Korean model Jinri Park, whose photo as the X-Men’s psychic ninja, Psylocke, is now iconic, can attest to his dedication to detail.
“My pose [in the photo] may look easy,” she said, “But I was wearing I don’t know how many inches of heels"—she holds up her fingers—"this high! Also, the Psylocke bikini cut was pretty high and it was really showing my butt. Jay’s a perfectionist and he really didn’t want me to move. So it was like: move your arm to the right, oops too much. No, left! So I bring it back. And I have to stay like that until he gets the shot. I couldn’t move!”
All her hard work with Tablante and his crew did pay off handsomely in the end, with her portrayal of Psylocke bringing her to the attention of European geeks who flew her to Italy for a cosplay convention last year.
“I love how Psylocke turned out, even though I almost died after the shoot,” she laughed, and illustrated how her legs were quivering after holding a pose for so long. “My legs were shaking uncontrollably and I’m not even kidding. I couldn’t walk!”
Cosplay for a cause
Tablante's new book, Geekology 101, puts a variety of Kapuso stars under the same exacting direction, and it’s all for the fans.
“I want people to believe, for a moment, that superheroes can be real,” wrote Tablante in the book’s introduction.
Diana Menezes casts a spell as the Black Queen.
In Geekology 101, GMA Kapuso celebrities like Daiana Menezes, Bubbles Paraiso, Rhian Ramos, Bianca King, and Solenn Heussaff pose alongside local cosplayers Maria Dolonius and Alodia Gosiengfiao, and famed American cosplayers Yaya Han, Riki Lecotey, Megan Marie, and Marie Claude Bourbonnais.
Tablante and his crew were lucky enough to hook up with the Americans (one of them a production designer for the movie “X-Men: 1st Class”) when they attended the New York City Comic Con last year. Many of his photos from America have since been noticed by Marvel’s management and been featured on their official website.
The book itself is a sumptuous collection of photos that is a geek boy’s wet dream—especially since Tablante’s specialty is shooting women in various states of undress for local men’s magazines.
Gosiengfiao balances atop a bar posing as Arisia of the Green Lantern Corps; the Mad Hatter, Alice, and the Cheshire Cat play at cards while gulping down beer in an inspired tableau; Brazilian model Menezes brings black magic to life as the Black Queen; King dons fishnets and a top hat as DC Comics’ Zatanna; Ramos flies high as X-Men’s southern belle Rogue.
“I have a planned Cyclops shoot with [GMA Kapuso star] Dingdong Dantes,” exclaimed Tablante, when a geek girl commented on the dearth of men in his cosplay photos (only Paolo Paraiso as Gambit figures in the book). “But guy cosplays are [a] double standard. It’s either you have it or you don’t! Look at the comic book guys. They’re all big and muscular. Whereas women are pretty flexible with that: a little make-up here, designing the costume to hide flaws, and you’re all good.”
At the Geekology 101 launch at National Bookstore Greenhills—with Iron Man and War Machine and a bunch of other characters from comics traipsing or trudging around—Tablante stressed that the book is the product of a collaboration among creative artists, and not just the work of one man. “This is not just my book,” he said. “This is a compilation of all those creative who put their effort into creating these images, helping out and putting everything together. I was just the one crazy enough to put it in a book!”
Tablante has also made the choice not to profit from his work in this area. "I’ve never made money from [shooting] cosplay. Never did," he said.
All of his royalties for Geekology 101 will go to Canon's Print for Smiles campaign for Operation Smile.
Adventures in cosplay
Shorthand for “costume play,” cosplay takes the fun of dressing up for Halloween and the seriousness a production designer feels towards his craft to create a hobby that has become a pop culture phenomenon.
It enables people to behold—and become—their favorite heroes and villains, even for just a little while.
Cosplayer Alodia Gosengfiao is a vision in green as Arisia.
For Tablante and his crew, the job is not about snaphots on the convention floor. Cosplay photography is where the professionals come in, with photographers collaborating with the best models and cosplayers to immortalize renditions of popular characters for posterity, not as mere keepsakes, but on the same level as a fine art print.
Tablante himself is an upbeat guy who has an aura of a perennial college student about him. The first comic he ever bought was one of Marvel’s “Uncanny X-Men” in grade school, but now that he’s one of the most sought-after commercial photographers in the business, he’s since parlayed his skill into his geek passion.
For future cosplay shoots Tablante wants his fans to watch out for a Lady Deathstrike and a Voltes V series complete with a Lander V and Camp Big Falcon.
Both will feature Korean model Park, in the role of Voltes V’s Jamie Robinson. He will also continue to shoot gravure books. — BM, GMA News
Geekology 101 (NBS Publishing) is available at all National Book Store outlets at P345. All proceeds will go to Operation Smile care of Canon’s Print for Smile program.
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