Sue Ramirez Ina Raymundo Beauty Gonzalez Miles Ocampo Arci Muñoz
Shooting a film is indeed hard work, especially during lockdown, but singer-actress Arci Muñoz regarded it as “a small effort, especially if it’s one way to make people feel better during these tough times.”
“People, like me, who are not techies should learn to adapt to the new normal,” Arci said as she recalled the time she recorded some scenes at home for her latest project with Gerald Anderson. “The lapel set was sent to my house. I had no idea how to operate it at first. While acting, I also had to record myself with my own camera. I had to be my own art dept. It drove me crazy!”
The shoot lasted for 12 hours, she reported. “At one point, I begged if we (production team) could just do Zoom and record it while I deliver my lines,” she added.
Meanwhile, Sue Ramirez also had her first experience shooting under the “new normal” for the iWant film, “Love Lockdown.” She recalled: “I’ve always had high regard for people working behind the camera, but this experience gave me newfound respect for them. [Like Arci], I also had to operate my lapel set. I likewise had to do my own lighting, then figure out which angle I should best record myself with my camera.”
Sue said the experience drained her so much that she decided to turn down an offer for another project with a similar production process.
“I didn’t want to be the cause of delay, in case I fail to deliver my part,” she explained. “If you think it’s already difficult to act, think again. Unlike you, people from production get to work from the time they arrive on the set until the director wraps it up for the night. It’s so draining.”
Arci and Sue, along with Beauty Gonzalez, Miles Ocampo and Ina Raymundo, recently participated in an online panel discussion called “Actor’s Cue,” a segment of the “#ExtendTheLove” fundraising initiative.
Beauty quipped that while working on a similar project during lockdown her husband, Norman Crisologo, became her cameraman and lights man.
“It was very frustrating! My husband asked me, ‘Why do you keep complaining? You should be thankful that you have work. You should accept this as your new normal. Enjoy the process, learn from it and adapt, since this is your job.’”
Beauty said she forced herself to “level up.” She explained: “I bought my own ring light and modem. Since my makeup kit is with my artist because we were working on a movie before the lockdown, I bought all the makeup I could find in the drugstore. It’s all about survival. You need to make use of what you have.”
Miles, on the other hand, had been working on the Regal-produced film “Mommy Issues” when the lockdown was announced. “I still had two more shooting days, wherein most of the scenes were big ones. We still had to do a party scene, shoot in a hospital and do another that would require me to go hiking,” she said.
She said the situation left her “wondering if we could still tell our stories freely with all the limitations that we have to consider now. I’m curious about how this will affect our products. I’m excited to find out how our writers and filmmakers will be able to create new stories.”
Ina, meanwhile, admitted that she’s “having a hard time accepting the new normal. For me, this is only temporary. I’m hopeful that we will all go back to our old lives, eventually; that this will only take one year, and that’s still a short time.”
Ina added that while she has yet to accept work since the lockdown, she has “always been ready to take on any challenge. I don’t know if I’d do what Sue did, let’s just see. This is really my first work (attending the panel discussion). I’ve been getting requests for interviews, but I turned all of them down. This is fun! This made me feel good.”
Sue said she felt proud to be one of the first people to have experienced working under the new normal. “We just need to push for this more so that more people will embrace it. Everyone is still in denial. Slowly, we will learn to accept this. Just like everything else in our industry, this is something that we should all experience for ourselves in order to embrace it.”
“We’re built to adapt as human beings,” added Arci. “What are we here for as entertainers if we fail to reach out, give hope and unite people? This is also why I welcome live chats like this. I want to be able to share how I feel. If that’s one way to make them feel better about their situation, why not? It’s a small effort. Only next time, I won’t just be an actor. I’ll also be the audioman,” she quipped. INQ