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Their enthusiasm is infectious when it comes to talking about their newest GMA primetime project, Atlantika.
Their enthusiasm is infectious when it comes to talking about their newest GMA primetime project, Atlantika. But just what is it about this telefantasya that makes it so special? The best persons to talk about this are no other than the directors themselves, so listen up, Kapuso! “Well, the basic concept of the show revolves around these three girls, and one of them is the heir apparent to the throne of Atlantika. When the show begins, and as it’s running, -- as the three girls grow up -- you don’t know which one of them is really the queen. Some of them have powers, some of them can breathe underwater, a couple of them are mutants, and one of them has a love affair with a royal Atlantikan, which is played by Dingdong,” says direk Mike Tuviera, who has been co-directing Mars Ravelo’s Captain Barbell with direk Dominic Zapata. The Atlantikans (those who reside in Atlantika) are of royal lineage. This means that they have gills, webbed feet, and the skill to breathe underwater. As a result, the entire Atlantikan cast had to study scuba diving, and are, in fact, mostly certified divers already! The directors share that Dingdong Dantes (Aquano) had to learn how to “free dive,” or diving really deep without any scuba equipment. Ideally, he should be able to go as deep as 25 to 30 feet without oxygen! Direk Mark Reyes imparts that Dingdong actually had a fear of the water. “He does. And it showed in the first day that we tried it. The first few times, there was fear that set in, but he was able to pull it off. So I’m very proud of him, he was able to pull it off.” Direk Mark has already worked with Dingdong Dantes and Iza Calzado in various projects such as the Encantadia saga, Eternity and Moments of Love. For this telefantasya, complications arise in terms of safety issues. Direk Mark shares, “We were shooting in the open sea with Dingdong, (and) there was an abundance of safety divers, but that was during the rainy season, so that’s the worst time to put up a show like this. But we have no choice but to do it. The complication, I guess, is making sure that the kids are all right, and anybody else. But we had the training, all my main staff, they’re all certified divers.” Although Atlantika borrowed the concept of the lost world of Atlantis, headwriter Jun Lana, who was recently inducted to the Palanca Hall of Fame, already incorporated his own magic into the script. “I think that’s what lends it life in this version,” says Direk Mike. “Because instead of just being this lost world, it’s peopled by actual, real, living characters. You have, for example, Dingdong, who’s a protector. He grows up to be kind of like a secret service. He makes it his life’s mission to defend the queen, who undergoes a threat from someone who wants to take over the throne. There’s heart; there’s drama in it. So instead of just being the idea of some lost island of Atlantis somewhere, this is an actual world where people exist, and people interact, and there’s drama, and there’s sadness, and there’s happiness, and all that. Just the idea of somewhere out there, somewhere under the ocean, there’s this world…That’s what they borrowed, and everything else, they came up with themselves.” One of the new concepts incorporated in the story are the “Luli” and Polaris. “Luli” is actually the name of an island that falls (“lubog”) and rises (“litaw”) once a month. “The fishermen (and) the townsfolk talk about it like it’s a mystical island because it appears, then it disappears. Unbeknownst to people, the true reason, (and) the true nature of the island is that’s where the Polaris is brought. The Polaris is the power source, the power generator for Atlantika. So whenever that island comes up, the Centurions (soldiers) bring the Polaris to that island,” says Direk Mike. He continues, “(The Polaris) is the power source. That’s like their battery. It’s a structure. It has an alien structure to it, but it’s a big structure that they place there, and then I think overnight, it absorbs the energy, and that’s when they bring it back down. The problem is that’s the one time outsiders could get a glimpse of an Atlantikan. And that’s how things get hairy.” -- Text by Jillian Q. Gatcheco. Photos by Mitch S. Mauricio. Catch Atlantika’s nationwide premiere tonight, October 2, right after Mars Ravelo's Captain Barbell! For more interesting behind-the-scenes trivia, visit www.igma.tv this Wednesday for PART 2 of this report!