Ilang buwan pa bago tuluyang mapanood ang isa sa pinakainaabangan at pinakamalaking prime-time series ng GMA Network, ang Voltes V: Legacy.
Ito ang kauna-unahang live action version ng iconic Japanese animé na Voltes V na unang sumikat noong dekada ‘70.
READ: Director Mark Reyes reveals dos and don'ts of making Voltes V: Legacy
Simula nang ipalabas ang five minutes at 20 seconds na mega-trailer ng Voltes V: Legacy ay milyun-milyon na ang views nito across all platforms.
Ang Voltes V: Legacy ay pinagbibidahan nina Miguel Tan Felix (Steve Armstrong), Radson Flores (Mark Gordon), Matt Lozano (Robert "Big Bert" Armstrong, Raphael Landicho (Little Jon" Armstrong), at Ysabel Ortega (Jamie Robinson).
Kasama rin dito sina Dennis Trillo (Ned Armstrong), Carla Abellana (Mary Ann Collins Armstrong), Martin del Rosario (Zardoz), Gabby Eigenmann (Commander Robinson), at Albert Martinez (Dr. Richard Smith).
Nang makausap ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) ang director ng Voltes V: Legacy, ibinalik namin siya sa oras na ipapakita pa lamang ang mega trailer sa GMA New Year Countdown at kung ano ang nararamdaman niya noon.
"Sheer terror," ang natawang sagot ni Direk Mark.
Inamin ng direktor na pinerpekto niya ang mga eksenang nakita sa trailer.
"My mindset was, 'Keep the focus, keep the faith.' But there were moments that I was doubting if this is going to work. We shot some scenes that I’m not very happy about.
"But you know, I’m very happy that our very understanding executive producer and program anager was with me and basically in my side.
"When we we’re doing this, I was allowed to do re-shoot a lot of stuff to make me feel better. We ended up having some arguments or conflicts and that’s part of the job."
Masaya raw si Direk Mark na iisa ang vision ng creators ng Voltes V at walang nagpairal ng "puwede na iyan" attitude, at nagbunga naman ito ng magandang output.
"Maraming doubts along the way. Pero nong nilabas tong mega-trailer, yun na nga, pagbigyan niyo ako, bigyan natin sila ng five minutes para malaman natin kung magugustuhan ba nila or what.
"Then thankfully, the majority, positive reactions outweigh the negative reactions.
"And I noticed that in our world, if you do something bad and it becomes viral, you will really feel it that it’s bad and it becomes viral.
"Eto, it could be a positivity of a lot of people, at kapag may nag-comment ng negative, all the positive people will gang up and say, 'No, hindi ganyan yan… etcetera.'
"So marami ang nagde-defend, and these are people na non-fans ng Voltes V. But when they saw the trailer, parang, wow, I think, they appreciate what we’re trying to do."
Sa kabila ng napakaraming magagandang komento na mababasa sa online platforms tungkol sa mega trailer ng Voltes V, hindi itinanggi ni Direk Mark na kaakibat pa rin nito ang pagnanais niya na matapatan ang expectation ng viewers.
Ayon dito, “I guess, the biggest pressure is to maintain the quality. Yung trailer, they could say that it’s the best parts of everything. So the whole episodes run, it’s on how we retain the quality.
"Again, I’m emphasizing that we didn’t do it overnight. We’re not doing it then airing at ginagawa pa namin ito. This is canned.
"It has to go to a lot of approvals, protocols on the set between me, Ms. Darling [Torres], Ms. Helen [Sese], and then, there’s Telesuccess, and there’s Japan.
“We’ll guarantee that what you will see on screen, may pinagdaanan, may process yan, may approval.”
Si Darling Torres ang Senior Executive Producer at si Helen Sese ang AVP for GMA Drama. Ang Telesuccess Productions Inc. ang licensee sa Pilipinas ng Toei Animation, ang animation studio na may likha ng Voltes V sa Japan.
Ipinagmalaki ni Direk Mark na nang i-present ang trailer ng Voltes V: Legacy sa GMA bosses ay nabigyan ito agad ng green light.
Kuwento pa niya: "Something that encourages me... Usually when we do things, we present the trailer to upper management. Usually may mga comments, may mga papabago.
"First time ever in my life that I presented something na walang revision. Automatic, you know, pinayagan ng five minutes, it would be on 16x9...
"And then eto pa, I got the beautiful comments after Christmas na roadblock presentation, sabay-sabay na ilo-launch ang trailer ang mga shows ng GMA [New Year Countdown show].
"It never happened before. We do that for a special campaign, but not for a trailer na roadblock siya talaga, sabay-sabay na ipalalabas ang trailer sa mga channel ng GMA.
"It was very touching for me, I was very excited. And look naman sa yung reaction ng people, I saw it, and at the same time, I’m very, very happy."
READ: Michael V. at Suzette Doctolero, may buwelta sa bashers ng "Voltes V: Legacy" mega trailer
May apat na taon na simula nang i-shoot ng GMA-7 ang ang Voltes V: Legacy. Sa ngayon, five percent na lang daw ang kulang pagdating sa production.
"Production-wise, we’re 95% finished,” saad niya. “Siguro, we have five percent to go, to finish everything. Kasi po, si Ned Armstrong [Dennis Trillo] po, nasa Maria Clara at Ibarra pa.
"Just one more scene with Dennis that we weren’t able to finish when he was with us, so we have to wait for Dennis.
"There were [also] some locations that we want to shoot na hindi na available. In-terms of production side, five percent, but in-terms of post-production, I really can’t tell how much, 50 or 60 percent maybe sa post-production."
Ang target pilot telecast ng Voltes V: Legacy ay sa second quarter ng taong 2023.
DIREK MARK REYES "BEGGED" TO BE ENTRUSTED WITH VOLTES V: legacy
Sa Kapuso Network, may tatak si Direk Mark pagdating sa paglulunsad ng mga teleserye na kahit lumipas na ang dekada ay nakatatak pa rin sa mga manonood. Isa na rito ang fantasyerye na Encantadia noong 2005.
READ: The making of Encantadia: how it came to be, what was the original story
Ang Encantadia ang isa sa pinakamahal na prime-time series na nagawa ng GMA noong panahon na iyon. At ngayon, itinatala na ang Voltes V: Legacy ang pinakamahal na teleserye na ginawa ng GMA Network.
Ano ang pakiramdam niya na waring pinagkakatiwala sa kanya ng network ang ganitong kalaki, kamahal, at panggulat na proyekto?
Sagot ni Direk Mark: "Well, I guess, I was able to build the trust in creating Encantadia. Yun lang naman yon.
"Siguro anybody given the same opportunity to be given Encantadia and they proved themselves worthy to do world building, big-scale, large epic series, they’ll be given that opportunity."
Pero sa kaso ng Voltes V: Legacy, siya raw mismo ang nag-push sa GMA management.
"Special case itong Voltes V because I really wanna do it," pag-amin ni Direk Mark.
"I didn’t wait for the network to think about doing it and hiring me, 'I really want to do it. Can you please produce it?'
"And I begged them if I can do it; and I guess, it helped that, 'He was able to do Encantadia, maybe he can do this.'"
Lubos ang pasasalamat ni Direk Mark na suportado ng GMA-7 ang proyekto all the way.
Sabi pa niya, "They could easily shut this down instantly when we we’re developing [it]. 'Masyadong magastos yan, we can shelve the project.' They can do that, [at] any point in time.
"But yun nga, we got the right people and I have the hindsight of creating something like this."
on STEPPING UP HIS GAME FOR VOLTES V: LEGACY
Hindi naman daw niya binigo ang GMA bosses pagdating sa execution niya ng mega serye.
"And I’m such a geek—that I know how Starstrek, Starwars... And besides watching the movie [versions], all my books [are] about construction. Book of Starwars, Startrek, Marvel so it was easy for me to answer or it was easy for me to figure out how they do this for Voltes V because inaral ko na yan.
"All the DVD that I have—with director’s commentary and behind the scenes—pinag-aralan ko yan."
"Maybe kaya yung quality ng Voltes V was the way you see it from other teleserye because nga, my influence is Hollywood," pagmamalaki ni Direk Mark.
Sabay paglilinaw din niya, "I’m not saying na Hollywood quality, baka ma-quote na naman ako. But that’s my influence. That’s what I’m trying to achieve.
"It’s still not there, but hopefully, we’re on the right track."
Sa huli, tinanong ng PEP.ph si Direk Mark kung paano niya gustong makilala ng mga bagong henerasyon ngayon ang Voltes V: Legacy at gayundin sa mga OG fans na nakalakihan ang Japanese animation na ito.
"Well, sa new generation, it’s more or less easy to attract them, for them to stay on, to watch, to see. Attracting them is easy because it’s very modernized. And as you can see, ang daming comments...
"And yes, we’re no way near that level, pero ang daming nagko-comment na, ‘Wow, Pacific Rim.’ ‘Ah, parang Pacific Rim to.’ So may connection na sa generation gap. So parang may jump-off point na sila to watch us," lahad niya.
Ang Pacific Rim ay ang 2013 box-office science fiction monster film na may hawig sa kuwento ng Voltes V.
"At sa old generation, believe me, I’m a fan boy doing the stuff. There’s a lot that you’ll just laugh and say, 'Oh my god, they hit it, yan yong…' yung mga ganong moment.
"Ginagawa nga namin, tuwang-tuwa kami. Para kaming mga tanga sa set. 'Nagawa namin!' You know, maraming moment.
"Now pa lang, yung generation ko, the older generation will PM me, sending me messages in Facebook na, 'Wow, I can see myself,' 'Naiyak ako.' Those kinds of comment, so they’ll enjoy."
Hiling ni Direk Mark, "Hopefully we did our job right."
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