5 facts you should know about Pamilya Ordinaryo

Have you seen it yet? If you haven't, you should. The system is like this: film commercial screenings in cinemas are only given one week. HOWEVER, if your movie doesn't sell, if no one watches, it can and will be pulled out even after just the first day. I am confident in the screenplay and the quality of our film, which I have talked about before, I am sure that anyone who's seen the film can attest to how good it is. Nakakakaba lang din dahil alam niyo naman, sanay tayong mga Pilipino sa mga pa-tweetums at "groomed" protagonists. Hindi naman ganun sina Jane at Aries. I really hope our little-film-that-could will last in the vicious world of commercial screenings.

We really had fun while doing the film, although admittedly we also had a challenging time, and I want to share some fun facts with you. There are no spoilers here pero mas makaka-relate ka kapag nakapanood ka na, so if hindi pa, nood ka muna! :D

Here they are!

1. Auditions were already officially closed when we found Hasmine Killip.

It's not a secret that she was recommended to us by Carlo Manatad, our editor (who won at Cinemalaya 2016 btw) and also her first film director. We went to Tondo, to CCP, and held several auditions at direk's building. We had a lot of girls vying for the role of Jane; some were good, some needed practice. All audition schedules were already done when Carlo said he has a girl in mind. Hasmine went to Direk's condo at 9PM all the way from Paranaque, and, as they say, the rest is history.

Our gorgeous Mrs. Hasmine Killip

2. The people in Delpan thought a man was really being beaten

May baklang naka-pink na binugbog ng taong-bayan sa Delpan because they thought he was Ertha. He was our Make-up Artist Extraordinaire Juvan Molina. Because he was so good in that scene, the people in Delpan (and some of the prod staff: aka me) thought he was getting hurt for real. He kept saying "tama na, tama na!" that made the bystanders super freaked-out haha!

Here was Juvan right after the bugbugan scene.
PM Weng (in gray hoodie) and I (in white) telling him how we thought
he was already crying for real.

3. The jeepney that was hailed by the crowd to take the bloody kid to the hospital didn't know it was all made-up.

So we were filming this scene where a kid was hit by a car. The crowd gathered around her. She is bloody. Her sister is screaming and crying. It was a crazy scene with a crazy energy and someone says the kid has to be taken to the hospital! Someone call a cab or a jeepney or whatever! A passenger jeep passes by with its driver and passengers eager to help not knowing it was a staged scene. Tulong sila, biglang harurot ang jeep papuntang ospital. Kinailangan naming sumigaw nang sumigaw para huminto sila ulit haha! We later had to explain and apologize to the shaken driver and passengers. We still think, however, that them not knowing they were being filmed, helped the scene to be more organic. Hehe!

4. The woman who kissed the priest's hand really did think he was a real priest.

I'm sure you're already seeing a pattern here. Direk really wanted the film to be organic and hyper-realistic. That's why most people around the locations we were filming at didn't know there was a shooting going on. We didn't want to attract too much attention and it worked naman. You can see (if napanood mo na) how the characters just blended into the environment. At Quiapo, when Jane was talking to a priest (who was played by one of our producers and also Ronwaldo Martin's manager, Ferdie Lapuz), a woman went ahead to Ferdie and kissed his hand. Everyone on the set had to use every ounce of their energy not laugh and break character.

Manager Ferdie Lapuz as Father.

5. Jane wasn't supposed to drop her slippers at the "gate scene".

You know that edge-of-your-seat scene where Aries and Jane were running away from the subdivision guards? Yung part na napapatili ka na sa sobrang kaba? The one just before they climbed up the subdivision gate? Yung sobrang lapit na nilang makatakas tapos nakakainis kasi binalikan pa ni Jane yung tsinelas niya kasi nahulog? Wala po yun sa script, nahulog talaga ni Hasmine yung tsinelas at hindi na nag-cut si direk kasi nag-work naman HAHAHA!

The hardworking camera team working during the "habulan sa subdivision" scene

We sure had a great time making the film and we're glad that it is being given a chance to be enjoyed by more people. I hope you guys catch it while it's still showing!

More fun facts to come! :)

*BTS photos by Michael Lacambra and are owned by Pamilya Ordinaryo.