Anime

Movie Review: Ghost in the Shell

This is by no means a apologist letter to how Ghost in the Shell is being treated by critics. But given the kind of material, you can somewhat understand the logic as to why the movie turned out this way. It was tight-roping between the hard core fans who are expecting something deep as the anime got vs. an at-large audience who need to be introduced into the world of GiTS quickly within the limit of 2 hours or so.

SPOILERS AHEAD. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU.

First, let’s put this Asian casting issue to rest. The movie is out, so there’s nothing much we can complain about it. What I can share at this point are some opinions coming from a fan of the franchise for more than a decade. What I loved about Ghost in the Shell is that juxtaposition of solid action sequences with the philosophical questions about human-machine interaction and existentialism. For those new to the movie, this anime was the precursor to alot of more quickly know franchises such as the Matrix. Urban legend has it, the Wachowskis was showing off this movie as they were pitching for their trilogy.

The difficult yet core part about the original anime is wrestling with the philosophical questions against the action sequences. Ghost in the Shell was a slow burn, and took awhile before it gained traction among anime fans through word of mouth. To introduce this to a new audience at the same time satisfy the needs of the core fans presents as the challenge. What happened was dial down the mind games, and up the visual treat in the hopes that it would appeal on both sides. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a walk in the park.

At this point, I didn’t hate the movie, but at the same time, I didn’t blow my mind away as much as the anime did. During long breaks, I never failed to re-watch any of the movies or series to get my fix. Even though I can narrate the plot lines from memory, it was still a treat getting reacquainted with them every now and then.

I guess the few misgivings I have about this movie were..

The skimming through of the plots from various parts of the anime franchise just for the sake of visual fan service. It was fun at first getting to catch the references from the original movie, Innocence, Individual Eleven, and Puppet Master all mashed into single flick. There lies the double-edged sword… each individual plot served to push a greater story within their respective arcs. I enjoyed them visually, but from a story-telling standpoint, I found it quite lacking.
How Kuze’s character was severed from the background manipulation of Gouda. Though after watching the live action movie, I went about re-orienting myself with the Individual Eleven part of Stand Alone Complex 2nd GiG. I doubt if the casual audience would have the patience to really digest the philosophical exchange between Batou, the Major and Gouda on certain parts unless they have watched all the movies and series as part of their homework.
The ret-conning of Batou’s background. He already had the cybernetic eyes.. not to mention.. he was also a full prosthetic like the Major from the start. So that doesn’t make the Major the first or unique.
Other team members of Section 9 weren’t properly introduced, but that’s forgivable given the time. I did like Saito’s “cameo” with the Hawkeye in the end. A nod to his classic sniping prowess.
The Major’s mom or parents for that matter were no where to be found in the anime. This I found weird.
The Major and Kuze already knew each other as kids in a hospital ward from an airplane accident. Not as runaway teens in the past. I wonder why they had to change the origin story. I guess to make it within time frame again?
The opening de-shelling sequence should’ve been laced with music from the original, and not used it as an ending credit music.
The boat scene should’ve had the San Miguel Beer product placement if Rupert wanted to put that much detail in his homage! But that’s just me.

But yeah, with that said… I would still be adding this to my video collection of Ghost in the Shell. At least good to know Hollywood is starting to mine some outlying franchises. Now, about that live-action Macross…

Edit (04.07.17): It’s rare in Hollywood to see an anime adaptation make it well (e.g. Edge of Tomorrow). Probably the biggest divide Western producers have between any anime source material is looking at them only from their lens and not from the perspective of the original creator or intentions. Anime adaptations are such an alluring prospective property for them seeing all the attention and the potentials. But as long as they are not letting go of their habits in understanding “foreign” material to them, Hollywood would never make a decent anime live-action film. Like moths to a flame, their attempts get them burned at the end.

Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Cosplay Shoot: Chillin Like a Villian with Lord Drakkon

Scratch one off the bucket list! Finally got the chance to work with Chris Cantada for an editorial style cosplay shoot. It’s been awhile since I’ve shot cosplay again, so this is a welcome respite from the usual work.

I took another route from our known style, and did something a bit more editorial in nature. Minimal post-production work, and no image composition. It also helps that Chris’s costume is on-point, so there wasn’t much tweaking needed as well. If there was any Photoshopping done, I just took out the latches from the helmet and the opening where the helmet splits.

The challenge working in Mandalay is replicating the same feel of the venue into the photograph. It’s dimly lit, yet you want the cosplayer to stand out. I had to dial down my lights to their lowest power, and soften the spotlights. I can’t spread out the lighting as much or else it would appear too bright. I added some ceiling bounces with orange gels to help push the warm feel of the place. Overall, I used about four (4) lights for this image.

We just wanted to imagine how this new evil Tommy White Ranger would chillax after long day’s work being a villain.

I also had the chance to sit down with Chris over drinks (pun intented over this image), and chat with him about his passion for the Power Rangers.

I know you have been asked this numerous times, but for the sake of those who haven’t read up on your history… how did you end up doing costuming for Power Ranger shoots? It’s quite a change in career from music.

Ever since I was with Sponge Cola, I was very open about me being a Geek. I collected toys and wore Star Wars costumes. But what happened with me going from hobby to a more professional capacity was just a happy accident.

A few years ago during the 20th anniversary of Power Rangers, I started to rekindle my passion for the franchise. I was always a fan since I was a kid, but I never wore the costumes because I was overweight. And tight costumes on a chubby boy was not something I wanted my classmates to tease me about! So when the Power Rangers hype was all over my news feed, and I wasn’t overweight anymore, I decided to finally have a costume made.

But having a Power Rangers costume wasn’t enough. To make it legit, I figured I needed to have a “morph” video! So that’s what I did with my phone camera and iMovie. Something very crude and amateur like, but gets the job done. Let’s just say people liked watching those types of videos. I made more videos over the course of that year. This time though, I tried doing cosplay fan films. I slowly realized I stumbled upon this niche group of people who really supported what I did. Fast forward to today, with over 250 million views on my channel, I’m very much happy being a professional Geek.

The costumes are pretty intricate, how long does it take you to produce a new ranger?

I have these suits and helmets made by different and talented costume makers. But the one guy who made most of my stuff is a local maker named Kamen Rider Nimoy. It usually takes 2-3 months to make, since he has other clients.

How many of these helmets do you currently have?

Right now, I have about 10… and counting. Haha!

Do you get mobbed at cons even out of costume?

Haha, “mobbed” sounds like something that can describe Alodia Gosiengfiao’s con life. But for me, it’s just very casual. They usually come up to me just to say they like my videos and cosplays.

What as the craziest thing a fan ever did to you? If there was any somebody crazy.

Nothing crazy! But there was one endearing instance when I was in a restaurant with my wife. There was this little boy who came up to me with his mom and asked for a photo with me. The mom had no idea who I was obviously! My audience is really in that age group of kids, around 8-15 year old boys. Times like those really make me enjoy what I do.

Would you suggest picking up babes in a Power Ranger outfit? If so, how?

HAHA. If you have a nice body wearing the spandex suit, why not? You can even come up to her, ask her for the time and when she replies you say, “No, it’s Morphin time…” HAHAHA!

If you had a chance to invite one of the Power Rangers to guest on your channel, who would it be?

I was actually fortunate to have five Power Ranger actors guest on my channel, three for fan films and two for official interviews. I’ve had the Original Red Mighty Morphin Ranger (Austin St. John), the Red Space Ranger (Chris Lee), the Blue Dino Charge Ranger (Yoshi Sudarso), the Yellow Mighty Morphin Ranger (Karan Ashley), and Zordon himself (David Fielding). It’s a great thing when the people involved in this show actually recognizes your part in promoting the franchise in a positive way. That’s the best feeling.

Just had an absolute blast shooting with Chris this afternoon. For the heck of it, we even did some extra outtakes outside on the street in a nearby Jollyjeep. It’s not everyday when you see a Power Ranger walk around the streets of Metro Manila.

Of course this entry wouldn’t finish without behind the scenes. Watch how Chris and I ended up shooting together.

We would also like to thank the guys from Mandalay for allowing us to film and shoot at their awesome location. If you want to watch more of Chris’s videos, check out his social media details here:

YouTube: www.ChrisCantadaForce.TV
Facebook: Chris Cantada Force
Instagram: @CantadaForce

Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Early on when Dream Works announced they finally secured the rights to Ghost in the Shell, my mind just flipped out over the idea of having a serious anime franchise make to Hollywood. Then it came almost crashing down, suddenly remembering their track record of gutting out a franchise to suit their own agenda. (Dragon Ball anyone?!). Then criticism came to a peak over this whitewash casting when ScarJo was finally announced taking on the role of Major Motoko Kusanagi. Even having veteran Kitano Takeshi on board as Aramaki didn’t abate fan reactions to this travesty of a selection. Lots of pop culture fan sites in the West were making their own casting choices for The Major, even citing out Rinko Kikuchi as a seemingly “obvious” choice coming off her role in Pacific Rim.

I’m a big fan boy of the franchise having to do two cosplay shoots dedicated just for The Major.

Then suddenly a series of snippets came out, coupled with a teaser and featurette of the original anime’s director Mamoru Oshii slowly started changing the conversation towards the movie. Of course there still the die hard so-called purist fans still bashing the casting bit, but you can’t help but gush over the visuals of the movie. It’s like taking Blade Runner and giving it a millennial makeover. Now if Ruper Sanders did his homework well, there should be a can of San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen somewhere in the boat scene between the Major and Batou.

After some digging around YouTube, I found this clip of the Major’s creation sequence filmed by IGN during the trailer’s launch in Tokyo over the weekend. It was so cool they decided to use the original score in the original anime movie. It like a “pirated” camera recording, because I think it is. Though stated on their YouTube page, they were given permission.

Here’s the original 1995 anime version for comparison…

Of course here is the official trailer:

Somehow this trailer puts my mind at ease about how the movie looks. I mean from the get-go you can already name the scenes they give homage to from the various movies and TV scenes in the franchise.

I also read on ET Online‘s exclusive on-set visit, just got irritated at the host’s innate skill for holding a dumb blonde conversation with ScarJo on the set. I was hoping he could ask more intelligent questions rather than commenting on her hair.

From serious doubt, I have now shifted to cautious optimism. Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johansson and Kitano Takeshi, comes into the big screen March 31, 2017.Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Anime Review (IMHO): Macross Delta

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Songs and music have been integral in the Macross saga. Every iteration, much like other franchises (e.g. Final Fantasy) would have common elements that make its signature look and feel. Delta doesn’t only live up to the tradition, but conspicuously pays homage to its predecessors as far back as the original Macross. The music is the central theme and has been, making Macross unique against others like Gundam, etc… It also makes for good merchandise. Yes, I’m talking about that parallelism between the Hayate-Freyja vs. Hikaru-Minmay inexperienced-kid-riding-a-Valkyrie-with-damsel-in-distress sequence.

Of course, Macross Delta (and others in its wake) doesn’t come without plot inconsistencies. How Hayate learns to fly with a VF-31 that quickly is something we can suspend disbelief with. I guess Chaos being considered a military contractor allows them to skirt the usual military hierarchy and training. Their age also comes into question. Long-running franchises like these seem to be infatuated with the idea of having characters in their teens. It laces a sort of coming-of-age along the story, but burdened with adult scenarios worthy of a heap of salt along with the popcorn. If you’re a new but cynic (?) Macross fan, you’d quickly drop this latest iteration. But then, the entertainment value is worth passing the plot holes over at face value.

I have been warned by some people to lower my expectations after Episode 14. I gave the usual benefit of the doubt, but past that episode it did go down south from there. The mid-season finale felt like the end. Everything after that was akin to a badly stretched out Mexican telenovela. It did build up some nice points towards the latter end with some interesting revelations on Hayate’s dad, but that plot twist was a cliche… a redemption of sorts based from an unveiled plot device. In this case, the black box recorder from Wright’s plane. Also keeping his plane preserved in the castle was a weird way of commemorating such tragic event. As much as I did enjoy the songs and all, (I still listen to them event after the series was over), their usage grew thin, and there wasn’t any new catchy song to top off the finale. Speaking of finale, it was pretty predictable how Roid reveals to be the hidden antagonist with an agenda to take over the world. Which also leads how the warring factions of Chaos / NUNS and Windemere eventually team up to stop Roid. Come to think of it, the parallelisms reach the point of re-hash.

The ending was dead out flat with no complete resolution. The tension between the three protagonists were finally released, but that didn’t hit any key note either. The biggest downer for me was the cliff hanger clue if Minmay was actually Lady M. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m still a huge fan of the franchise, but they should start thinking of something new. The Lady M = Minmay theory was a good lead, but seems like they’re not about to explore the entire backstory of Megaroad-1 anytime soon.

Here’s the music video of the opening theme, Ichido dake no Koi nara:

Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Model Portfolio: Jinri

Got one of my favorite muses back in front of the camera. I just love experimenting shots with Jinri since she’s game with almost anything. This session, we wrapped up images we’re doing for the Ruin Your Childhood series, and did some extra stuff on the side. This post is about that extra stuff.

The fashion angle is something we don’t really get to do that often, so we did one for kicks. In hindsight, should actually do more fashion layouts with Jinri in more shoots to come.

I would have admit the Miko Mido isn’t really from a ruined childhood origin, but it was something I know that would strike a chord with a particular set of fans. Those who wer A formal cosplay shoot of Miko Mido is in the works though, so that’s something you guys can watch out for.

Photo Gallery

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The last layout we did was the paint splash beauty / head shot. It was something that popped in my head the night before and surprised Ara with if we could do a headshot inspired from Japanese masks. The paint splash thing was something she added in the end, and it gave that somewhat Samurai-ish feel to it alongside the clumped anime bangs.

As for the lighting, this is were we played around a little bit. It’s not your usual beauty shot lighting where lights are placed overhead, with a reflector underneath. This time, we’re reversing the formula, and aiming to get the highlights first then figure out how to get light back on our model’s face. More of that if you get to watch our self-produced slapped together amateur video.

What is crucial though is having both sides of your lighting formation mirror each other. I used two (2) big strip lights, and two (2) 4 x 8 ft. styrofoam boards acting as soft reflectors. They are placed in an X formation, with one reflector bouncing back the light opposite to it. The last light acts as a fill in front, and adjusted to personal taste. That uses a honey comb grid, the smallest one available (10 degrees). As for measurements, I first powered the strip lights enough to get a mid-tone measurement where their fall out is going to be on the model. From there, I adjusted the power 1.5-2 stops stronger. This would over expose the highlights creating that rim, but still retain some details on the skin as it tapers off towards the center. The reflectors are then put into place to bring back mid-tones into the center section of the face.

Production Credits

Make-up: Ara Fernando
Hair: Toni Reveler Santos
Styling: Hannah Kim
Model: Jinri Park

Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Shooting Cosplay: A Creative Journey

The Creative Frustration

Shooting cosplay came from two polar creative fronts: my frustration of illustrating and love of photography. Back in high school, I was one of those doodling kids who wanted to draw what I read in the comics. The stuff I used to read were several Marvel X-Men titles and Batman. What resulted out of it were crash courses through summer art school and glorified stick figures. I also left several unused easels and drawing boards in the wake of my pursuit. I slowly came to accept that I couldn’t draw, but somewhat had an eye for graphic design. I knew how to put together pieces of a creative puzzle but couldn’t make them on my own. I dabbled as the art director in our school publication but it was in college when the camera was first introduced to me.

My cousin was taking up weekend photography classes in another nearby university and would often bring home sheets of paper to develop alongside the manuals. Started reading them on the side, learning the process of developing film in the darkroom. From there, I stared saving up for a camera through side projects I used to do as graphic / web designer. The shutterbug firmly bit when finally got an apprenticeship with a family friend. I guess the rest is history.

My journey in photography certainly wasn’t a straightforward one. It’s a series of glass ceilings after another – often seeing the next potential yet can’t seem to get there. It was that frustration that led me to start searching for my own handle in taking pictures. I had to ween off making bad attempts copying how other photographers light their images. I had to own my pictures. How became the biggest question.

It wasn’t until I was shooting for several years when I thought of putting together my love for comics and anime with photography. I started to get drawn to images entailing certain levels of production design. The bigger, grander, more complicated… the more I welcomed the challenge. I started referencing inanimate objects (e.g. dolls, mannequins, etc…) into our early work. When we finally got to mount my second exhibit “Pop Nostalgia” with the Crucible Gallery in 2009, I had an inkling pop culture was becoming my anchor for creativity.

Rhian Ramos as Rogue — Rogue in Flight, 2011. This was our first “official” cosplay shoot, after dabbling with peripheral concepts of pop-culture.

Production Credits

Make-up: Ten Franco
Hair: Charlie Manapat
tyling: Hannah Kim
Costume Production: Badj Genato
Production Designer: Raffy Tesoro
Art Direction: Javey Villones
Digital Imaging: Ghani Madueno
Model: Rhian Ramos

Just like how I dabbled with graphic design, it had parallels with my photography. I wasn’t really good at generating my own ideas, but learned how to reference more known genres and imagery. I didn’t even know about the term “cosplay photography” until a couple of years after. That was when people started calling our work as such. Personally, I just wanted to give homage to pop culture icons of my youth.

Regular pictures of people in costume was out of the question. We wanted to push the imagery, to bring it back to full circle, blurring the lines between a picture and an illustration. This came about several trial and error experiments for a few years partnering up with advertising creatives. The body of work during these early years produced a variety of results, but never the full satisfaction of accomplishment. There was big room for improvement, and that feeling of “what-if” always lingered after every shoot was done.

alicewonderland_final — The Tea After Party, 2010. One of the milestone images we have achieved as a team.

Production Credits:

Make-up / Grooming: Noel Flores / Charlie Manapat / Nadia Bouhou
Styling: Mico Calma / Badj Genato
Art Direction: Jay Tablante / Angelo Lico
Production Design: Raffy Tesoro
Digital Imaging: Angelo Lico
Models: Alodia Gosiengfiao / Ashley Gosiengfiao / Natalia Santiago / Faus Ongtengco / Maria Dolonius

In 2010 was perhaps when we stumbled upon a milestone when we produced this mash-up interpretation of Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland called, “The Tea After Party.” It was only then when we had a resemblance of synergy between photography, make-up, styling, set design and post production. Of course we still regretted a lot of things we wished could’ve been done, but that’s already a lingering frustration from every work we do. It was from this image where a dramatic shift in our current style has stemmed from.

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Work Process

Having past experience in publishing and advertising prior to photography proved to be valuable as we started to streamline the thought process of coming up with cosplay shoots. It wasn’t enough to come up with one-hit wonders and then forgetting how the process was done. We wanted something that can be repeatable. Creativity energy is preserved and targeting towards a particular goal.

Every advertising shoot doesn’t push forward without a pre-production organizer. It can come in various formats, but the most common is a PowerPoint presentation. If we are to follow a full-blown version of such a deck, it would contain the following:

Team Members involved
Character background
- This puts everybody in the same page when it comes to character design since a lot of characters have various costume designs.
Make-up pegs
- Illustrations aren’t exactly the best sources for make-up since it’s an approximation of the human form.
Styling / Costume design
- This shows the details of how the costume is made, from the fabric to the fitting sessions with the model.
Art Direction
- This tackles the situation and pose the model would be doing. This is commonly mistaken with photography.
- This is accompanied with a composite (a.k.a. “compre” in local advertising parlance) of how the final image is going to appear.
Lighting Treatment / Photography
- The approach in lighting style and method in achieving the look set by the art direction.
Production Design
- This tackles the props sourcing and an idea of what the set / location would look like.
Post Production
- A guide for the selected image/s to be worked on
- The kinds of composition and clean up that need to be done.
Casting
- Who the model is for the shoot.

This pre-production organizer is the heart and soul of the shoot. This sums up the current progress and the checklist of things to be done before anything gets done.

This is one aspect of commercial shooting we strive to introduce into cosplay photography. This level of organization funnels creativity from a spray into a powerful hose targeted to achieve one image. When everybody is uniformly briefed about the concept, the team is put into one focus.

Taking these factors in, it may seem to be complicated for any newbie to start shooting cosplay, but it all boils down to solving one problem at a time. As each problem is solved, the process becomes clearer. When you finally come up with an image, repeat this method until you get the hang of going through the creative routine.

It took our team several years before we have developed a system of coming up with cosplay shoots, and it is still far from perfect. But the advantage of having one is following a logical flow of solving a creative problem of coming up with an image.

Sharing below some behind the scenes of our past shoots over the years.

Photo Gallery

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Check out my youtube channel for your regular glimpse behind the scenes! While you’re at it, drop buy the online store and get goodies from your favorite models!

For those interested in my commercial work, check out pointblankstudios.net and follow us at @pointblankmnl in IG.

Movie Review: Ghost in the Shell

SPOILERS AHEAD. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU.

Cosplay Shoot: Chillin Like a Villian with Lord Drakkon

Cosplay Shoot: Sailor Moon

Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Anime Review (IMHO): Macross Delta

Ruin Your Childhood

Ghost in the Shell

Model Portfolio: Jinri

Shooting Cosplay: A Creative Journey