‘ALIMUOM’ Set Visit: Up Close And Personal With Keith Sicat

Written by Mico Orda and Angelo Delos Trinos.

“Hands on” would be sum up Keith Sicat. Watching him from afar directing his actors articulating the scene in a green screen patiently and meticulously and along with set dressers, production staff prepping the sets and props, he approaches them and up their morale, and in a hectic shoot, exchanging of jokes with grip and camera crew, all of these I mentioned shows his appreciation for his team, and that’s a director who loves his craft and team, and welcomes everyone on set with a smile!

We arrived on time (thankfully), preparing our gear to shoot some behind-the-scenes of his latest film, Alimuom, a TOFARM Entry this month: the art department and set dressers going on crunch time on its final day of shoot , just arrived straight from Pampanga, the crew and director Keith greeted us with a warm smile as if he’s not exhausted, we waited for the crew to settle down for a couple of minutes.

We entered the UPFI studio, and saw the crew setting up the elaborate, futuristic set pieces arranged in different areas: the set dressers, art department and construction personnel rigged the sets carefully in a graceful manner albeit the tight schedule, they welcomed us with gracefully.

Keith, eagerly welcomed us, gave us a walkthrough of the which he gave us the details of such an elaborate set: “interrogation room”, “bath” where the scientists are working on various experiments on various species that can survive in a harsh environment, he also mentioned that some of his crew are at LRT Anonas station shooting footage for an extension of the miniatures which will be also shot at the studio later on along with the other buildings that he alluded on real life infrastructures and the plot parallels to some familiar as Ina Feleo, the lead actress says it’s not “far from reality” and by all mean, we can expect a familiarity in places we’ve seen.

On plot details, while Keith gave us plot details, Ina is tight lipped. It all started when she received a message on Facebook from the director, offering a lead role in a sci-fi film since she’s been wanting to do something different on her career and that project calls to her: Keith’s visuals, pegs and concept for the story is made her sign up for the film and also notes his wife, Sari is very keen on costume details.

And having a sci-fi story is without a bar scene, Keith pulls his iPhone, and showed us a photos a steampunk themed bar that lit with green, red and blue and to make it feel as out there, casting American and Russian extras on that scene that screams diversity which we can argue it’s a Sci-Fi staple in any medium.

In front of the set pieces, a massive green screen is attached, nearly as big as a cinema screen where the VFX shots are being filmed along with the miniatures: some walk-in scenes in between with funky, retro out-of-this-world designs that resembles those crazy high fashion pieces.

At first we thought the miniatures are there for nostalgia sake but it’s to add texture and minimize the computer effects work given that they have a tight schedule, and other than futuristic buildings, we also saw cave or cavern and here’s what Keith has to say about it:

“They knew how they find it viable kasi how the rebels are surviving so dapat ang odds of the biodome super toxic, kung toxic ang biodome, it’s even worse outside, so consultant si Ina (the lead actress) and as we go along, we realize that’s she’s aware na..actually para silang mga black ops so yon.”

Filming on location, practical props, some old school electronics such as television goes beyond nostalgia, like his film set in the future, what makes Alimuom exciting it shapes to be a social commentary, and sci-fi film that reinvents the genre where ever growing filmmaking technology and computer effects that feels real, modern at the same time the familiarity of  bringing in these real sets and props is also celebrating filmmaking: creating a world where the audience give an escapist feel and at the same time innovating the way we make movies that are fresh, new yet familiar. It’s about bringing the unexpected and opens a room for discourse.

You can catch Alimuom and other entries at ToFarm Film Festival from September 12-18, 2018 at Trinoma, Gateway, Greenbelt 1, Robinsons Galleria, SM Megamall, SM Manila, Gaisano Davao, and Ayala Legazpi.