Pastillas Girl vs Yaya Dub : A Filmmaker’s Thoughts on Maine Mendoza’s Dubsmash Technique
Well, while we’re on the topic of AlDub and Filipino pop culture. . . as a foreigner with a longtime relationship with the Philippines, I still struggle a bit keeping up what’s going on in Manila, and so just as I was getting comfortable with Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards and all that’s going on with them — my wife Rena came along and told me that people are talking about Pastillas Girl too as a a dubsmash rival to Maine. So I did some googling and checked it out. This motivates me to talk about something I’ve been thinking about as I watched Maine’s videos — her film-making skill and technique.
First of all — take a look at the matchup below, then scroll down and I’ll have some comments about it:
Now . . . Pastillas girl is fine. He dubsmash technique is good; her lipsynch is fine. And I realize this is only one example — so maybe she has others that are more expressive, more impactful.
But basing it just on this sample — why is it that Maine is so much more “alive” and you can “feel it” with her?
Yes, Maine’s face is more expressive. But look a little deeper. See how she practically dances with the camera. All the little (and not so little) camera movements are timed with what she’s saying so that they act like punctuation marks, bold letters, italics — they give emphasis and shape to what she’s doing. It’s not just the movements. Look also at the choice of angles — she’s constantly searching for the right angle for the camera and has a great feel for what conveys the feeling she’s trying to convey. And finally the background — there’s a reasons she does a lot of them in a moving car, or otherwise in motion.
So Maine has four things going: 1. More expressive, 2. Camera moves, 3. Camera angles, and 4. Lively, kinetic background.
Having said that — Pastillas Girl is great and a welcome addition. There’s room for more than one!
But Maine’s the master…..
Just sayin’……
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Yup, Pastillas Girl’s video was not a lip sync. It was her own voice cursing and relating her broken love-life over a pastillas recipe. These two should not even be compared at all as pastillas girl’s video can hardly be called a talent while Maine’s dubsmashing skill combined with her video editing know-how is on the highest level unofficially earning her the title “Dubsmash Queen”.
P.S.
I love your article about the “AlDub Phenomenon” 🙂
Hi Mr. Mike! It’s probably just a slight misunderstanding because of the language used by Angelica aka Pastillas Girl, but what she did was not dubsmash.
She used her actual voice in instructing viewers how to cook pastillas (Filipino sweets). This was viral in the Philippines because of the unusual words she used. I mean, not really rare words, but unusual to be incorporated in a recipe.
The recipe itself is a controversy. There were two Filipinos who claim ownership of the recipe. Miel and Benedict. But based on time stamps, Benedict is the true owner. But in Miel’s version, she used cursed words, and this is the pastillas recipe that Angelica used.
We have a term called “hugot lines”. And this is what piqued the curiosity of the Filipino viewers.
Oh, I’m an AlDub fan, by the way. 😀
And it’s interesting to read your take on Maine’s dubsmash vids, because I realize that you’re right.
You nailed it, Mr. Sellers. I’m not really a basher of Pastillas Girl but like you, I also think that Maine dominates this field. 🙂