Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction

Whenever an issue of Usok comes out, I conduct a short interview with the authors, to give readers some insight into the creation of the stories, as well as the authors themselves. Next up is Elaine Cuyegkeng (check out her new author’s page here), whose Usok story, “The Widow and the Princess of the Dwende“, is her first to be published online. The story is illustrated by the exceptional Mark Bulahao, who we interviewed last month. Elaine is a new author, but one already hard at work on her new novel, so keep an eye on her new author’s page as she continues to build her body of work.

Tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for your story.

The Widow and the Princess of the Dwende is actually a prequel to a NaNoWriMo project I was working on in 2009: A Brief History of the Enkanta. Both of them came about in a rather roundabout way. The vampire craze was going strong then (as it still is), and while I’m fond of vampires, I was frustrated by the current trends.  The vampire was always the Romantic Male Lead, and while I think vampires are awesome when they’re not just predators, they were depicted in such a way that they weren’t frightening anymore. For me, that takes away the compelling power of the vampire archetype.

And I thought: But hey, how much more scary would the vampire be if he was in a position of institutional power? If somehow, refusing to be a vampire’s paramour, or not welcoming him into your home, was bad news for you and your family? The idea of the vampire frayle was born, and from there, the idea of various enkanta clans wrestling for agency and survival in the Spanish era.

What aspect of the story gave you the most joy?

I love delving into the back stories of characters and fictional societies. The intricacies of Filipino society under the Spanish are fascinating to me, and it was immensely fun to delve into enkanta societies, mix enkanta lore with Western myths, and explore how they would interact.

What aspect of the story gave you the most difficulty?

The problem is, when you geek out like that on the page, you need to balance all of those details with telling a story. With a short story, you need to condense, condense, condense, which I found very hard to do. But I had awesome friends and an awesome editor [Editor Pao: Naks!] . They taught me how to fix the little things that were driving me mad.

Have you ever worn a costume? What was your favorite one? What about the most ridiculous?

I was waaaaay too little to remember this. But there’s a picture of me at three in a Supergirl costume. The geeky DC Comics-loving adult I am loves it.

Does your cultural background influence how you write, or what you write?

I don’t think I could have written The Widow and the Princess of the Dwende or a Brief History of the Enkanta if I wasn’t Pinoy—if I hadn’t grown up on stories of the cruelty and romanticism of the Spanish era, or stories of the aswang lurking in the streets of Manila, or of the dangers of the various enkanta. And I think it’s partly due to my heritage that I’m particularly interested in colonial stories—stories that look at the dynamics between the powerful and the powerless, and the people caught in between.

What was the best piece of writing advice you ever read or received?

Finish everything you start. Incidentally, the best method for finishing what you start appears to be writing fast, which I still need to work on.

MJ Pajaron (janemini on deviantart) grew up in Caloocan with two brothers and a sister who all share her love for karaoke. An avid anime fan and a gamer who enjoys roleplaying games and first person shooters, MJ provided the art for Kate Aton-Osias’ story “100% of Me” in Usok #2. In this interview, MY talks about games, anime, and some differences between two dimensional and three dimensional art.

You’re the first artist I’ve met (virtually speaking) who is equally at home with two dimensional and three dimensional art work. Or at least, it seems that way–are you more naturally inclined toward one form?

I am an artist, a game developer and a gamer… For someone like me who loves games and has the passion to make games, it actually seems only natural that I’d be interested in both art forms. I would say that I didn’t have the slightest idea about 3D models back in college, but when I found out that one of my units in 2nd year college would be 3D modeling, I got excited. I was amazed when I first saw how 3D models were done (from modeling to animation), but then… I was disappointed to learn that there were the professors were not as knowledgeable nor as capable as I’d expected them to be. Fortunately, in my second job I met the people who taught me all I know in 3D modeling, my officemates and friends who shared tips and techniques Ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. I truly thank them for all they’ve shared with me! Great games also inspire me to do more 3d models

Which games have had art design that truly impressed you?

The Prince of Persia game released in 2008. I just love it, from the concept to the in-game art! (Although I do have mixed feelings about Elika always being there to pick you up whenever you fall…) Another would be Call of Duty Modern Warfare. I really like the lighting in the game, which was very realistic!

What are the advantages of 3D art as compared to 2D, and vice versa?

In 3D- Effects, lighting and shadow are processed in real-time, and that is awesome! On the other hand, in 2D, lighting and shadows are fixed. SFX is complicated.

2D games doesn’t require powerful computers unlike 3D.

Animation is easier to do in 3d rather than in 2D, especially considering the latest technologies that make the 3d animator’s work easier and faster.

In 2D, however, you don’t need plug-ins–instead, you sit for an hours, do some trial and error for the lighting and special effects, and from that you can create a really nice looking piece.
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John Amor’s “The Urban Animal #1″ tells the beginning of the story of a young man (apparently in college, although he looks like a high school kid) who crosses the wrong person and is placed under a monstrous curse–although, to be frank, none of that is evident from the cover, which does a poor job of giving the prospective reader any idea as to what the comic will be about. The cover also does little to showcase Amor’s stylized art, which is a shame, given that the art is the highlight of Urban Animal. Amor has a hyper-expressive, stubby-figured style that reminds me of the early work of Humberto Ramos. While there are some panels where the facial expression of the characters seems off, or where there were better angles from which to view the scene, the art in general is clean, bold and sufficiently detailed–though nowhere near as polished as Amor’s more recent  work (Urban Animal was drawn ten years ago, and the comic released by Super Debil Robot Comics contains the original art, touched up slightly). The artwork reaches its pinnacle toward the end of the issue, where the story takes a step toward horror, of the “creature feature” variety.

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Here’s are videos of a talk given by Professor Maria Stanyukovich Ph.D., with one of the most interesting titles ever (or maybe it just seems so to a Phil. myth geek like me): “Epic as a Means to Control the Memory and Emotions of Gods and Humans: Ritual Implications of the Ifugao Hudhud”. This is the last of the videos I have from the Songs of Memory International Conference on Epics and Ballads held at the Ateneo last 20-22 January, 2011. You can see an index for all the videos here.

Parts 2-4 after the cut.

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Mark Bulahao (edictiv on deviantart) grew up in Northern Luzon, and came to Metro Manila to pursue his education. A fan of history and warfare (evident in his art and his loves HBO’s “Rome”), he painted a more static, yet sinister, scene for Elaine Cuyegkeng’s “The Widow and the Princess of the Dwende” in Usok #2, and he took the time to sit down with us (virtually speaking) to discuss his influences, the importance (and joy) of drawing backgrounds, and whether or not artistic talent is genetic.

How did you get started as an artist?

I got interested in drawing at a very early age. I think it’s all the cartoons and video games that got me started. I also collected Marvel and DC comic books and copied them all the time.

Me and my brother were fortunate to have a few friends who also liked drawing. After playing video games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, we would do an artjam on our favorite characters or design ones based on them. They later lost interest with drawing in high school but me and my brother stuck with it.

You have a twin brother who also seems to be a very good artist. Do you think that, to some degree, artistic talent is genetic? Does anyone else in your family draw/paint?

In our family, only the two of us are interested in drawing. So far I haven’t seen or read anything that proves the existence of “artistic genes” so I have no reason to believe in it. We just happen to like drawing and have made it a hobby.

A lot of the pieces in your deviantart gallery have a lot of detail invested in the background, whereas a lot of artists I know would prefer not to do backgrounds at all. Do you enjoy rendering those vast, panoramas? Do you like working on the background as much as working on the characters/people?

If art is biology, then those who are interested in backgrounds would be the type of biologists who study not just a certain species but their environment as well: how they interact with it, what role and niche they play in the ecosystem, how they cope with environmental changes, etc. I guess artists who ignore backgrounds are like biologists who are more concerned with a species’ anatomy, behaviors and interactions with other creatures. I don’t want to choose between the two because I’d rather be both.

I wouldn’t say that I enjoy doing environments and landscapes more than characters, but there’s a special kind of feeling in creating thriving ecosystems or living and breathing societies. There’s an incomparable joy in painting places that can allow someone to forget about reality for a while and be transported into another world, even for just a few seconds.

If you want to create fictional worlds, then you have to understand that a setting can become the star of a story while the characters themselves can take a back seat. Environments can have “personalities” and sometimes they’re much more interesting and complex than the characters that inhabit them.
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Continuing the posting of videos from the Songs of Memory International Conference on Epics and Ballads held at the Ateneo last 20-22 January, 2011, here’s the last part (I came in late) of the first talk of the event, given by Professor Fernando N. Zialcita Ph.D. (co-author of the Soul Book), entitled “Chanted Landscapes: The Interweaving of Tangible and Intangible Heritage”. Parts of the video involve introductions of the delegates to the conference, but that may give you a good idea of the diversity of the experts who participated in the conference.

This video was short, but for our final video on Monday, I’ll post the longest one yet, a talk by Professor Maria Stanyukovich Ph.D., entitled “Epic as a Means to Control the Memory and Emotions of Gods and Humans: Ritual Implications of the Ifugao Hudhud”.

On the first day of the “Songs of Memory” international conference on epics and ballads at the Ateneo de Manila, the university launched the online version of its Philippine Epics and Ballads Archive. Here are videos of the official launch, with Professor Nicole Revel PhD walking us through the site. (The first part of the professor’s talk traced the historical developments in the study and preservation of Philippine epics and ballads, but it’s a long segment and I’m not certain if the sound quality is good enough, so not posting it yet.)

Two weeks ago, the Ateneo de Manila University hosted “Songs of Memory”, an international conference on epics and ballads (this is where the Ateneo’s online archive of Philippine epics and ballads was launched). Here’s how the official site describes the mission of the conference:

Songs of Memory seeks to make the Philippine Epics and Ballads Archive of the Ateneo de Manila University accessible to all. Preserving epics helps conserve Intangible Heritage, fosters pride of the self in cultural communities and in the nation, as a whole, and advances UNESCO’s emphasis on the conservation of Intangible Heritage.

I wasn’t able to attend all the talks/lectures, but I did manage to catch a few that may be of interest to Rocket Kapre readers, and anyone interested in the mythic heritage of the people of the Philippines. Over the next two weeks, I’ll be posting the videos I managed to take of the event. Each talk will be a separate post, but for greater convenience, this post will serve as an index to the videos.

Congratulations to the Ateneo and all those involved in “Songs of Memory” for what seems to have been a very succesful conference. Special thanks to Professor Calasanz for inviting me to attend the conference.

Songs of Memory Video Index

• “Introduction to Ifugao Culture Sung Tradition” by Professor Rosario de Santos del Rosario Ph.D.
• “Launch: Ateneo’s Online Philippine Epics and Ballads Archive” (partial) by Professor Nicole Revel PhD
• “Chanted Landscapes: The Interweaving of Tangible and Intangible Heritage” (partial) by Professor Fernando N. Zialcita Ph.D.
• “Epic as a Means to Control the Memory and Emotions of Gods and Humans: Ritual Implications of the Ifugao Hudhud” by Professor Maria Stanyukovich Ph.D

Whenever an issue of Usok comes out, I conduct a short interview with the authors, to give readers some insight into the creation of the stories, as well as the authors themselves. As we started our interviews for Usok 2 with VN Benedicto, who did the art for “Elsewhere“, we’ll begin the author interviews with the author of “Elsewhere“: Eliza Victoria, one of the country’s most prolific authors of speculative fiction. Don’t believe me? Check out her newly minted author’s page here on the site, and see for yourself.

Tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea for your story.

It was just a what-if that came out of nowhere: What if there were a natural phenomenon – like lightning, or rain – that could create superheroes, but those superheroes couldn’t choose their powers? I thought it was a scary idea, and a sad one, and I had to write about it.

What aspect of the story gave you the most difficulty?

There is a secret in the story, and it is always difficult to hide a secret.

What aspect of the story gave you the most joy?

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at using a different structure for the short story. I’d planned to use the structure of a film script, and even studied a handful, but couldn’t find a narrative to sustain the form. Then one day my boyfriend mentioned taking up a comic-writing class in the University of the Philippines, our alma mater, and I insisted on seeing his script. Before I saw his comic script, I already had the idea [for “Elsewhere”] in my head, but as usual couldn’t start it because I couldn’t figure out the right way to tell it to make the story different from all others. Then I saw my boyfriend’s script, and I realized, here it was: a narrative structure based on images, a structure I could use.

Not long after, he lent me several comic books, one of which was a copy of Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602. 1602 contains a sample script of the graphic novel. I studied that closely, and had fun writing those portions of the story.

However, I still don’t know if I could write an actual comic book script.

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There’s a lot to like in Thaumatrope Animation’s first film, RPG: Metanoia, the first full length computer generated animated film to be both created and commercially released in the Philippines. It’s also the first animated film to be produced in 3D, but since I only caught the 2D edition (not a huge 3D fan anyway), there’s not much I can say about that aspect of the film.

What I can say is that it’s a pretty good movie (note the absence of the patronizing “… for a Filipino film” addendum) that those of a specific target audience will enjoy–if they can get beyond the film’s implied message, but more on that later. You can find a plot synopsis at the Wikipedia page, so let  me jump straight into the review.

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