Finally, a different mermaid story
Finally, a different
Tired of seeing those fins on that femme fatale at sea? Give props to fresh “My Fairy Tail Love Story.”
Tired of seeing those fins on that femme fatale at sea? Give props to fresh “My Fairy Tail Love Story.” The Regal Entertainment and The IdeaFirst Company movie is about a young mermaid with story quite different from the Dyesebel’s and Aryana’s that we’ve come to know. “The idea or ’yung plan is to turn Disney fairy tales na babaliin lahat ng nakasanayan ng tao, na napre-predict ng tao sa isang mermaid story at babaliktarin at iibahin namin,” director Perci Intalan divulged. “’Yun ’yung naging principle ng movie kaya siya naging masaya gawin. In-enjoy lang namin, binali lang naman ’yung usual mermaid (story).” What’s with the title, we asked. “We are playing on words na gets mo na agad na it’s a mermaid movie. Parang sina-suggest sa tao na meron kaming iniiba rito,” he explained. ‘‘’Pag mermaid movie laging nag-hi-hit so sana mangyari din sa amin.” Perci shared the film got postponed for almost a year due to scheduling issues. He said that time lead stars Elmo Magalona and Janella Salvador were shooting the film “Bloody Crayons.” Then when they were ready to shoot “Mermaid” again, director Jun (Lana, Perci’s partner in IdeaFirst) needed to direct the movie “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes.”
But because Perci was there from the start, Jun asked him to just finish the film. According to Perci, they retained four to five sequences from their shoot in March last year.
ElNella
“My Fairy Tail Love Story” is about spoiled brat Chantel (Janella) who did not heed warnings on disturbing a coral formation under the sea. Because of this, she woke up one day discovering she has been turned into a mermaid.
With the help of her best friend Noah (Elmo), she will try to break the curse, thinking that the answer lies in that most magical of solutions: True love’s kiss from a Prince Charming.
Elmo said working with everyone was fun and easy. He is thankful to Perci because “when we were shooting, it was exactly how I imagined it, kung paano nila kinukwento sa akin.”
Janella, on her part, revealed that ever since she heard about the project, she knew it will be beautiful. And during shooting, Janella grew to trust Perci’s skills and artistic talent. “I was so humbled na ako ’yung pinili
nila to be Chantel because ’yung mermaid role maraming babae ang may gusto. So it’s also a dream come true for me,” she said. Among their preparation were taking diving lesson and a special mermaid lesson for Janella.
The actress revealed she felt more nervous for the lesson than the actual shoot. This is because Janella has claustrophobia or fear of being enclosed in a small space or room and unable to escape. The lesson required her to dive deeper into the bottom of the pool. Janella also admitted wearing her mermaid costume was chalellenging because she is not used to showing some skin.
Needless to say, many in the cast and crew got sunburned frequently while shooting.
“May isang beses na kailangang pang mag-shoot pero hindi na natuloy kasi ’yung mukha ko sunog na sunog,” Janella recalled with a laugh.
“My Fairy Tail Love Story” hits cinemas nationwide on Feb. 14.