WHEN you catch the TV premiere of GMA 7’s cinematic version of the Philippine National Anthem (soon to be played in all SM Cinemas) on Sunday’s “Party Pilipinas,” have fun matching these trivia with the corresponding scenes:
•When he shot his part as Jose Rizal, Marvin Agustin just had a crewcut, so he wears a wig here.
•Dingdong Dantes is an able horseman, but the animal he mounted was injured during the shoot and almost did not finish her bit.
•To portray Lapu-Lapu, Aljur Abrenica sported body art that took six hours to paint on.
•The garlands in the Declaration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines scene, where Richard Gutierrez plays President Manuel Quezon, are exact replicas of those hung on the Quezon’s podium in 1935.
•Mark Anthony Fernandez had to run through cogon several times to lead the charge in the vignette portraying the 1896 Cry of Pugad Lawin.
•In the 1872 Martyrdom of Gomburza sequence, Paolo Paraiso, Victory Aliwalas, and Bodie Cruz are wearing genuine woolen cloaks — man, that’s hot!
•Iza Calzado, Rhian Ramos and Bea Binene are wearing scapulars under their baro in the scene portraying the sewing of the first Philippine flag.
•TJ Trinidad cut his lip shooting the Fil-Am War portion. It was perfect!
•Those soldiers around Marian Rivera? Not all of them are actors.
Shot wholly in high-definition (HD) digital video technology, this cinematic “Lupang Hinirang” will also be part of GMA 7’s daily sign-on and sign-off messages.
Director Paul Ticzon said the team went through 10 months of meticulous research and preparation. “This two-and-a-half-minute version of the National Anthem will reinforce every viewer’s nationalism,” said Ticzon, also network AVP for post production operations.
The project was executed in close coordination with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. It retells history through carefully-crafted reenactments of landmark events, from Lapu-Lapu’s victory over Magellan in the Battle of Mactan to the 1986 People Power Revolution.
Lead production designer Rodell Cruz has worked with Hollywood producers like Oliver Stone (“Platoon”) and John Sayles (“Amigo”).