One of the things I was really excited about on this trip was a little side project I had in mind—a short video of my niece Isa practicing Kali, the Filipino martial art. I had talked with her and Grace about incorporating some historical context, particularly how some Filipino warriors used dance as a way to improve their Kali skills.
This was my chance to fully art direct the video—from wardrobe and music to every scene, I had complete creative control to bring my vision to life. I even got into the small details, like designing and ironing on graphics for the fans myself and carefully editing the music to sync perfectly with the dance and Kali movements. I also worked on the title animation for the video. It was such a rewarding process to see everything come together exactly as I imagined.
We planned to film two sequences: one of Isa doing a traditional fan dance and another of her practicing Kali. The morning we shot the dance scene, everything felt almost too perfect—the trees, the fog rolling in, the dreamlike atmosphere. But it was cold—30 degrees—so we had to shoot quickly before Isa froze.
For the Kali portion, we filmed in the evening, just as the golden light hit. The warm tones made everything look incredible, and the whole setting felt cinematic.
Behind the Scenes
Here is some footage from behind the scenes of filming the Kali segment of the video.
Gear I Packed for this Trip:
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 50 L Lens
Manfroto Monopod
Manfroto Gimbal
Peakdesign Backpack
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