Blog Posts: March 2010
2009: The Year In Cinema
2009 may not have been the greatest year for the country, but based on this 7-minute compilation of clips from 342 films from the past year, the year in cinema wasn’t half bad. I haven’t seen all the movies shown in this montage and can’t quite make a list of my favorites of the year yet, but so far I’d put Inglourious Basterds, Moon, District 9, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, Up, Avatar, and (500) Days of Summer up there!
What were your favorite movies of 2009?
Minimalist TV Show Posters
After the “I Can Read Movies” series made it big on the web (see it here!) a bunch of graphic designers have been making posters and fake book covers for just about everything! Now we get to see what happens when our favorite TV shows get the minimalist poster treatment!
Here’s what this guy has come up with! Some of these are pretty great while others are just confusing, I particularly like The Wire, Dexter and Miami Vice. Can someone explain Mad Men’s???
You can see more and order prints here!
Behind The Scenes: Maria Dolonius
Color! Lots of color! And excitable energy too. That’s what we wanted to convey with this final issue of 2009 and first edition of 2010. With all the crap that happened in the past year, we felt the best way to wrap things up was to give ‘09 a big slap on the face with a celebratory and exuberant themed shoot—and the perfect gal for the job was Maria Dolonius, a bright young thing with as much spunk and determination as sex appeal and an overall joie de vivre .
While the past year has been full of shoots of both the detailed and conceptual kind (Georgina Wilson’s Carnival themed pictorial “Show & Tell” and Pinky Webb’s gumshoe espionage-y “Good Night, and Good Luck”) and moody location type ones (Yciar Castillo in Negros Occidental for “Prelude to a Kiss” and Solenn Heussaff’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” in Bellarocca Resort), we wanted to shake this up and simplify a little by bringing things back to the studio. This time livening up our pages with captivating bursts of enthusiasm and a sense of celebration.
Maria is no stranger to Rogue. She appeared previously in the pages of our May 2008 edition (her half-sister Sanya Smith was our cover girl) in “From Venus with Love,“ a sensual Bond flick inspired shoot that accompanied words by Malek Lopez.
Days before the shoot, Miguel Lugtu and Jay Lara were busy bees painting a portion of our office wall bright orange.
Nante Alingasa’s mastery of beautiful hair was behind Maria’s Valley of the Dolls meets Barbarella do. Make-up artist for Make-Up Forever, Solenn Heussaff totally understood when we said we wanted sexy, doe-eyed 60s lashes.
I’ve always loved Maria’s look. She has that classic bombshell vibe to her. Not pin-up per se but more in line with the sex sirens of the 60s and 70s. Her alluring features and command of the camera remind me of screen siren Ann-Margret…
and Jill St. John as Bond girl Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever.
Maria flaunts a white halter bikini by Charina Sarte worthy of Ursula Andress.
Solenn, fabulous and dedicated in-front of and behind the camera.
A little champagne in the office?! Why not? Miguel Lugtu and the cork tossing game.
Maria looked smoking hot in this purple Charina Sarte number. Add a kitschy zebra and pink bow headband and satin Stella Luna pumps and we’ve got one hell of an outfit. Oh, plus a can of silly string too!
What a coincidence! Found this image of Jane Fonda from her days as Queen of the aerobics videos after the shoot. Miss Fonda rocks my world any day!!!
What’s a New Year’s party without a Neil Barrett tuxedo shirt?
This “Marie” can have her cake…
...and eat it too!
Food Fight!!! Some friendly cake tossing for our cover shoot. This polka-dot mailot by Arlene Sipat for Salsa Trends is perfect for this year-ender/beginner shoot.
What a fun way to end the year! The entire shoot was easy, light, and breezy (save for a little tidying up in the office. READ: Cake, champagne, confetti, and silly string on the floor. Not so easy.)!
For more of Maria bidding adieu to 2009 and an her profile “The Goodbye Girl” by Jade Bernas pick up Rogue’s December-January2010 issue. On newsstands now!
Behind The Scenes: Jessica Yang
*Better late than never! Right?
As proven by August 09’s Alexandra Rocha and April 09’s Yciar Castillo and Dec08-Jan09’s Jasmine Maierhofer before her, we here at Rogue love a fresh face on the cover. I love the feedback and reactions I get like “who’s that?” or even better, “I know her! She looks great!” For November-Art Issue we wanted a model with a particular look—someone tall and leggy and with undeniably gorgeous East Asian features.
Entourage. Bren Sales is Jessica’s hair maestro while stylist Pam Quinones and assistant stylist Myrhh Lao put the finishing touches on this sparkling black number.
Jessica was such a pro but at the same time consistently friendly and jolly.
Head Over Heels? Photographer Mark Nicdao.
Girls Interrupted. Some downtime chit chat in between layouts with Pam Quinones and Make-Up artist Ines Lobregat.
Wardrobe Station!
I loved how these 3-D letters by Dennis Lagdameo were so versatile. Who knew 5 small letters and 1 large “R” could make so many different backgrounds.
Last layout. Pam, Ines, and Bren work on Jessica’s final look.
Gang’s All Here!
I love girls who are completely cooperative and professional. No attitude at all from this Taiwanese beauty. She did whatever it took to get the shot, even climbing up to sit atop the large “R.” Poor girl was completely petrified, and though we canned the shot (sorry Jessica!) we really appreciate the bravery.
Our Cover Shot!
If you haven’t already picked up a copy for Rogue’s November issue you can call the Rogue office for back issues! Look for Sherwin at 894-26-76.
Read more about Jessica Yang in Nicholas Lacson’s clever “obsessive” correspondence-like article!
James Franco: The Gucci Express
This commercial for Gucci by Gucci is pretty run-of-the-mill. Actually, it’s pretty darn boring. In my opinion, a lazy attempt and a tired formula for a men’s fragrance. There are many more “creatively stylish” ways to sell cologne.
And is it just me, but doesn’t the beginning part remind you a bit of the Spider-Man franchise? You know, Harry Osborn’s (Franco’s character) Manhattan penthouse?
The folks at funnyordie.com present this hilarious clip from Franco’s “recording session” for this commercial. Watch and you’ll see what I mean.
I’m sure Franco and the funnyordie guys needed to get some kind f permission from Gucci’s marketing division, but whoever gave the go-signal for this piece of viral-marketing should very well give himself a pat on the back. This spoof practically saved the commercial (and the scent?) from fading into consumer recall oblivion.
Gukki by Gooki available at all leading department stores.
