradation, to the artsy yet home video feel.

I’m posting this one because I do very very few AVPS where the original vision was executed flawlessly to the final version.

Watch the video here.

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The Onsite Video is perhaps the number one reason the business has propelled to new heights within the last couple of years. Traditionally, it was only the couple (and some close relatives) who watched their own wedding video. But the Onsite MTV was a chance to present to the couple and hundreds of guests. A chance to see the real value of video and show how essential it is in preserving the memories of the wedding day.

It was an oppurtunity to come out of the shadows of our more popular photographer bretheren.

Mind you, it’s not an easy thing to do. You gotta have b*lls of steel to pull it off. You gotta come prepared and ready for contingencies for anything that might screw up. And believe me they will. I’ve seen it all happen - a faster than lightning program flow, a crashed hard drive, a corrupted Premiere Project, mysteriously disappearing AVI files and surly coordinators who breathe down your neck while editing. Can you spell s-t-r-e-s-s?

But the rewards are worth it. Instant client inquiries, additional income and the gratification to say - “I pulled it off”. But the single most important thing for me is that I have pleased the couple. It is them I look at when the MTV plays, it is their reaction I use a barometer if the video was succesful or not.

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We’ll be at the Wedding Summit at Crowne Plaza Hotel this weekend (June 3 & 4). We’re feeling generous so we’re offering very good deals for any clients booking at that fair.

See you.

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