[6] True Filipino Horror Experiences (Tagalog)

INT. COLONIAL CHURCH - NIGHT

INT. COLONIAL CHURCH — NIGHT

Year is 2014. I was doing a short film for a regional film festival. We needed a big church for one scene and I want it to be a night shot. Since malapit naman yung colonial church sa city (around 15 minute ride from my location), we decided na mag shoot that night dun. So apat lang kami. Ako, my actor, assistant, tapos yung boyfriend ng actor.

Obviously, this wasn't planned. Naisip ko lang na magshoot na dun kasi may big event sa church in the coming days at madaming tao 24/7, and I needed the shot kasi limited sa time tapos we will be editing it pa. So its either now or never na. As in, tinawagan ko lang sila na mag-shoot kami, and my pangpalubag-loob is that libre ko yung beachside dinner at nomo right after.

We arrived sa church around 8PM. Sarado na ang main entrance. So naghanap kami ng alternative na pinto sa gilid. Tamang-tama that time, may tao at sinasarado na nya yung door. And so we asked if he can allow us to shoot for about 10-20 minutes lang. He said, no to us kasi bawal na daw pumasok sa church pag gabi at walang ibang kasama.

So ako naman, mapilit. I said we will be quick and apat naman kami. He looks irritated but I kept my pamimilit kasi nga I needed the shot. At the end, he allowed us. Sabi nya, "bahala kayo ha." Tapos smile. Sabi nya, puntahan lang daw namin sya sa sa tiangge na tinuturo nya sa kabilang kanto pagtapos na kami para ma-isarado nya yung door. We gave him pang yosi and merienda. Padulas ba. And then, there he goes.

We entered. This is a big church ha. Around 150 years old, but the history goes back as far as 1600s (it is a National Cultural Treasure). Madilim. Imagine a big church, tapos you can't almost see everything. Dim yung lights. Yung mali-liit na bombilya that mimicks the light of the candles ang gamit (or maybe candles, I forgot). So literally, altar lang ang nakikita namin, yung middle part ng church, and some corners na super madilim na pero parang may naaaninag kapa. I have bad feelings talaga sa lugar na yun.

Not to mention, the wall is may mga nakalibing yata (may marble na grave markers eh). Like literally, nitso yung wall. Ganun. Ewan ko kung mga prayle ba yun or whatever. Pero very Spanish ang names. Madami sila kasi it stretches from the entrance up to near the altar.

Anyway, I super like what I'm seeing. Dim lights that illuminates the altar, the faces of the rebulto (which is like my biggest fear) and yung gitna ng church. Since black and white naman yung short film, keri lang yung noise as it can exhibit like grain naman pag wala nang color. So na excite ako. We ready na to shoot. Bihis lang yung actor for continuity ganun. Ako naman, nag camera test to confirm that the SD card is working as well as the mic.

The first shot is she is walking towards me (likod ko yung altar, so bali this gives an impression na she is walking towards the altar). Medium shot (meaning, waist to head ang kita sa frame), handheld din. Kaya maglalakad ako backwards. At my back is the assistant and the actor's boyfriend kasi I needed someone na magla-light sa face nya with the effect na kunware coming from candles. Yung parang gumagalaw-galaw ang light ganun. Nag YouTube lang kami ng video ng lit candle na black ang background, tapos tinapat namin ang screen sa kanya. Effective naman kasi AMOLED yung display ng phone. HAHA

Nung magsho-shoot na kami, the actor felt awkward kasi nga the crying echoes all throughout the church. Imagine, ang laki kasi talaga ng location. Her concern was that what if daw may makarinig sa labas? So we asked her boyfriend to go out, and pakinggan if the crying noise is heard. Hindi daw. We let him stay outside. Watcher ba. So tatlo nalang kami sa loob.

Nagawa namin. Perfect ang shot. Amazing. We reviewed the footage. It was flawless.

The next shot is andun yung camera near the entrance, facing the altar. Ang drama, maglalakad ang actor ko sa gitna ng dahan-dahan while crying (bali this footage is actually mas mauuna sa first namin shinoot). Dito na natakot ang actor kasi way far back kami. Tapos sya maglalakad mag-isa sa gitna ng halos walang light. So sabi ko sa assistant ko, let's call her Cherry, na umupo sya sa seating bench (pew yata tawag dun sa mga long benches sa church lol) like near in the middle ng pero kako sa kneeler sya umupo so she doesn't show up sa camera. Bali madadaan sya ni actor. Ganun. Para lang di matakot. HAHA

So there you go. Action. Naglakad si actor ng dahan-dahan as I directed. Crying. Added sa creepy vibe actually. Nanayo na balahibo ko this time kasi very convincing ng iyak nya. Tapos napansin ko na parang may nakatayong tao dun near sa pinasukan namin (see my illustration). Nabwisit ako. Kasi sabi ko boyfriend yata ni actor. Kaso ayaw ko naman sayangin yung performance ni actor. I looked at my camera, and di naman kita. So okay lang. Pero naiinis na ako that time.

Tapos biglang nag stop si actor. Like pagkalampas nya lang kay Cherry. Sabi nya "direk, parang may taong naka talukbong ng tela na nakatayo sa may altar." I heard yung takot sa boses nya. This time, she is crying na. Like not acting crying pero seryoso na iyak. Ramdam mo yung waviness sa boses nya. That's when I heard another cry. Si Cherry.

Sigaw ko "what is going on?" Sabi ni actor, "I think we need to go na direk. Natatakot na ako. Meron talagang tao sa altar." So ako. I grabbed my gear, and my backpack tapos papunta na ako sa gitna na biglang sumigaw si Cherry. Tapos sumigaw na din si actor. Pati ako sumigaw na din although wala akong idea kung ano ang nangyayari. HAHA. So yung boyfriend ni actor, this time, sa lakas ng sigawan, biglang pumasok. So mas lumakas pa lalo sigaw ko. Kasi nga, akala ko, sya yung nasa may pinto kanina.

Takbuhan na kami palabas. Hinila ko si Cherry. And to cut the story short. Tinawanan lang kami ni manong about sa nangyari. Sabi nya, the only thing that can explain all these is "Polo y servicio' and the abuses around this system.

We left.

As promised, I treated them a dinner at nomo although parang wala yata may gana kumain kasi parang inom yung kailangan namin after everything that happened. HAHA. So this is their version of what happened.

Actor

After ko mag action, siempre alam na nya ang gagawin nya. Since that scene be will cut next to the first shot. Nung palapit na daw sya kay Cherry (peripheral lang), nakita nya na parang may nakaupo next to her na matandang lalaki na nakahubad, payat na payat, at walang mata. Like hollow lang. Si Cherry kasi, ang upo nya is dun sa nakaharap sa kay actor. This "matandang lalaki" is nakaupo sa kneeler in fetal position sa likod ni Cherry pero dun nakaharap sa entrance ng church.

Pero concentrate padin si actor. Pag focus nya sa altar, she saw na parang may nakatayo dun na parang nakatalukbong ng tela daw (aka parang pari). Nung papalapit na daw sya ng papalapit, napapapansin nyang, tela lang talaga na nakatayo. Like walang tao. Tapos it dawn on her. Kaya pala parang walang tao at parang tela lang na nakatayo e kasi, wala palang ulo. Dun na daw sya nag-iiyak ng no acting.

Cherry

Nung makalampas daw si actor sa kanya, bumalik sya sa position nya na dun nakaharap sa entrance (although di nya naman ako kita kasi nga row of benches) just waiting for me to say "cut". Bali naka upo sya sa kneeler. Tapos may biglang parang bumuga ng hangin daw na malamig sa mukha nya. Pagtingin nya daw sa left side nya, nakita nya daw na may taong nakahubad na gumagapang (see my illustration) in slow-motion going to the direction of the entrance.

Boyfriend

Nag cellphone. Narinig na may sigawan. Pumasok. Yan lang yung ambag nya. All throughout din ng usapan namin while umiinom, he keeps debunking our ghost story. Non-believer kasi. HAHA. He said na madilim kasi kaya baka daw our mind is tricking us into seeing something kahit wala. But we know what we saw. Kaya bahala sya. He goes on saying na baka "pareidolia" lang daw yun. Sabi ko, grabe naman na pareidolia yun, 24fps.

That said, never ako bumalik sa church na yun hanggang ngayon. As for the footage, as cliché as it may sound, corrupted ang memory card. I have a shot of the camera though while we are shooting the second scene. I just have to find it long buried in the PMs. We never attended the film fest kasi kulang kami sa minimum running time and ayaw ko mag compensate by lengthening some scenes or replacing others especially THAT CHURCH SCENE. That was the last time din that I made a short film. Maybe in the future baka gumawa ulit ako. Pag may short film na similar dito ang story in the future, alam nyo na. 😆

— NIKON

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