The special effects man behind Shrek The Musical

MANILA, Philippines - His name readily rings a bell to filmmakers and actors who have worked with him. Benny Batoctoy certainly sounds familiar to enthusiasts of local horror movies who have witnessed his frightening prosthetics, scary props, creative costumes, visual effects and memorable characters on the big screen.

Benny occupies a prominent echelon in the local film credits, particularly in the horror and suspense genre. Since the early ‘90s, he has created hideous and frightening characters that scared and terrified moviegoers — from monsters and ghouls to local underworld creatures like aswang, tiyanak, manananggal and tikbalang.

Benny’s local film journey started in 1983, when he was given an opportunity to become a member of the art department as assistant props man/set man in director Peque Gallaga’s project, Virgin Forest. That led Benny to work in more films, including the first Shake, Rattle & Roll.

In 1986, Benny worked in the fantasy flick, Once Upon a Time and prosthetics expert Maurice Carvajal joined the production, where the latter did some creatures and prosthetics. “I was very inspired by Maurice’s work and began to realize a clearer direction,” Benny shares.

Benny’s team created the challenging task of doing the make-up, prosthetics, costumes and special effects in Shrek, The Musical, mounted by Atlantis Productions

More film projects followed where Benny worked in the art department, “building sets, aging costumes, mixing plaster of Paris, hanging curtains, even arranging flowers and making props, dummies for explosions, sculptures and fake blood by the bucket.”

In 1989, through the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Benny received a scholarship grant from the British Broadcasting Council (BBC) for a study visit and work experience with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School props department. “There, I gained experience working with special effects companies, doing projects for TV commercials and visiting prop workshops in London,” Benny discloses.

He readily names director Peque as the top filmmaker whom he admires. “It’s always an honor to be part of his film projects,” Benny says proudly. “On the set, there was always an atmosphere of professionalism, dignity and respect for everyone involved, great and small. It’s a beautiful environment for learning and growth.”

Benny also cites the late Maurice. “He introduced the Hollywood standard of quality creature effects and prosthetics into our local film industry.”

To date, Benny has put up Mountain Rock Productions, which employs workers who are knowledgeable in the work that he started — producing props, costumes, creature effects, prosthetics for film, stage plays, dance productions, TV, exhibits, festivals and events.

His team created the challenging task of doing the make-up, prosthetics, costumes and special effects in Shrek, The Musical, mounted by Atlantis Productions. The play, directed by Bobby Garcia, will have a re-run from Dec. 26 to Jan. 4 at the Meralco Theater.

Initially, the task proved daunting for Benny and his team who were not sure if it was possible. But they admirably pulled it off, including making and applying prosthetics on Shrek (played by Rycharde Everley) on a daily basis.

“Doing a full head prosthetic appliance on an actor on a daily basis was very demanding and challenging for both the actor and the prosthetic artist, especially on a stage performance,” Benny relates.

The team also customized Farquaad’s strap on short legs with matching boots, refurbished a fiberglass horse for Farquaad to ride with a false armored leg fixed onto one side, customized an egg costume and created a dragon on live stage.

“To create a massive dragon that would perform onstage was tough because of its size and we had never done anything like that before,” Benny attests. “Creation on the dragon involved around seven people, constructing and deconstructing the skeleton to reduce the weight, aiming to achieve fluidity of body movement.”

Benny’s colleague, Erwin Perigrino, executed the design for the overall look of the dragon completed in just six weeks. He came up with this 24-inch long and about 10-foot high, lovable looking dragon that could roar, flap its wings, blink its eyelids, float onstage and yes, sing.

 “We had to keep the mechanism light and as easy as possible for the actor-puppeteers to operate so the dragon could perform on stage,” Benny explains. “The wings and head mechanism were done with a lot of trial and error.”

Even for the Shrek character, making Rycharde look like the behemoth but lovable ogre was not easy for veteran prosthetic artist Rene Abelardo and airbrush artist Michael Bambalan. They painstakingly did their work before and during every performance. Thankfully, Rycharde was a pleasure to work with.

Overall, Benny was pleased with the work of his entire team in Shrek The Musical. “We are very grateful for the opportunity of being part of the magic of theater,” Benny admits. “Our aim is to always deliver the best we can. Shrek was tough and looked impossible to begin with, but we surprised ourselves. Shrek proved to us that even bigger things could happen on stage.”