visual language has always been of great appeal to me. having a
background in development communication, i have had a fair share of the
theoretical and technical aspects of producing videos and how it can be of help
to pursue a certain benefit to the community. however, my youth and the
"surface" knowledge of videography is insufficient to fully grasp the
deeper sense of it in a vast world where a chimera of insidious battles cannot
be merely pacified by rhetoric.
it was thanks to a serendipitous discovery of this scholarship offered
by film gym that even in a short time, i was able to feel and understand the
more profound reasons behind the lenses. elements of visual language which
particularly sewn into a film used to be an elite and a intimidating facade for
me. elite, because i lack wealth to afford even the cheapest video camera there
is today. even more intimidating for the jargons that push me out of the
league. but no question, i am a lover of the finished products - and
admittedly, with a great bias to Hollywood. then again, thanks to film gym that
i was able to comprehend deeper the frustrating tug-of-war our filmmakers have
to live by just to thrive in the industry. with that, i come to better
appreciate Filipino films and the arduous process behind the silver screen.
it may be just 6 days of a 7-hour talking, listening, yawning and
teasing with seatmates and direk, but for me it's a whole lot of life-changing
encounter to the master of illusion which
of course known by many as Mr. Film. film gym is truly an educator in
many ways; never mind if you don't have the top-of-the-line facilities, all you
need to have is the heart and the skill to capture a story to re-tell. this
world indeed is not merely made of atoms, but of stories that need be shared to
feed a hungry soul. i know it is just sitting within "me", but film
gym has helped me uncover and release. it, i would say, is the more important
part of it - more than the technical block, it is the purpose that one has
in recording stories and stitching them together to feed a captured mind. it is
not true that we have no more choice but to see commercial junks; we have a
vast option to create our own and touch lives of people, but more essentially
our own lives.
i pray that more "passioneers" like me would be able to
experience film gym. it is liberating yet connects me deeply to a world where
the lead characters are "others". the journey has just begun.
possibilities are endless. i can now use whatever i have - be it a phone camera
or the most elite hardware there is. i now have the potion in me. people are
waiting, stories need be told and retold.
mae m. catibog
batch 6
