An excerpt from David Hontiveros’ PELICULA
INT. MEGAMALL BUILDING B – SECURITY OFFICE – A SHORT TIME LATER
LUIS CONRADO, young, handsome, ridiculously muscled up-and-coming actor, is busy stripping off the now sweat-sodden costume of Habagat, superpowered defender of the Filipino people, and heroic protagonist of Channel 8’s latest fantaserye (and highest-rated show), Habagat.The red boots, cape[1] bracers, chest icon[2], and yellow long-sleeved tunic[3] are already off (the cape and tunic soon to be rushed off to the dry cleaners), and Luis is peeling off the black tights to reveal a shiny silver codpiece strapped to his pelvic area.[4]
[1] A superhero’s cape (for those who wear one) is the most vital accessory in the bold fashion statement that is their costume; the cape should look both regal and heroic, no matter the circumstance.
Habagat’s cape would prove to be one of the biggest pains in the collective posterior of the show’s costume design crew.
As per the design, with the cape draped over a single shoulder, that little thing called gravity would dictate that in a windless environment (such as most indoor shooting locations), the cape would hang limp like a bunched-up curtain.
In the end, the cape’s heroic “look” was achieved through a combination of two factors: 1) the use of a high-tech synthetic material which was extremely light-weight*, yet afforded the proper texture; and 2) the judicious use of CGI, to give it that extra billow and flutter during key scenes.
* The material is so light, it is affected by the fart of a mosquito as if by a Category 5 hurricane.
[2] More so than the cape, however, the metallic icon Habagat sports across his chest proved to be the most problematic costume element and was nearly nixed from the design, as the initial prop was little more than crudely carved Styrofoam with a sloppy paint job slapped over it.
Taking a design cue from the bracers though, the icon was ultimately made from hand-worked leather sheathed in a thin coating of aluminum spray-painted red, to simulate a metallic sheen.
[3] As with the cape, another high-tech synthetic fiber was used for the long-sleeved yellow tunic of the costume. PicoBalat[TM] is a cloth so thin it almost looks as if the costume has been spray-painted onto Luis’ body, thus showing off the bulk and definition the young actor works so hard to maintain, with regular gym workouts and a special diet. (Contrary to some tabloid reports, Luis has never taken steroids of any kind.)
[4] The codpiece was a rather large bone-- pun acknowledged-- of contention during the process of the Habagat costume design, its exact size and dimensions a matter of grave mathematics, resulting in a piece of precision engineering to make Swiss watchmakers blanch and consider entry-level jobs in the American fast food industry.
If it were only pneumatic and actually did what its brute size suggested it could do, Habagat’s producers would have become rich from that particular piece of merchandising.
Start reading the rest of PELICULA
by clicking this link
www.davidhontiveros.com
HABAGAT art by Carlo Vergara
