MANILA, Philippines - You might say that Joseph Matheu is a Eurasian. His father Estanislao is a Spaniard from the Andalusian region near France (which accounts for the French family name Matthew in English). His mother Norma is an Ilocano. A good combination, indeed.
Joseph started as a stage actor, starring in musicals by Trumpets until Audie Gemora, the noted actor-director, suggested he try his hand at lights design as there seemed to be a need for more specialists in this craft. And thus, he found his true calling.
So it was theater lighting design at first. He studied under known teachers like Jun Gomez of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Shoko Matsumoto, learned the fundamentals of lighting, equipment, design and consulting the play’s director or the choreographer.
“Of course, all these things will come after you read and analyze the script,” says Joseph. “Then you make your layout, and put in place all the set designs and the space kung saan itatanghal yung palabas. From the layout, you can get the list of needed equipment, and now you are ready to do the lights design.”
Explaining the art further, the lights designer points out: “The importance of lighting is to see the subject on stage. For example, if you want the subject to be seen on the right side of the stage doon mo iilawan. So it’s like you’re directing, helping push the story forward. That is the importance of lighting in a play.”
There is the place to consider, whether outdoors or indoors, and the time of day, morning or evening: “Sometimes by changing colors mapapakita mo kung luma ba, bago yan (old or new). Kung luma, medyo papalitan nang kulay, make it sepia. You push the story.”
A friend of a friend saw his work on stage and recommended him to Eat, Bulaga! on GMA 7. That was in 2006. He applied and was accepted, and he has been with the popular noontime variety show ever since. It’s a tough job, but since he is the lighting director he has several assistants. He works every day, in the morning and afternoon. Evenings may be free (he is now doing lighting for a PETA show), but he is usually planning the next day’s workload and texting instructions to his staff.
Joseph had never done lights for a camera before, so he studied cinematography and commercial directing so as to understand the language of the TV camera.
“Basically, lighting for theater and TV is very similar,” he says. “The production numbers are very similar. The main difference is that element of the camera na dapat mong templahin yung kulay (adjust the color scheme). Of course, there’s a process when you transfer, when you transmit the signal, the image. For example, pag-transfer sa bahay, papunta na sa isang bahay sa Metro Manila, dapat aware ka sa mga kulay, dapat maganda ang mg artista mo, mga shadows sa mukha.”
What appeals to Joseph are the production numbers. A flamenco? Then you make the colors warm, red. Hip-hop? Make it colorful, for young people are singing and dancing.
Unlike the theater, the preparation for Eat, Bulaga! is every single day: “So you have to move fast, think fast, pati mga contacts kailangan readily available sila, suppliers, equipment... ’pag pang overnight lang kailangan nandyan na. You have to have your network. Amazingly, I discovered that it’s achievable, coming up with something overnight, very achievable.”
An American consultant for Eat, Bulaga!, Scott Webb, recommended Joseph to the Bourne Legacy movie then filming in Manila, and he was accepted. He became part of the lights department. They toured the streets of Manila and environs, and followed the instructions of the cinematographer.
“Napakalaking pelikula (what a big production)!” He declared. “The way they do it in Hollywood pala alam na nila ang shot nila. No ‘safety shot’ (unlike here) like ‘let’s do another shot just in case’... They start on time and they end on time.”
Joseph has a twin brother, Francis, who has been acting, mostly in stage musicals, since the mid-’90s. Sometimes, the two would collaborate on musical events, with Joseph handling the lights and Francis directing the clients, mostly students and the corporate crowd. And so they decided to set up a company, registered it and called it, appropriately, Twinbill Theater (twinbilltheater@gmail.com).
Joseph has found his niche in lights design, for Francis it’s acting and directing. “You have to love your job,” the latter shares. “Whatever people see on stage or during rehearsal, yun ang magiging brand mo. Kung tatamad-tamad, yun ang magiging brand mo. Tamad yan! So discipline... and when you love your work, it will really show. So love your work. That is what I have learned.”