What to expect in ‘Saving Sally’
Christmas season is coming, and once again the cinemas are going to be filled with entries for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
The “Magic 8” movies that will be participating have already been selected, and among entries like Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2: Forever is Not Enough and Vince & Kath & James is a film that stands out at a glance: Saving Sally. Saving Sally is a film directed by Avid Liongoren, based on a screenplay by Charlene Sawit-Esguerra and produced by Rocket sheep Studios. It stars Enzo Marcos as the male lead, Marty, and Rhian Ramos in the titular role of Sally. Saving Sally catches the eye because it uses both live action and 2D animation—a rarity in the Philippine cinema scene. It uses these elements to tell the typical love story—a boy falls in love with his best friend, but feels caught in the “friend zone” as she is in a relationship with someone else.
In a press conference held in Ayala Center Cebu last Wednesday, Ramos and Marcos regaled the crowd with song numbers as they promoted the film, while presenting some teaser clips and a music video movie trailer, which are all readily available for viewing both on Facebook and YouTube.
When asked about why the film had taken over 10 years to make, Marcos immediately answered, “I had to shoot it twice!” Some budget concerns had caused difficulty in the making of the film, but both actors agree that it was all well worth it.
The actors also expressed that working with computer-generated imagery or CGI was also a challenge. It required a lot more imagination than live acting because one needs to react to elements that weren’t immediately there.
“I even had to imagine the person I was making out with!” Ramos exclaimed to emphasize her point. The film is filled with a lot of 2D animation—including backdrops, monsters and explosions, which adds another layer of difficulty to the creation of the film.
Is anyone a fan of romance comedies? Science fiction films? Live action films? Animated films?
Saving Sally has something in store for a wide variety of audiences, presenting a style of film that is rare in the Philippine cinematic scene.
For those not yet convinced, take Ramos’ word for it: “Everyone should watch it. It’s something everyone can relate to.”