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Director Mikhail Red on making his zombie film ‘Block Z’: ‘Perfect siya for the barkada’

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Rhea Manila Santos

As the release date for his latest movie project Block Z draws near, director Mikhail Red said he was happy to be given the chance to do a big budget zombie film. “Mahilig din ako mag-explore ng genre. Dito mas may horror siya pero may adventure thriller elements. May konting humor din kasi siyempre youth film din. Pero feeling ko visual language ang horror eh. Hindi siya masyado nadadaan sa dialogue. Parang concealing and revealing information visually. That’s how you sequence shots, para kang nag-ga-graphic novel pero moving images. So ang sarap niyang practice kasi ako kasi medyo quiet person din ako so yung early films ko walang dialogue masyado and gusto ko yung mga exercises in visual storytelling. Siguro kaya ako nag-gravitate towards horror or thrillers, mga Western na tahimik, na-ke-kuwento mo na at na-e-engage mo yung audience with visuals, ganun,” he said.After working on the film for five months, direk Mikhail said it was also a challenge shooting with a big cast of characters. “Ang challenging siguro sa horror yung pag-motivate ng actors. That’s why I really cast very talented actors kasi imagine niyo pag drama tapos meron kangg argument scene, pag two shot naman yun meron kang two actors in the frame who work off each other. Medyo mahirap sa scheduling kasi para silang Avengers so puro all star so kung meron akong frame na puro artista, ang hirap i-sched (laughs). Interesting yung movie kasi pag mga adventure film, may mga moments na may groups na maghihiwalay sila to split up or may plano. So may mga certain scenes na certain actors lang. Pero yung moments na naka-Avengers lineup sila, yun yung parang every Sunday lang namin nagagawa kasi kumpleto sila. Yun yung mga big moment na may cropping shot, ganun. Ang dami talagang action scenes eh. Pero sa simula chill pa lang yung students. Usually pag day time shinu-shoot namin yung mga class, pag pa-sun down puro attack na. Maganda yung progression ng movie. Parang meron kang barkada setting na movie sa start and then action sa gitna and then sa gabi sa stealth andun na yung finale so kumpleto siya,” he explained.Direk Mikhail also explained the reasoning behind the title Block Z. “Kasi set in a college siya so may block na para siyang sections. Block A yung pinaka matino, Block Z yung pinakakulelat so sila yung underdogs. So even though underdogs sila, they worked together to fight the zombies. Literally, sila yung best barkada ng Block Z. Tapos Z also represents the zombies so na-fi-feel mo na yung genre sa title. Very contained yung film kasi it’s about a zombie outbreak na mangyayari sa isang university. What if it’s a regular day at school and may classes kayo then all of a sudden narinig niyo nag-emergency alarm siren and hindi niyo alam nangyari. Na-suspend yung classes tapos nalaman niyo zombie outbreak na pala. Tapos yung conflict pa, i-ka-quarantine yung school niyo so bawal kayo tumakas. So ano gagawin niyo? Kailangan niyo mag-band together as a block, as one unit. About team work and unity ito. So kung nakikita niyo, parang every archetype ng school barkada represented dito. May jock, may nerd, may mas extroverted na sassy character, may teacher’s pet. And even though everyone has their differences kailangan magtulong-tulong para mag-survive. Perfect siya for the barkada kasi parang you get to pick kung kanino ka nakaka-relate, and then titingnan niyo if you’ll make it out alive, parang ganun.”

‘Block Z’ director Mikhail Red shares the challenges behind the camera in his latest Star Cinema project.