Taking A Courageous Step: A Successful Trip To Davao Del Sur

If you guys have been following my articles about my music endeavor, I have shared quite a few of information about the next step we are taking in.

Supposedly, this was scheduled around March this year but certain things happened unexpectedly and so we had to sort things out first. Gladly, it became a blessing in disguise too for us to brainstorm and prepare more for the music video shoot.

Yup, we are going to shoot a music video of the first song we will launch on our Youtube channel soon. It's a Bisaya song written by Gifter and it portrays a strong message of appreciating what true beauty is. The song is entitled "Panagway" which translates as "Mukha" in Tagalog, and "Face" in English.

He already had a screenplay for this song before though with his former band but unfortunately, unexpected and untimely circumstances did not allow it to happen. And so now, making his comeback and taking another shot at this, we made sure that everything goes out extraordinary.

We wrote the screenplay with timestamps on every lyric to fully convey the message of the song. We had everything prepared, from the characters, their outfits, props, location, and everything in between.

July 21st

Gifter had to travel first and prepare everything for our shoot to be successful. We are set to shoot on the 26th, that's the only vacant day his brother, our videographer, is available. So we had to maximize this opportunity and as much as possible prevent any situation to stop us.

Gifter told me that there were minimal challenges but he made it through and handled them well. He looked around Davao city for our little fairy's wand and mask. He sent me this:

Everything and everyone is ready for the shoot already. We had to double-check everything to see if nothing gets left behind. Kudos to Gifter's girlfriend too and his friends who helped the team for making things happen.

July 25th

The day before I was scheduled to travel to Davao, I made sure that everything is intact and well-prepared. As a person who's organized, it's not really an issue for me. You can rely me on for that.

I had to extend my gratitude as well to mom, I got this from her, and not just that, she stayed in the house to keep my grandma company while I'm away. I am extremely happy to see how supportive she is of me in this endeavor.

I was able to ride the bus at around 12:30 pm. The trip is 6 hours long so I expected that I'll arrive at around 6 pm. I'm thankful as well for not having issues with traveling like getting dizzy or nauseous. For sure it's gonna take away the excitement.

I arrived safely and had dinner at Gifter's girlfriend's boarding house. She prepared dinner because it was Gifter's birthday too! Happy birthday, bro! We had fun talking while eating. They are nice people. They accommodated me so well. I'm super thankful for them taking care of me while staying.

After dinner, we ran through the screenplay for a refresher to arrange the sequences of how the shoot will go. Then, I slept. I did not have enough good quality sleep because of the weather. Although I still managed to sleep for 5 hours.

July 26th

Shoot day! We targeted to leave the house at 6 am but Gifter had some issues locating the flower shop he'll get the bouquet from. We ate our breakfast first and made sure our stomachs are fed.

It took an hour for us to reach Sta. Cruz, a town in Davao Del Sur where we'll meet our 2 casts, Joross and Sandara. These kids are Gifter's students back when he taught them in their church as a band.

It was nice to meet them. They're both good-looking. Joross seemed to be a kind and hardworking guy. Sandara is a sweet and bubbly girl. Aira was with us too, the younger sister of Gifter's friend. She traveled with us from Davao.

We then went to Digos City, where the location was and there I met Gifter's younger brother, Gideon, our videographer, and Nicole, Gifter's niece, whom I met once in Bukidnon when they accompanied Gifter traveled back in January.

We started shooting as soon as Gideon arrived. I can see how professional he is in his craft. He was very specific with the angles, lighting, and everything.

Here are some of the behind-the-scenes photos I took:

It was an exhausting but fulfilling day for us. Finally, we made it happen! Gifter looked forward so much to this day to happen and I can imagine how traumatic it was for him to think of what could possibly stop us from being successful in this.

The shoot ended at around 5 pm. We arrived at Davao around 7 pm because of traffic and the waiting period for a bus to arrive. We then ate our dinner cooked by Roxan, Gifter's girlfriend. She cooked us delicious food. Then I went to bed. I'm glad I slept well. The next morning, I traveled back home. Sunny jumped for joy as soon as she saw me finally arrived.

Thanks for reading.

Keep safe everyone!