One Year at Film School

Wednesday, June 05, 2019

It gets harder

and harder.

I have been longing to write this but I had to wait for my grades before finally claiming that -

TL;DR I survived my first year at the University of the Philippines.

Yes. I guess grades do measure something. We cannot deny that, can we? For a time, I really wanted to be GC (grade conscious). I thought I was, but being one demands more discipline which I realized I didn't have or am yet to have. I'm saying this in comparison with the "truly GC isko" who gets sad at 1.25 because s/he knows flat 1 is attainable. Nothing is wrong about that though for Excellence is the goal.

I supposed my first semester was just a "free trial" because the second semester became the true deal. By that, I meant major being truly majors and GE being more demanding as time progresses. Everything is still fun as it is challenging, especially being in film school.

The UP Film Institute of the premiere state university is the only internationally-accredited academic institution in the country offering film courses for both undergraduate and master’s degrees. (UPFI)

"University of the Philippines Film Institute - At the forefront of Filipino film education, practice, and scholarship"

Photo from UPFI official website http://filminstitute.upd.edu.ph

So privileged to be in UPFI that I almost always feel small. For one, I am honestly yet to fully optimize my stay in the college, let alone in the university. My one year at film school has already made me realize what the industry has to offer, the challenges it has faced and is still facing, and the path it's taken; and I know the following years will open my eyes more. Having already taken 4 major course subjects, I am still thrilled to learn more about what film has to offer.

FILM 100 - Introduction to Film had me reading an e-book where I should learn the universal film language and terms. From a brief history to contemporary film examples, the fundamentals are always a lot to absorb. Motifs and parallels, mood and tones, framing and composition, angles and lighting, sound and score, and ultimately the mise-en-scene have to be accounted for in "reading" a film. I only used to watch films, now I am taught how to read them.

I am also introduced to film analysis where frameworks are necessary in order to structurally view, evaluate, and critique, say, the film narrative or visual, the film themes and contexts, or even the filmmaker's background and previous works. Here come film theories which I am honestly surprised of, but let me talk more about it when I finally take its respective class FILM 171 - Film Theory and Criticism soon.

A 5-minuter short film and a film journal (will blog my entries soon!) were the final requirements for this class.

The Creative team and Actors

@UPD Oval

FILM 110 - Basic Photography was the most challenging so far among my majors. Practically challenging - technically and financially. Why? It is black and white...and quite expensive. Yes. Using an analog SLR camera and B&W film rolls gave me an antique experience - not to mention the meticulous process of developing film negatives into a print.

This class is field work, an application of a very brief lecture about photography which taught me the intricacies of aperture, depth of field, shutter speed, and exposure among others. Although very technical, it definitely tests your artistic side and your eye, not to mention your thriftiness because you have to consider the limited number of shots you could take per roll and cost of each photo paper you have to consume in printing. 110 truly disciplined me and I think that is its ultimate goal - to pause from the tasteless and lazy digital style that conveniently penetrated the photography of today.

6-print and 8-print critique were the requirements for this class.

First Critique - good concept but bad prints. A nerve-racking experience.

Final Critique - that smile reflects the feedback of another nerve-racking critique.

SCAM: This one's taken on a smartphone! HAHAHAHA

Actual Critique - prints taped inside the photo studio while the professor goes around and gives her feedback

Some contact print and wasted print

A rare image of the photo lab because it is usually dark. #Dormers cramming our prints for tomorrow's critique.
Also, this is where the MAGIC happens!

Drying out negatives and prints

FILM 101 - Introduction to Film Production was the real deal. From theory to practice, this class taught me the overview of producing a film - from pre-production, principal photography, to post-production. It was a good exercise but not as much extensive. I guess it only aimed to immerse students with the key aspects of film prod while developing one's social and working relationship with others as it totally did.

From conceptualization to scriptwriting, from storyboards to motion picture, and from camera lens to rendering settings, this class touches the ideal processes of the stages of film production. The short film as a final requirement had its own screening in our film studio which finally legitimizes the filmmaking that we practiced- as it is projected, showed, and watched in the big screen.

This class is a prerequisite to, if not all, almost every higher film class. It was also challenging, sure, because damn we were indeed shooting a film, we planned for it, and we spent time, money, and brain cells to produce it.

First exercise: Photo Narrative

Photo Narrative - Title: "Ranggo" an unfortunate misjudgment between a businessman and a worker

Photo Narrative - What a great exercise to tell a story through still photos

Second exercise - Documentary

City Symphony; Loc: EDSA

BTS

With my team for the whole semester (Enzo Reyes and CJ Reyes)

Final Exercise - Short Film

Storyboarding

Principal Photography: Title "Reversed"

Me as the DOP, CJ as Director/Writer, Enzo as PD/AsstDir - both of them as actors too.

I'm having difficulty attaching our output here in my blog. I'm sorry I couldn't share it with you for now.

FILM 102 - History of Philippine Cinema was clearly enlightening. The state of the industry, early beginnings, consequent boom and bust were tackled in this class. Having a professor that is his own reference for he is one of the prominent film historians in the country was an honor to be grateful for. Imagine reading class readings and finding they are excerpts from the works of your professor himself.

A lot of discourses were welcomed, stipulated, and analyzed. I learned that film was never native and only 'indigenized' after around two decades since its introduction (1897) to the country. The progression from pre-war (1917-1941) to the aggression of postwar (1946 to contemporary) have shaped the industry into an imitating-Hollywood cinema, trying to build its own legitimate identity. Despite the colonial influences, our national cinema has had its golden times which highlighted the local artistry, political interest, cinematic innovation, and international recognition of Filipino films.

Before this becomes scholarly, I just want to point out the significance of history not only in cinema but also just about in everything. Sure, it might be boring and too academic but studying history helps you find the path that you must/should/need/have/ to take in order to improve, change, or sustain the status quo.

A research paper and tiny periaktoi served as the final requirement of this class. The latter being the visual representation of the written former.

BTS of the creation of my periaktoi

First section: Title: "Golden Times of Philippine Cinema"

Second section: The perceived golden times in the history of PH cinema

A symbol and impetus: a FAMAS inspired trophy with a golden ribbon and a snapshot of Genghis Khan (1950) which prompted the golden decade of the 50s

Our professor giving closing remarks before dismissing us

@Prof's office where primary and secondary historical sources are stored. Others he got from different parts of the world.

A German guest - a visiting scholar talked about Jose Nepomuceno, the father of PH cinema.

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Honestly, I still feel dreamy at times that I'm actually studying film and studying it in UP. They say it is a luxurious course; well it is. Though I don't have that much material luxury, I think I have other luxuries to spare. I may be distant with some of my batchmates because they really came from different societal classes and backgrounds which I have to understand and try to work with.

I personally feel that we are special as our batch arrived coincidentally with the centennial anniversary of cinema in the Philippines. (1917 is when the first Filipino film company was established - Malayan Movies; 1919 is the year when the first Filipino movie was produced - Dalagang Bukid/Country Maiden.)

My one year at film school has instilled the idea of "you will never make an original idea but original film."
My one year at film school has produced at least 25,000 words of written outputs (from research and term papers to reaction and position papers) and 2 short films.

KITA KITA! Spring films 10th anniversary

My one year at film school has let me personally watch, meet and talk, even take pictures with the people of the industry from filmmakers to actors in the likes of Director Chito Roño, Mike de Leon, Joyce Bernal, Antoinette Jadaone, Elvert Bañares, Dwein Baltazar, and James Mayo, Writer Roy Iglesias, Clodualdo Del Mundo, Rod Marmol, and Rody Vera, Book and Poster Designer Karl Castro, Veteran Actors like Joel Torre, Ronnie Lazaro, Eugene Domingo, and Tony Mabesa, including Ina Raymundo, Alex Medina, Piolo Pascual, and Kristine Reyes (and much more celebrities and artists) - let alone the powerful UPFI faculty that has also significantly contributed to the industry (co-founder and members of Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, Indie filmmakers, film historians and critics).

Kape't Pelikula - cool film seminar hosted by UP CAST - guest speaker Alberto “Treb” Monteras II, Jewel Maranan

My one year at film school has made me spend several movie tickets, attend free local and international movie premieres at Cine Adarna, avail advance screenings, rewatch Filipino classics, participate to free film lectures and talks.

Collected film tix

My one year at film school has turned watching films into reading them, every experience I gain, good or bad, into a story, and meeting people into inspirations. A lot could happen in a year; A lot could likewise not change in a year too. I'm still skinny. I just moved to the first square, I guess, for finishing the first year. My speech is still struggling. My GWA stays at the line of 1. I still don't have a beep card but a Watsons. HAHAHAHA!

I haven't read in life as much as I do now in college.

I wasn't a reader. I couldn't even draw. I have stopped writing personally. I couldn't take the editing job because my groupmate's device is obviously better and more efficient. I couldn't even speak. I did cram. I sleep after working til 1 am, run to my Friday morning class and finally take a bath after the period, eat my favorite pasta before going to the library, wait for the rain to stop because I just broke my umbrella and lost the new one, brave the rain because I'm hungry and sad and mad for losing the debate, get sick, indulge myself with fruit shakes, buy nuts and spill them in my pockets, leave dorm at the morning, travel, choose which side of the bus to occupy, and reach home at night, return on Monday and shop for my weekly supply, wake up late and sleep late. I go on dates at times, try places, violate curfew, drink one time, dare outdoor hook-ups, post on Overheard, respond to a toxic comment, and witness protests.

Writing has been a challenge, now it has become my comfort zone.

Combination of boring and interesting, my experiences keep exciting and worrying me for I'm starting to think that I'm not doing more. I should have read more, tried more, and applied more. Acknowledging is a good thing, but acting upon these conditions is another confrontation.

Bus terminal and its long line of passengers

Getting an UNO is great, but getting the grade you think you deserve is better. Conversely, getting less is not. Having classes with the traditional method of banking education where students have to store loads of information for the teacher to assess is bearable. It just tests the memory, and right after you pass the precious blue book, you could feel how knowledge is freed instantly as it is no longer contained. Then there are classes with no exams at all; the only assessment would be a submission of a couple of papers - usually research and reaction, and these are the classes which you understand fully and which lessons you remember by heart.

I eventually realized that U.P. is indeed imperfect. To be fair, it can be perfect but won't. It almost is but isn't.

I thought I knew what quality education means (which school promotion has overused), then I entered UP and learned what it truly means. All this time, you could have one for free after all. How badly I wish, if not all, more Filipinos can access what I have. If only that is the case, we sure will progress as a nation with respect to arts and sciences, with love to culture and tradition, with nationalism and patriotism. This is not to exclude UP as the only one who eyes for that because as one of my professors claim,

Madaming corrupt ang galing sa UP.

(That statement is damn intriguing and interesting which deserves a separate discourse. I'm sorry but let me save it for next time and just leave it to you for now!)

As I have mentioned in my previous blog/s, everything becomes political because everything is indeed political. From language to film, the exposure I have so far has opened my mind to things I never thought politically. The university will teach you to be "open-minded yet principled".

It is true that radicals exist inside but it is not true that everyone is.

Now that I started this with my one-year experiences at Film school, let me end this with my one-year experiences at the University for I wasn't always boxed in my college throughout my first year.

My one year at the university made me realize that U.P. is a place "where insurgency is a compliment," but hey, it doesn't teach its students to be rebels, it only exposes them to the terrifying reality.
My one year at the university made me cautious with the professors I choose for they are as diverse as the students. Some may break or fix you. For one, you can personally ask for feedback to your performance.
My one year at the university made me visit more buildings and realize the ones I will never [Hello, science buildings!].
My one year at the university made me see cars I've never seen before, eat food I've never eaten, and go places I've never visited.
My one year at the university made me a "suki" to a handful of shops around the campus. Just imagine the perks one can get - from good service to name recall.
My one year at the university made me grateful for the fellow students I got to meet and work with as they are all brilliant. Some may have low self-esteem but their ideas and works disprove their lowliness because Honor and Excellence are both exhibited in their inputs and outputs. Ultimately, your fellow isko wish you best and give you good lucks when you have exams and presentations. You can truly feel the support because they know the feeling. You share the feeling of studying in UP.
My one year at the university made me understand why non-UP people commonly think that UP people only know how to criticize people and ideas but do not know how to give solutions or answers. It is because of

1. Recognition is often not mainstream. (Although I don't think UP is by default 'great' which might make accomplishments 'normal' so there is nothing new to make it to the news.)
2. UP has actually less talk but more actions (little do the mass knows as they only consider the 'talk' part; NOW see the international ranking and recognition of UP; see its efforts in preserving the environment, establishing stronger institutions, helping the marginalized, and so much more that remains in the periphery of the public eye and ears.
3. The government which funds the state university only partially support the system and its innovations. Lots of fields remain underfunded and unprioritized, other departments are still seeking for upgrade and support. Despite these, UP keeps being progressive and insatiable for improvements which significantly contributed to our nation's estate and state over its history. However, how sad it is to discover that there are still solutions and answers that the University has to offer for the nation's problems which are often unsupported, if not totally disregarded, by the same nation it's trying to develop.

General Education (GE) is fun, not only it is crucial but also necessary to form a well-oriented individual who can talk about anything under the sun and see through things. They say it's a UP brand, but is it? One certain professor usually expressed her disgust on our generation for she thinks that we care less about the world now. It's painful but there's a truth in it, isn't there? The University can only produce and turn much of our generation. How about the majority of the populace?

To those who are reading this and tried to reach this far, may we serve our own social justice by working not only for ourselves. Yes, I used the word "work" because this nation is a work in progress, ain't it? Work not to be slaves but to be a worker of progress. Study what we have to study and let us serve well after. It is our duty to mind the problems of the world. If you think otherwise, then the status quo has successfully kept you from seeing reality.

Let us not get intimidated by the intellectuals for not all of them are radicals.

Hence, don't be too afraid to be radical. If you don't like the label, keep being progressive.

Remember activism has several forms. I personally don't always agree with some of my fellow isko's stance on issues and it is all right! What's not all right is tolerance of immorality. But then again, what is moral?

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Idealism may peak at this age. If that is the case, then it is so sad why adults have lost it. Truly they failed, so why would we?

I'm studying film and hopefully serve the industry. Let's see if I'll be eaten by system.

You do you and see if you can counter the status quo.

Lastly, reading and experience are both learnings no one can steal. So let's start to read...and read... and charge everything to experience and live life!

Be back next year for my next blog entry when I reach my second square.

If you enjoyed reading this, you can view my UP Journey which is now a series - click My U.P. Trail #NoWhereToGoButUP

My academic writings in first year will be posted soon along with my literary ones occasionally.

Random Snapshots below! Enjoy~