Chapter 153 - Late Show With Aiden Gerty (2)

"Well.. Uhh…" Tayaw is speechless as he has not gained any inspiration from directors of his world, so he has no idea how to answer.

'Come on man…' Aiden meanwhile, gave Tayaw an encouraging look, misinterpreting Tayaw's speechlessness as Tayaw's lack of interview experience. 

'Alright… screw it.' Tayaw after five long seconds of consideration, decided.

"Can I be honest?" Tayaw said, his question making Aiden anxious, but he has no choice but to say

"Sure."

"I knew nothing about intricacies of film or film making. I also didn't care who the actors are, or who the director of a film is. My assessment of a good film was whether I liked or not. I care more about the art more than the artist." Tayaw began, his preface grabbing everyone's attention.

Aiden meanwhile, immediately had an inkling of what Tayaw is trying to say. 

"Still, you have to have been inspired by some of the best directors, right?" Aiden wants to help Tayaw from burning bridges before he even built them.

Contrary to his expectations, "Nope." Tayaw said in a-matter-of-fact manner.

*OOOHHHH* The audience were surprised, amused, or confused at Tayaw's answer. Aiden meanwhile is trying to hide his panic regarding a possible broadcasting incident. 

"Whoah.. Okay. I did not expect that." Tayaw addressed the audience.

"Can I explain?" Tayaw asked Aiden.

"You sure, buddy? Let me move away from you first." Aiden chuckled nervously.

"Yeah. May I?" Tayaw asked audience too, the audience then unitedly agreed. 

"It's not really inspired when I made a film that AVOIDS all the convention, right? Firstly, I tried to avoid my film looking simply like a footage of a stage play; which how every film looks like. Like I said from the start, I did not really expect my film to do so well because of how… radical it looks." Tayaw began his explanation. The audience at this time almost nodded at Tayaw's point. 

Aiden and his staff, on the other hand, felt complicated. Talk shows would always ask a rookie artist or an athlete for their inspirations or role models, which is routine. They did not take in consideration how different Tayaw's situation is, and how seriously Tayaw would actually answer. 

"Secondly," Tayaw continued. "Except for the few good ones, movies are starting to all look the same to me, especially romantic films."

"Hmm? What are you saying? You made a romance film." Aiden asked, confused at Tayaw's words. 

"No. May I sway away from my film first?" Tayaw asked.

"Go ahead." Aiden at this point, let Tayaw lead the interview. Aiden realized that he and his staff's preparation were useless now and that he has not studied Tayaw's film enough to ask good questions nor add good points.

"Romance films, the formula of it, that has existed since the 1600s, as far as I know. Starting from… let's say Christopher Ainsley's 'Thaddeus and Alarice', to uhhh… 'A Touch of Velvet' two years ago. Boy meets girl, they fall in love."

"Then there's an obstacle or conflict that prevents or tests the strength of their love for each other. Those obstacles include the lovers belonging to different social statuses, the lovers having different philosophies in life, or simply because they can't make time for each other. Follow so far?" Tayaw let Aiden and the audience catch up. 

"And finally, once the conflict or the obstacle is resolved, the lovers live happily ever after. How many films and plays have you seen that follows this formula?" Tayaw asked Aiden and the audience.

"…" Aiden considered for a moment. "You're right. It's almost every other film. But… Isn't that how your film goes too?" Aiden raised a good question. 

"The romance aspect of my film, yes. It follows that formula. However, my film is the story of a man's journey to self-exploration and his subsequent change for good. The romance? That is just a tool that Jouny and I used." Tayaw paused for Aiden to catch up. 

"What do you mean by 'tool'?" Aiden asked, finding the keyword quickly.

"A tool; a measuring stick. Yes, originally, it was going to be a romance film, as Jouny intended, but I saw something more important; that is the character's journey to become a good man." Tayaw explained. Aiden and the audience mulled over the answer again and nodded at how it made sense.

"I decided for the film to be more about a man's journey to redemption. A guy who has few redeeming qualities, into a man who deserves all the good things in the world. The romance is just the ruler we used to measure what the character deserves."  Tayaw concluded his second point.

"Now that you said it, it really wasn't that much of a romance film, huh." Aiden.

"No. No it wasn't." Tayaw answered simply, allowing Aiden to ask other questions or switch topics. 

"How about the acting? How did you come up with the choice of you know, the characters acting normal?" Aiden moved on. 

"Oh. I just wanted my film to be as immersive as possible. In most films, I always get distracted by the acting." Tayaw said.

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked for more.

"The exaggerated movements of stage acting that is applied on film. On stage, it makes sense for the actors to have exaggerated body language for the audience from afar can see them, but with film, I didn't seem that necessary. I'm actually surprised why I'm the first one, that I know of that is, that made that choice." Tayaw explained.

"I see. But how hard was it really? I mean, I think I can act just as good as your lead." Aiden said, not believing his words at all, but just wanting to get a reaction from Tayaw.

"Ah. That's a common misconception. It's not as easy as it looks. Do you know how many actors auditioned? Some of them even had their theater training hold them back from meeting what I wanted." Tayaw calmly defended.

"Really…? How hard could it be?" Aiden followed. 

"While I appreciate the awards that my film got, I always felt it was a pity that the actors in my film weren't even nominated. That's how much I appreciated the work of my actors. Okay. One very obvious one is my lead's outburst of anger and when he was frustrated and depressed. That's not an easy thing to act. It rarely is shown on theater plays too. Aiden, can you cry on cue?" Tayaw said.

"That… That's true. It was indeed heartbreaking to see the lead go through it. And, you're right. I can't cry to save my life." Aiden nodded.

"Hey, I wanna tell you something interesting." Tayaw suddenly said with a smirk on his face, his change of mood catching the attention of Aiden and the audience.

"What's up? That was sudden." Aiden chuckled; his emotions affected by Tayaw's smirk. 

"Basically, all of the actors in my film are not what one would consider actors, in the conventional term. They're either not theater trained, or have had theater training but aren't really acting in plays and film." Tayaw prefaced.

"Oh? How do you mean? You're not saying they're regular people, right?" Aiden was curious once again. 

"nah. Not to that extent. But. The lead and the supporting cast? They were in a comedy troupe before I cast them. They're comedic actors." Tayaw said.

"W-hat? Hah!... Wait.. You're not pulling my leg, are you?" Complicated emotions dawned upon Aiden as he processed the fact that Tayaw dropped. He does not know what to say.

"I'm not. It's probably because of my choice of acting, but stage actors could not process what I want. The comedic actors, I don't know exactly how, but they did the acting I required." Tayaw said. 

"You're actually serious. Wait a minute. That guy? That guy's a comedian?!" Aiden could wrap his head around the fact, nor did the audience.

"Yeap. Well, they're comedy troupe actors, to be exact. The very very disappointed love interest. The very supportive best friend. The sleazy boss. They're all comedic actors." Tayaw nodded, enjoying Aiden's reaction at every revelation. Tayaw looked around the audience too to see their dumbfounded faces. 

"… This... Unbelievable. So, you think comedic actors are better than conventional ones, huh?" Aiden asked.

"Whoah. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that my choice of acting was interpreted by comedic actors better than actual actors. Again. The comedic actors, I don't know exactly why, but they did just as I required of them in the auditions." Tayaw said, trying to brush off Aiden's misunderstanding.

"Okay. Okay.. That was interesting. So, when you make your next film, you would prefer to cast comedic actors again?" Aiden asked.

"Probably. If conventional actors can act what I require of them, then I'd cast them too. But if comedic actors are better suited for me, they're my priority. The lead actor especially, Uranto, I'm pretty sure he's gonna nail his next role." Tayaw shrugged his shoulders. 

"He did well in your film. I want to see him again… Actually, I want to see the actress who played the leading lady more." Aiden jested, half joking and half serious. Iliene after all, while not the best-looking actress around, has a strange charm to her. 

The men in the audience also chuckled at Aiden's comment.

"Hah. You'll have to watch the commercials she's in, for now. I don't know if the stuff she's working on right now will be released internationally, but I hope she does well in that too." Tayaw said. 

"Whatever it is, I'm gonna see it… Anyway. How long did it take you to finish the film? Judging by how detailed your film is, it must have taken a long time, right?" Aiden asked to move on the segment. 

"Yes. Actually, I am…" Tayaw explained some of the intricacies he is comfortable in sharing regarding his production process.

Aiden also asked a few more things about the film before "We'll be back with more Isaac." Aiden ended the segment.