Art of soapmaking
If you think crafting teleserye is easy as pie, Sunshine Dizon would like to have a word with you
If you think crafting teleserye is easy as pie, Sunshine Dizon would like to have a word with you
Pinoys may be big on TV dramas but only a few fully understand the hard work put into it. A recent conversation with actress Sunshine Dizon, among stars of the drama “Ika-6 Na Utos,” attests to how a production painstakingly goes about fulfilling its goal of satiating viewers’ craving for tears, laughter, excitement.
For Sunshine, the biggest challenge in doing a soap is maintaining balance between reality and fantasy.
This is especially true when shooting confrontation scenes.
“Ang idea is to make it look realistic as possible but without actually laying a hand on your co-star,” she shared.
It is easier said than done. Sunshine admitted to have sustained numerous bruises doing such scenes with co-star Ryza Cenon on “Ika-6 Na Utos.”
“Madalas kasi nagkatamaan talaga kami,” she related, noting she is undergoing therapy at the moment for a muscle tear on her shoulder.
Suffice it to say, they try to do everything in one take if they can.
“It’s hard naman kasi if you do it na paulit-ulit kasi ang dami ko ng tama pag ganu’n,” the 33-year-old actress maintained.
“But in fairnes to Ryza, thankful ako sa kanya kasi she is really good at this kind of thing,” Sunshine added. “Siguro nakakatulong na she is a dancer also kaya ang understanding niya sa choreography ng mga confrontation scenes malalim na.”
Much like a dance performance, confrontation scenes have numbered sequences they should follow to a T as veering ever slightly could spell disaster.
“We have a separate director coaching us in our fight scenes,” Sunshine explained. “Pinapakita niya sa amin step by step kung paano namin aatakihin ang eksena at sinusunod namin ’yun exactly.”
Asked how the confrontation scenes on “Ika-6 Na Utos” compare to the fight scenes on the fantaserye “Encantadia,” Sunshine said, “Mas mahirap dito sa ‘Ika-6 Na Utos,’ I think.” “Kasi doon usually we have weapons at ’yun ang usually nagtatamaan sa fight scenes. Dito kamay namin talaga, mukha at katawan pati (ang gamit).” Then there’s the matter of delivering kilometric lines while at it. “We have to keep in mind ’yung exact lines namin talaga usually pero thankful naman kami na si Direk Laurice (Guillen) ina-allow kami na mag-apply
ng slight changes like certain words pero ’yung nga dapat same thought pa din.”
Hearing Sunshine explain all these little heard behind-thescenes happenings make doing a
teleserye sound quite daunting. Didn’t she have second thoughts signing up for it? “Hindi eh. Going in, alam ko na what it entails, sa tinagal tagal ko naman na sa showbiz,” she said. Indeed, name it and Sunshine has done it. “Bukod sa mga sampalan, naranasan ko na rin gumulong sa putikan sa ilalim ng malakas na ulan – at ’yun ’yung time na wala pang banyo sa location,” she related. “Sa totoo lang hindi mo naman alam kung ano mga eksena kukuhanan for the day eh. Madalas magugulat ka na sasabihin sa’yo ‘Shine, gugulong ka daw sa ganito...’ Ikaw naman, ‘Ay, may dala ba ako pamalit? Saan ako maliligo? May underwear ba akong spare?’ ’Yung mga ganoon.”
It’s not as if they just go with the whims of the show writers willy nilly.
“Necessary ang attention grabbing scenes sa isang teleserye lalo na when it airs on an afternoon na ’yung audience
‘Bukod sa mga sampalan, naranasan ko na rin gumulong sa putikan sa ilalim ng malakas na ulan – at ’yun ’yung time na wala pang banyo sa location.
mo eh siesta mode na, you have to make them notice, so it’s always about big scenes.” And how has she adjusted since? “I now have my own portable comfort room and bath that I take with to location shootings,” said Sunshine. “Kaya nga the other day when they told me na magbubuhusan kami ng tsokolate at buko pandan ni Ryza I was like ‘Okay, sure.’ Ganu’n ka-importante ang prepared ka lagi.” And that’s the art of soapmaking for you. (With report from Jojo P. Panaligan)