THREELOGY

August 28th 2011
The NBC Tent

THE PARTY

This, without a doubt, is the biggest 18th birthday party we ever covered. I mean, 800 of the Serranilla’s family and friends came, and anyone lucky enough to pass the bouncers’ scrutiny (joke) get to register in this ticket booth sitting just outside the main hall. (apologies for the crappy iphone pics)

Guests can then either pass by “Zian’s Diner” to get their personalized perfume or …

they can have their pictures taken with this diner serving as the background.

And inside, the FABULOUS stage!

Yup, that’s a Chevy Bel Air parked on the left. Further left is a bar that served just mixed drinks while on the right is another bar which served only San Miguel Premium Malts.

This stage, built by 4th Wall, came with a harness on the right side (covered by black cloth) where Zian swooped down to start the program. Oh, and on the right of the four neon stars is a small stage that goes up and down via hydraulics, which came in handy during their performances.

And the fifteen (or twenty – i lost count) early birds were each given an iPod Shuffle while those who answered correctly in the trivia contests (around twenty five, I think) got either a Nokia phone or a portable DVD player.

The three Stars of the Night brought home LED TVs.

Zian had a number of production numbers and costume changes (on and off the stage) which I considered TV-worthy! And the entire family’s number – FANTASTIC!!!

And I totally agree with hosts Rico Robles and Bianca Valerio, the Serranillas, who are not new to throwing big parties, raised the bar really, really high this time. And this family, they definitely know how to party!

THE VIDEOS

What to do for a 50′s Diner-inspired birthday party?  A 50′s Diner-inspired video, of course.

And with that in mind, the obvious would be to pluck a song from the movie “Grease”, gather some friends, pick up the steps, put on some leather jackets and voila! You have a 50′s Diner-inspired video. But we all kinda agreed that we’ve had enough (with all due respect) of JT and ONJ’s song and dance numbers. Well, it’s still good. But not for this party.

Instead, we turned to one of Zian’s favorite artist – Christina Aguilera, her “Candyman” music video to be exact.  It was the perfect choice.

I had a very simple concept, so simple I listed only four requirements for the shoot:

1. A diner or a place that at least resembles a diner where we can shoot for five hours min. I figured I’ll just cheat with the angles.
2. Costumes for Zian. Two sets max.
3. Back-up dancers. Four to six – guys and girls.
4. And a choreographer. Because I only know how to dougie.

And here’s what Ms. Edna, Zian’s mom, gave me:

1. Johnny Rockets Tomas Morato. Yep, we had the entire place for one whole day. And it was eat-all-you-can! Shakes, fries, hotdogs, coffee, steak sandwiches. Ten pounds easily.
2. Four sets of costume. White, blue, pink and red each similar to what Christina wore in the video. Talk about details.
3. Four professional back-up dancers in military uniform and eleven of Zian’s friends (six ladies and five gents also in proper costume)
4. Del Custodio. One of the best choreographers around.

The vid’s working title was “Candyman” for obvious reasons, but in the end, it’s all about the “Jukebox”.

And the evening kicked off with this video which I shot at the Serranilla’s exquisite house in Ayala, Alabang two nights before the event. Words courtesy of Tisha Rosales.

Coordination: Peaches Go-Tiu
Event Styling: 4th Wall
Program Director: Tisha Rosales of BlueRunner Creatives
Flowers and Details: Teddy Manuel
Food: K by Cunanan