Direk Erik: The road less travelled

Many people thought he couldn’t make it. They dissuaded Mother Lily Monteverde from getting him as director in MAQ Films’ Metro Filmfest entry, Gagamboy.

"Why get a director of bold films (Ekis, Prosti, etc.) for such wholesome movies as Mano Po 2 and Gagamboy? " they asked. "What will he do? Disrobe Susan Roces (star of Mano Po 2)?" they taunted.

But the Regal matriarch stuck to her guns. So the cameras started grinding on both films.

Mano Po 2 may widen director Erik Matti’s audience to include the younger crowd, but it is in Gagamboy where his ability to tap the Gen Y audience is tested.

By taking the road less travelled, he came up with pleasant surprises that proudly proclaim, "Look, my producer didn’t err in choosing me to direct something for the Gen Y crowd!"

Direk Matti, who dabbles in commercials in-between film projects, dared to experiment. Instead of taking the usual route of hopping from one location to another, he confined all work in a single place: a one hectare soundstage located at Mother Lily’s lot in Pinaglabanan, San Juan,

"With everything there, I had full comnand of the project. We had total control of the lighting and design, and we created a look that’s very Pinoy and very komiks," direk Erik relates.

The fantasy world sparkled with jaw-dropping special effects with lots of flying and leaping in-between. Action literally flies high as Vhong Navarro (the title roler) leaps from a height of 60 feet. He opens his palm and voila! Out comes an orange goo which transforms him into whatever object he wishes.

One time, the goo turns into an umbrella to shield him from the pouring rain. At another time, it morphs into a bouquet of flowers for his Lois Lane (Aubrey Miles in one of her rare wholesome roles). Still, at another instance, the goo magically becomes a rain of bullets to stop Gagamboy’s nemesis, Ipisman, in his tracks.

"I was able to compare one set with the other and see how they complement each other," direk Erik say of how work progressed on the set.

The long-haired director, at home in the fast-paced, ordered world of advertising, worked with the staple of the trade: storyboards. Then, he compared his sets (cost: P8-M) – a breezy thing to do since all of them happened to stand side-by-side in the one-hectare San Juan property.

What direk Erik saw pleased him. A third world Gotham city, Pinoy style, unfolded before his eyes.

Instead of Spiderman, there stood Gagamboy in all his buffed glory.

"I wanted to come up with something different," direk Erik reveals.

So he instructed the husband and wife team of Benny and Liz Batoctoy to design a costume, not from the usual glossy Spandex material, but from something more textured, more real.

"Gagamboy may be a superhero. But that doesn’t mean he is unreachable.

"I want him to exude humanity. I want the audience to identify with him," says the director.

After all, Gagamboy’s alter ego is humble, insecure Junie, the complete antithesis of the strong, courageous superhero.

But first, Gagamboy had to dazzle. Thus, the director garbed him in a costume with colors that draw and amaze the eye. For good measure, he made direk Erik’s two little children see it for themselves. With their thumbs up, Gagamboy was all set to fly where his superpowers can take him.

Vhong never resorted to ifs and buts in doing all the stunts himself. He climbed walls and conquered heights. Thanks to a rich background in dancing (he spent years with the Streetboys). Vhong was nimble and adept enough to make Gagamboy live up to the big challenge.

"What we were able to save in terms of location hunting and hopping, we poured into the special effects," direk Erik adds.

All that leaping and flying around got a lot of help from the magic of 3D computer graphics, tomorrow’s byword in video technology.

"Shooting this comedy was a breeze. It was fun," the director says, pleased as punch when he looks back at his work.

"The challenge," he adds, "lay in not boring the audience." With special effects galore and the charming traits of a Filipino Spiderman, this should be the least of his worries.

Finally getting recognized as a director of non-sexy flicks should not bother direk Erik anymore as well. His next project, the remake of Pedro Penduko, is far from steamy and sizzling with sex.

It’s another victory for direk Erik, as he straddles the allied, but contrasting worlds of advertising and film – two fields he has proven himself master of, the nth time around.