Lunes, Oktubre 15, 2012

Behind those lenses: My Film Gym experience



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

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