Article posted July 02, 2008
“You should not miss the opening—[it’s like] a movie! It’s a movie made for television—it was really shot [like] a [film], and the budget is for a [film],” imparts “Codename: Asero” director Mark Reyes. He tells iGMA about his adventures while taping the first few weeks of GMA’s much-awaited action series. Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio and Jason S. Lim.
To Dubai and back
The Asero team went all the way to Dubai to tape just a few weeks’ worth of episodes, but according to direk Mark, it was definitely worth it. “I had all the toys—basically I had a helicopter, I had the desert safari sequence, and blasting [equipment]. So it’s very James Bond and Mission Impossible all merged into one. It’s something Flipinos haven’t seen [yet].”
He explains that although Asero is an action-adventure series, they shall be injecting comedic elements as well, especially with Michael V. and Janno Gibbs around. “You have Janno Gibbs and Michael V. in the show—you cannot not have comedy! So it’s a good mix—it’s something fresh for me. At least it’s [different] from the telefantasyas I’ve done, from Encantadia to [Carlo J. Caparas’] Kamandag.”
He continues, “There is [an element of fantasy] but it’s in a different way, because [Richard Gutierrez] will eventually become a cyborg (half-human, half-robot). So the sense of fantasy is how we’re going to integrate that into the film. It’s different from magical stuff. It’s more sci-fi.”
No awkward moments!
How were Heart Evangelista and Richard Gutierrez during their trip to Dubai? Any awkward moments?
“They’re getting along too well!” direk Mark exclaims with a laugh. “Right off the bat! Onscreen, the chemistry’s right there. It’s a fresh team-up; it hasn’t been seen anywhere else.”
“The kissing scenes [were] giddy [and] funny at first, but after that, wala na. They were so relaxed with each other already,” he adds.
He shares that some things to watch out for are Heart’s belly-dancing scene and her tango sequence with Richard.
“[The belly-dancing scene] was pre-planned in Manila. What was really ‘spur of the moment’ was the tango [shot]. Richard was so awkward dancing the tango, ‘cos he’s used to hip hop [dancing], so it was hard. He wasn’t really comfortable dancing ballroom, so he had to adapt [to it] fast. It turned out well, [though]. When you watch it, it’s very True Lies, very Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Not like Lupin
One thing that the production team is quite careful with is setting the series apart from Lupin, where some Asero cast members like Richard Gutierrez, Rhian Ramos, and Janno Gibbs also starred in.
>“We are very careful not to make it look like Lupin—I think there’s a far, far difference between Lupin and Asero, now that we’ve done the episodes. I think more than Lupin or anything, I think the feel is Rush Hour because of the comedy. So I think that’s more of our gauge, that’s more of our point of view for this.”
“That was the mandate, the slant; I want it to feel like it’s fun; nothing too serious. Even Richard, I knew off the bat, [after] doing My Bestfriend’s Girlfriend (BFGF) that he has a knack for comedy. As long as he has a good partner, he’s going to adapt, and he’s going to relate well. And si Janno rin, ang ganda ng chemistry nilang dalawa.”
The story
Direk Mark tells us the basic premise of the story.
“Richard Gutierrez is an agent of ‘Advocate,’ which is actually an anti-crime network that does jobs that the military or the police of the nation cannot do. So it’s all special missions and stuff. And their counterpart is ‘Empire,’ which is headed by someone [Richard’s] connected to. [The two groups] try to outdo each other, and eventually, Richard gets into a situation [where] he ends up becoming a cyborg—he [got] bionic parts that helped him become a better agent.”
“But to go to that point, there are so many things that run through the story [first]. Then he meets Heart in Dubai. Heart has a very interesting story—she’s an OFW [who] tries her luck in Dubai, and she ends up going back to the Philippines. Richard keeps on saying that Heart is the ‘heart’ of the show. You know, the drama is with the story of Heart, the action-adventure is with the story of Richard, and then of course you have Janno Gibbs, Michael V., Richard Gomez, Ehra Madrigal, Bubbles Paraiso, Paolo Contis, Rhian Ramos, and Chynna Ortaleza. We’re very excited. It’s a really strong casting.”
So far, what’s the biggest challenge that he foresees?
“[It’s] to maintain it,” direk Mark admits. “It’s different when you have an episode that’s full of the story and all the production value. But to maintain it for several weeks—that’s the challenge.”
“You should not miss the opening—[it’s like] a movie! It’s a movie made for television—it was really shot [like] a [film], and the budget is for a [film],” imparts “Codename: Asero” director Mark Reyes. He tells iGMA about his adventures while taping the first few weeks of GMA’s much-awaited action series. Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio and Jason S. Lim.
To Dubai and back
The Asero team went all the way to Dubai to tape just a few weeks’ worth of episodes, but according to direk Mark, it was definitely worth it. “I had all the toys—basically I had a helicopter, I had the desert safari sequence, and blasting [equipment]. So it’s very James Bond and Mission Impossible all merged into one. It’s something Flipinos haven’t seen [yet].”
He explains that although Asero is an action-adventure series, they shall be injecting comedic elements as well, especially with Michael V. and Janno Gibbs around. “You have Janno Gibbs and Michael V. in the show—you cannot not have comedy! So it’s a good mix—it’s something fresh for me. At least it’s [different] from the telefantasyas I’ve done, from Encantadia to [Carlo J. Caparas’] Kamandag.”
He continues, “There is [an element of fantasy] but it’s in a different way, because [Richard Gutierrez] will eventually become a cyborg (half-human, half-robot). So the sense of fantasy is how we’re going to integrate that into the film. It’s different from magical stuff. It’s more sci-fi.”
No awkward moments!
How were Heart Evangelista and Richard Gutierrez during their trip to Dubai? Any awkward moments?
“They’re getting along too well!” direk Mark exclaims with a laugh. “Right off the bat! Onscreen, the chemistry’s right there. It’s a fresh team-up; it hasn’t been seen anywhere else.”
“The kissing scenes [were] giddy [and] funny at first, but after that, wala na. They were so relaxed with each other already,” he adds.
He shares that some things to watch out for are Heart’s belly-dancing scene and her tango sequence with Richard.
“[The belly-dancing scene] was pre-planned in Manila. What was really ‘spur of the moment’ was the tango [shot]. Richard was so awkward dancing the tango, ‘cos he’s used to hip hop [dancing], so it was hard. He wasn’t really comfortable dancing ballroom, so he had to adapt [to it] fast. It turned out well, [though]. When you watch it, it’s very True Lies, very Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”
Not like Lupin
One thing that the production team is quite careful with is setting the series apart from Lupin, where some Asero cast members like Richard Gutierrez, Rhian Ramos, and Janno Gibbs also starred in.
>“We are very careful not to make it look like Lupin—I think there’s a far, far difference between Lupin and Asero, now that we’ve done the episodes. I think more than Lupin or anything, I think the feel is Rush Hour because of the comedy. So I think that’s more of our gauge, that’s more of our point of view for this.”
“That was the mandate, the slant; I want it to feel like it’s fun; nothing too serious. Even Richard, I knew off the bat, [after] doing My Bestfriend’s Girlfriend (BFGF) that he has a knack for comedy. As long as he has a good partner, he’s going to adapt, and he’s going to relate well. And si Janno rin, ang ganda ng chemistry nilang dalawa.”
The story
Direk Mark tells us the basic premise of the story.
“Richard Gutierrez is an agent of ‘Advocate,’ which is actually an anti-crime network that does jobs that the military or the police of the nation cannot do. So it’s all special missions and stuff. And their counterpart is ‘Empire,’ which is headed by someone [Richard’s] connected to. [The two groups] try to outdo each other, and eventually, Richard gets into a situation [where] he ends up becoming a cyborg—he [got] bionic parts that helped him become a better agent.”
“But to go to that point, there are so many things that run through the story [first]. Then he meets Heart in Dubai. Heart has a very interesting story—she’s an OFW [who] tries her luck in Dubai, and she ends up going back to the Philippines. Richard keeps on saying that Heart is the ‘heart’ of the show. You know, the drama is with the story of Heart, the action-adventure is with the story of Richard, and then of course you have Janno Gibbs, Michael V., Richard Gomez, Ehra Madrigal, Bubbles Paraiso, Paolo Contis, Rhian Ramos, and Chynna Ortaleza. We’re very excited. It’s a really strong casting.”
So far, what’s the biggest challenge that he foresees?
“[It’s] to maintain it,” direk Mark admits. “It’s different when you have an episode that’s full of the story and all the production value. But to maintain it for several weeks—that’s the challenge.”
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