How we won, Part 2. In which two young creatives get third time lucky.
If “Jogger” was the child of failure, “Pass” is the aborted embryo of desperation. Shot two and a half hours before the 5PM deadline, it was procrastination at its finest.
The thinking actually started at 10PM the previous night, after the mandatory Jonah’s fruit shake. We threw ideas at each other until we fell into a creative trance. We liked our initial concepts so much that we were confident enough to sleep. Waking at 2AM, we started to shoot with a makeshift chroma background made out of Japanese paper. Unfortunately, after effects became an afterthought, and we had to ditch the idea.
Peepo then saved the day with a wonderful insight – that there are better souvenirs than sand. Leaping with joy, our first thought as an execution was a shirt made of sand and like a scene out of a gay twink movie meets Iron Chef, I slathered gobs of sunscreen on his glistening fat body, then applied sand all over him. It was like making a breaded porkchop from Chernobyl. We shot it with a digital SLR, and finished editing by lunch. Our friends, faintly interested in what we were doing, asked to take a peek. Our heads throbbing in pain and puyat (sleep deprivation), we showed them.
We got smacked. They called it corny. And crap. And other four-letter words. Peepo and I were desperate. Sacrificing the free buffet at Regency, we went our own way and ate at I Love BBQ. Five minutes later, at 1:30 PM, we had the Cannes-cept. It must have been the liempo (pork belly) and the delicious tap water. On the first take, all we shot was feet. On the second pass, the camera was so shaky it didn’t even reach the kid. The third take was not perfect, but the girl’s expression saved it. Racing to the finish, we submitted our video at 4:59 PM. It wasn’t even supposed to be titled “Pass” but “Take”! Tired and exhausted, we just wanted our fruit shake. What we got is the glorious burden of being Team Philippines at Cannes. God help us all.
A Development Communication graduate of UP Los Banos, Kulas Abrenilla worked as a graphic designer in the US in his previous life. Barely a year into advertising, he enjoys embarrassing friends and co-workers at billiards. Peepo David is an IMC graduate of University of Asia and the Pacific. A writer before he ventured into art, he is fond of poking others in Facebook and has undiagnosed ADHD. dentsuINDIO is the first agency for both. The two-time Iron Creative winners thank Raw School and Third Domingo, without whom they would not have made it to Boracay, much less that other beach town. The country’s entry to Cannes Young Lions is supported by the Philippine Daily INQUIRER.
