Wow! How bad of a blogger am I? To be honest I have been so absorbed in the research and editing of “The Aswang Phenomenon” that I kind of fell off the radar for a bit. This involved reviewing all my footage, transcribing the interviews for reference purposes, scanning and acquiring permission to use artwork and comic images, and reading the material that I had ordered, bought and been given throughout the process. A special thank you to Gilda Cordero-Fernando who has graciously granted permission to use two of her books “The Aswang Inquiry” and “The Soul Book” as well as one of her stage plays “LUNA: An Aswang Romance”. So after I had compiled and organized all my notes, thoughts and data I started the editing process. I should be holding a test screening soon – I am about a month behind schedule, but the reason being I had 3 animations created by Denver Jackson, who did a brilliant and beautiful job on them. The animations ended up being more work than he had anticipated and the fina results shows the hard work he put into them - and to be honest I was thankful for the extra time. It gave me a chance to improve on a few maps and things I had created in Photoshop and After Effects. All animations cover folk stories regarding the aswang origins. Charlie Armour has provided the music again. This was also a great opportunity to use some of the pieces he submitted for the last film – they didn’t work then, but were perfect for this latest film.
I’ve updated the http://www.aswangmovie.com/ website – it looks so cool with 2 movies regarding a similar subject. It would look even cooler as a trilogy – kidding! (after this film I am finished with the aswang folklore for a loooong time – famous last words). So what’s next? Well I am still working on securing rights for a couple of things, but other than that, I will be working on the EPK for the next while, doing a little tweaking and then promotion!
I will be loading some clips on the website and YouTube soon. Here is the current synopsis.
What would happen if a country of 97 million people were taught at a young age that the boogie man was real? In the Philippines, this isn’t far from the truth. Over the last 400 years, the ‘aswang’ has come to represent everything that is ‘vile, disgusting and evil in Philippine society’. It has become the most controversial, and popular, creature in Philippine Mythology and is the main subject in hundreds of movies, television programs, comics, and books. The aswang can appear in many forms- a young woman, a witch, a large black pig or dog, a corpse stealing ghoul, or the Manananggal – a self segmenting beast with a long hollow tongue that will feed on the fetus of pregnant woman.
Where did this word come from? Why are there so many different types of aswang? Why are they predominantly women? And why is the small Visayan province of Capiz suspected as their home? Jordan Clark (Bangkok Girl) sets out to find the answers. His journey explores folk stories in pre-Spanish Philippines - re-created in animated sequences by Denver Jackson. He uncovers historical tales of social control and black propaganda by Spanish Colonizers, the Catholic Church, the Philippine Administration, and even the CIA - who all used the stories of ‘aswang’ for their own agenda.
The Aswang Phenomenon is the first in-depth documentary regarding the aswang myth - discovering where manifestations of the creature came from and how they evolved and embedded themselves in Filipino society. Learn how Filipinos have been transformed by the myth and are now evolving the aswang to fit into their developing cultural identity.
“Understanding where the ‘aswang’ came from is the first step in taking away its power and the fear it creates.”
