“ Ang iyong yakap At halik ang lunas
Simulang subukang
Muling buksan ang iyong puso ”
— Pre Chorus lines from the song “Di’ Na Babalik” by Leanne & Naara
This piece is a looping lyric video for Leanne & Naara’s song “Di’ Na Babalik”— A heartfelt song of nostalgia, and agony of waiting and at the same time acceptance of a time / life / person/ a memory we keep coming back to that won’t return and that we won’t be able to live anymore.
Di’ Na Babalik
“ ‘Di na Babalik” official lyric video by Leanne and Naara
Client
Leanne & Naara
Production
Nowy Aratan
Role
Art and Animation Director
Styleframes
The setting in my illustration poses a general theme of ambiguity. The main character is deliberately fluid in appearance and we couldn’t seem to witness them cross the pedestrian and whether or not they plan to or is waiting for something. Is the character on their way home or leaving home?
In creating the scene, I tapped into a nostalgic memory when I was starting my career. As a former “Makatizen” (what we call people who live in the area of Makati City in Metro Manila, Philippines) I had passed through this crossing a thousand times where Don Bosco School, Makati Cinema Square, Nihonbashitei, and The Columns Legazpi stand. I had made memories there, made friends, fell on my penny board and walked in nonchalant to work as if my knees didn’t just take a bruising. I walked through those streets full of hope, dreams, angst and grit of trying to prove myself. Although it wasn’t real-life-location-accurate, the convenience store is a bit of a touch remembering all those late nights too where my officemates and I would buy our overtime food which were mostly the times we’d bonded. And that represented what “ ‘Di Na Babalik” meant for me— A time when I had been trying to make something of myself.
Thankfully Leanne and Naara related to this scene too.
