FTP Workshop Days 3 & 4

We will be having a 3-day session of scriptwriting workshop. 3 days were allotted for it since the script is always the most important part of the film. No matter how good the direction or production is, at the end of the movie, the story is what needs to stand out.

On our first day, we had Gina Marissa Tagasa-Gil. Manay Gina, as everyone in the business fondly calls her, is a well-known writer for TV, stage, and film. She was the head writer of Lovingly Yours, Helen and Coney Reyes On Camera before. Now, she handles Bahay Mo Ba 'To? and Mahiwagang Baul in GMA 7. Recently, she had written Moments Of Love in film. Yes, MOL! My favorite! Hehehe. (If you have been following my writings, you'll understand my sarcasm.) Incidentally, amongst our workshop mates is the supervising producer of the said film.

Manay Gina also tried her hand on directing via Sa Kandungan ng Langit (Heaven's Cradle) which gave her the Best Film in New York Film Festival 2004.

Manay Gina emphasized the importance of good characterization. The characters should be consistent with their background and their personalities. Characterization can either make or break a good story line. It was a problem for me before when I wrote Our House. It was about a group of friends living in one house together. Technically, it was about my barkada. I wrote it when I was in college but didn't get to finish it. I lost interest. Anyway, according to Bhe-bhe, every character in the story has "me" in them. Every one seemed to be nice. Back then, I was too morally conscientious. Most of the time, I tend to judge my characters even before I write them which, of course, is wrong. Manay Gina reminded us that our characters, particularly the protagonists, shouldn't be too good or else, there wouldn't be any room for changes and growth.

The second day was headed by Direk Rahyan Carlos. He was part of Manay Gina's team in Coney Reyes On Camera. He related to us that she made it a point to tell him his mistakes in his writings before (through a letter) which he appreciated a lot. Because of it, he was able to know his weaknesses.

Direk Rahyan reiterated that, first and foremost, we should focus on our story and script. Every thing else is secondary. He admitted how he hated Pamahiin's story line, his first commercial film. But he couldn't do anything about it because they had a deadline to pursue. So, instead, he just put his best in directing it.

Good thing that he admitted to not liking it. I find it contradictory before that he was saying (in interviews) that he has been a fan of the horror genre and he dreamt of making a good scary film. Yet he failed to scare the audience with his movie. Di pala niya kasi sariling kwento. I saw it with Than-than and I swear, he fell asleep! Aminado naman si direk na "talky" 'yung film niya which shouldn't be the case for horror films.

In fairness, though, he really managed to make the film look good. In contrast with typical horror films, his was in vibrant colors. The actors were glowing on screen. I guess, it also became a problem since there was a little amount of horror feel in it.

After some music-writing exercises and discussion, direk made us watch Puso3 which is the product of last year's GMA workshoppers. It consists of 3 stories: Peque Gallaga's Lost & Found, Soxie Topacio's Siklo, and Rahyan Carlos's Kulam. The last two films were written by direk and I must admit that they were written well. As compared to the first one which really borders on the absurd and not to mention the not-so-good acting in it.

Anyway, speaking of story line, direk asked us to do our own. If chosen by the group, it will be used as our short film. Two stories came into my mind when I was thinking about it. First was Buhay Pirata. It will be about the vendors of pirated DVDs in Quiapo. But I don't know how to go about it - whether I should write a sort of "day in the life of" or talk about their struggles in life. In any case, it would need a lot of research and interviews. In the end, I realized that it'd be better as a documentary piece than a film. My second had an adult-ish theme to it. It will be about a girl who asks her friends about their sexual experiences because she is a virgin and is about to have sex. Her friends are consist of a married and conservative woman, a single and sexually active woman, a gay guy, and a straight guy. All of them would give her tips aside from sharing their stories. My treatment will be comedic.

I have chosen the latter but my concern now is its theme. I have shared it with my group mates and I received some positive remarks from them. However, I'm afraid that it might not be chosen because we will have kids (those in the acting workshop) in the audience. Anyway, I don't wanna think about it yet. I'm hoping for the best but I am also preparing myself if ever things won't go my way. At least, I found some potential film in some of my group mate's works.

FTP Workshop Days 1 & 2

My GMA Film & TV Production Workshop started last Saturday. It was supposed to be held on the 13th but was moved to the 20th in PETA Theater.

The first day was headed by Direk Rahyan Carlos (Pamahiin). He made an introduction about film making and made an overview on what it is like working in the industry. It was an interesting discussion because I've learned that sometimes, there's more to reviewing story lines, acting, and directing in films. Sometimes, every action and camera work say something about the mood and the meaning of a scene. Sometimes, the audience get to see the superficial message of the film yet fail to understand its hidden motive. That is when I realized that film can really be works of art of a certain director. He paints a canvass the way artists do that could be open to different interpretations.

Second day was led by Direk Joseph Fortin (Pinoy Abroad). His topic was all about "Film Theory, Language, & History". And "film" meant it literally as in the reel or the film of the camera. I've learned that camera work is so technical -- its parts and the way you handle it. It isn't as simple as taking a video camera and shooting whatever you like. A camera man and a director need to give importance to the lighting comdition or else, they won't be able to capture their actors or scenes beautifully. There are also different ways in handling a camera shot. It isn't as simple as pointing it to your actors.

I may want to learn some camera tricks but I learned that being the man behind the camera isn't for me...

Guilty No More

For a while, there was a guilty feeling in me after I have written about you and the things you said. But I realized that there shouldn't be any guilt after I have spoken to one of "our" friends about it. Apparently, back in college, you have hurt her, as well. You may have forgotten about it already but you can't deny the fact that after that incident, you and her had a falling out. She thought that you were good friends so she didn't expect that you could do such a thing. Even I was shocked when I learned about it.

But come to think of it, I have remembered that the world had always revolved around you. You were never interested in the things I said. It was always about you. So I hope that you would enjoy your life despite the fact that you have stepped on some of your friend's toes. Kung sa'n ka liligaya, bahala ka. I just hope that such acts of selfishness won't haunt you in the end.

Happy wedding!

Biboy's TV Debut!

Heatstroke
Emergency, 2006

Yesterday, the Emergency team of GMA-7 went to The Medical City to interview a doctor there about heatstroke. Aside from that, they asked some people from the staff to do a reenactment of an emergency situation that involves heatstroke. Biboy was one of them! He played the one who suffered a heatstroke.

Tonight, the segment was shown on TV! I couldn't help but laugh when I saw him on TV. Not because it was funny but because I am not used to seeing him on the screen. Plus, because it was a first, I felt kinda awkward about it. I didn't know that he himself felt the same way.

After the segment, we just laughed it off. But of course, I'm proud of my baby. Revilla'ng-Revilla talaga! Hehehe. (We usually tease him that he looks like Bryan Revilla which he hates a lot!) I even told my friends to watch it reminding them over and over again. However, most of them must've slept already since it was shown at 1:30 AM. Si Leigh lang ang sigurado kong nakapanood kasi nag-text siya pagkatapos.

Sabi pa nga ni Biboy that his exercise scene was not shown. Sobra siyang nahirapan sa mga stretching and push-ups na pinagawa sa kanya for the camera, especially that it was shot at around 8 AM and he was on shift the night before (10 PM - 6 AM). Wala pa siyang tulog nu'n.

I just told him that the said scene might be included in a Special Edition DVD as part of the Deleted Scenes! Hahahaha....

Friends?

A friend from college asked me a few months ago to help her in her wedding preparations. Even though I don't have much experience on it, I agreed. She said that most of my work would just entail me to follow-up on contacts and guests' attendance. However, because of my GMA-7 workshop, I had to decline. I could really help her still but it turned out that I couldn't even attend her wedding day since one of the workshop days would fall on that day.

I felt bad telling her about it when she called me last Tuesday. I wasn't able to apologize because it was brief talk. So when I saw her online tonight, I immediately asked if she has some sort of "tampo" with me. But surprise surprise! Ako pa pala ang magugulat sa sagot niya! She answered, "Actually okay lang. At least nabawasan ang bisita at maiinvite ko pa 'yung iba kong relatives. Joke! Medyo rin pero okay lang."

I know that she wasn't kidding. Imagine how bad I felt when I read that. I suddenly thought, would I be even invited to her wedding in the first place hadn't she asked me for my help? Because I was the only one from our group that she had invited and she made me promise not to tell anyone. "Ay sus! So it meant na wala ka na talagang iimbitahin sa barkada," I replied back.

"Not to be rude but yes. Medyo unfair kasi sa hubby-to-be ko kasi puro relatives niya invited niya. Saka wala na rin naman silang alam na info tungkol sa 'kin so okay lang 'yun!"

It was not okay, of course. But it's her wedding so anong say ko, di ba? However, it just goes to show how insignificant we are to her. She didn't even ask me about the workshop. "Kung anuman 'yung workshop na 'yun, good luck na lang!"

It really hurts me to think that there are "friends" who could just dismissed you in their lives as if you never existed. I feel this way because I give such high regards to my friends. I guess I could say that really good friends stay and friends from the past, well, stay in the past.

I remember a quote that says that there are people in your lives that would remain friends with you till the end and there are people who would just stay a short time just because they already served their purpose for you. I am now realizing who my friends truly are and those that just served their purpose.

What hurts most is that I never thought that you'd be just a person in my life who has served her purpose. I hope that there's more to this than that.

Anyway, best wishes to your wedding!

A Zsazsa Package

It has been a month or so when Direk Ellen told me that she sent me a gift. At first, I didn't ask what was in it because I wanted to be surprised. I even thought that it might be something from Switzerland because she went there for the international screening of Mga Pusang Gala. But then, when it seemed like that it has been "lost" somewhere in the Post Office, she told me that the package includes some Zsazsa Zaturnnah stuff -- book, cd, etc. According to her, she sent the package on March 31. It was almost the end of April then so I felt that the shipment won't get to me anymore.

But lo and behold! When I got out of my room, I saw a pouch on the dinner table with my name on it! It was the package that Direk was telling me about. Even though I already know what is inside, opening a package still excites me -- kinda the feeling you get when you open presents during birthdays or Christmas. Inside it was an unopened sealed comic book, programme from the first run, and the CD soundtrack from the first run, as well. I have them already but I couldn't care less! These are new! Not to mention that the CD was the Kalila Agilos version! (I have the Agot Isidro one.) Plus, they gifts from a good friend. Direk's note says:

Dear Jerrick, I had bought these things to study but since the rights had been bought already, thought I'd give them to you instead. the music was composed by a friend, by the way. Ellen.

The story behind this was that I encourage her to watch the play. I thought that she might be interested in adapting it for the screen. She loved the play! However, we didn't know then that Regal Films had already acquired the rights for the film.

Anyway, thank you for the gift, Direk!

Related Readings:

Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal: Third Run

Zsazsa Zaturnnah: The Movie

Mission: Impossible 3

Mission: Impossible 3
Paramount Pictures, 2006
Watching Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible trilogy seemed like a journey to the life of its main character, Ethan Hunt, and not the missions of the IMF team. Whether it was intentional or not, it was the road taken when its third installment came out last week. It is very obvious that unlike the James Bond franchise where the focus is his mission and his escapades with women, Mission Impossible is about Ethan Hunt.

Brian de Palma's Mission: Impossible is somewhat an introduction to people who are not acquainted with the series (like me!). For fans, it is a recreation of the series that they came to love throughout the years it aired on t.v. Being a fan of the series, Tom made sure that his screen adaptation would be faithful to the series if not surpassed it. However, he received much criticism for his work. Despite that, it became the third highest grossing film of 1996.

In Mission: Impossible, we were introduced to the life of Ethan Hunt and his work. It showed us his work dedication and love of it. It is also all about the gadgets and the thrill of a twisted script. Believe me, I had to watch the film many times just so I could understand the twists and turns of it all. When I thought I'd finally get it by mapping a chart, I'd lose it! It was that crazy! But I still bought it being a solid TC fan back then.

Meanwhile, John Woo's M:I-2 in 2000 is all about the visual stylings of the director and the stunts pulled by Ethan aka Tom. It is very much action-oriented and tried to keep the script uncomplicated but not too simple.

This year, M:I-3 is directed by Alias's J. J. Abrams. It has the stunts and the drama of an Alias episode. It opens with the climax of the film where the Ethan and his wife, Julia (Michelle Mongahan), were held captive by the antagonist, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Ethan was torn into giving to what Owen wants and into saving Julia. Then, the story bring us back to how it all started.

Ethan is into semi-retirement. He wants to live a simple life with his future wife. However, when his trainee/friend (Keri Russell) was captured by Owen's team, he joined the IMF team to save her. However, saving her turned out to be the simplest of their problems. Behind the kidnapping was a big conspiracy in the agency that would threaten his life and the lives of people around him. You guessed it right, ala Alias!

As I've written earlier, M:I-3 is mostly about the personal drama in the Ethan's life. There were less stunts and action scenes compared to the second part and the story was not as twisted as the first. With this one, it showed the hazards of being an IMF agent in the team's personal lives - either you should not have any or prepare to put your love ones' lives in danger. There were lots of emotional dramatic scenes that deal mostly with love and death.

Despite being emo, this film still manage to put together the bests of the first two parts - story and action. The stunts were not over-the-top and the story is not that complicated to follow. What's best is that we are taken inside the IMF's office and gets to meet their badass boss (Laurence Fishburne)! With him as your boss, you'd never try to go astray with his wishes!

As a (spy) film, its greatest achievement is the ensemble cast. Even if this one is majorly an action flick, there was great acting in it. The cast managed to solidify together like peanut butter to a jelly. Philip Seymour Hoffman is always effective whenever he is in character. He is so bad that in face of pending death, you'd never see him blink an eye! Laurence Fishburne, as you superior, will have your knees shake the moment he opens his mouth! Billy Crudup, as Ethan's direct superior, is as subtle as he should be as the boss with a huge baggage on his back. Maggie Q as Agent Zhen, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Agent Declan, and Ving Rhames as Agent Luther Strickell together with Ethan make a super spy team. The combination of the four is strickingly good! To add to the team is computer-expert Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) who somehow adds light moments to the film. However, I'd wish, though, that were more Keri Russell's scenes. Her character, Agent Lindsey Farris, adds more substance to Ethan's character than his wife, Julia. Who would have thought that the fragile girl we knew in Felicity could do well as a kickass agent?

As for Tom Cruise, he is still the same ole Tom. But this time, he has depth and maturity in his acting. The pa-pogis he did in M:I-2 is nowhere to be found in this one. With his instensity as he tears slowly fall on his face, you'd forget that he is the same guy who made crazy antics the year before.

M:I-3 has parts for every movie fan - action, drama, suspense, and romance. For the testosterone-packed fans, there are amazing stunts and the stunningly beautiful Maggie! She is better than any of the Angels combined! For the estrogen-filled circle, there's the romance between Ethan and Julia and of course, hotties in the presence of Tom and Jonathan!

Lea Salonga, A PI Judge?

There are rumors that Ms. Lea Salonga might join Ryan Cayabyab as one of the judges in Philippine Idol. Martin Nievera, being the other rumored judge. While it seemed unlikely that Ms. Lea will join the said singing contest, I still she wish that she would! If she'd be one of the judges, I'm sure that screeching oopss I mean belting-out by contestants in the Philippines will be lessen. I'd rather have the next Leas rather than having a new addition to the RV-wannabes!

What I admire most about Ms. Lea is that she didn't feel complacent about her talent. She managed to ask for vocal coaching despite the fact that she is already a huge Broadway actor/singer. With that, her voice remained to be one of the bests we have in the world! It just goes to show that one shouldn't be too confident about oneself. There's always a room to better one's self! Now, if only the likes of RV could do that! I swear, even her talking voice is switched to the highest screeching level! Nakakairita! I hope that we could go back to the times where your voice will be judge according to how good it sounds and not to how many glasses and windows it could break! To quote Sharon's words, "Minsan naman gusto kong makinig ng music na hindi ako kinakabahan" at hindi sumasakit ang ulo ko!

Speaking of contests, I am soooo glad that Gerald Santos won the title "Pinoy Pop Superstar" in the said contest! At first, when he and Aicelle where asked to sing Jonalyn's Viray's "Close to Where You Are", I felt that it was a sabotage. He didn't sound so good in a song where the arrangement didn't fit him. Because it is a woman's song, it rightfully suited Aicelle's voice! Buti na lang that despite that interpretation, the judges went beyond that and gave him the grand prize!

Congratulations, Gerald!


Ms. Lea's picture was taken from Tin's Lea site

Slither

Slither (2006)
Universal Pictures

In this age of special effects and ghosts hunting every character on screen, Slither goes back to age-old theme of horrific creepiness -- aliens invading humans!

The story revolves around the small town of Wheelsy in America where everyone knows everybody. It is a quiet place where people are living peacefully. Until one night, an asteroid carrying slug-looking aliens fell into the forest. Grant Grant, one of the town's richest man, found it and was infected by it. Soon after, Grant experienced changes in his body. Soon enough, as well, pets and animals in town started disappearing and some were found gruesomely killed.

Starla, Grant's wife, took notice the changes happening to her husband including his appearance. When she found dead animals in their basement, she realized that her husband is not him same old self anymore. From that day on, the police department tracks Grant's whereabouts to stop his ways. But then, they were too late because Brenda, Grant's chosen carrier, has given birth to almost a thousand slug-looking aliens! These aliens eventually invaded everyone in the village and turned them into meat-eating creatures!

Slither doesn't rely much on special CGI effects the way most horror films these days do. Instead, it goes back to gooey prosthetics and creepy make-up. With our technology these days, it has done well in making the effects believable and not feel kind of a B-ish movie. But what is truly effective in this movie is how it is presented and made. Slither successfully combined the fun and the scares in one film which is really difficult to do without looking cheap and cheesy.

For horror freaks, Slither is one hellafa-film! Imagine aliens, slugs, blood, tentacles, and zombies combined with funny dialogues (plus good script, of cpurse!) and creepy, gory moments, you could never asked for more! This is not one cheap movie aimed to give you some cheap tricks out to get your hard-earned money. Slither, I assure you, won't fail to deliver the head-turning and stomach-churning scares that you'd love and hate to see!

Note: Because it is R-18, SM Cinemas are not showing this film. Catch it still in Robinson's cinemas and others.

Pinoys Abroad

In the news a few days ago were about these two domestic helpers working in Lebanon. They came back to the Philippines in a stretcher because they became paralyzed. Apparently, the fell off the terraces of their employer's houses. These two are different cases. They do not know each other. But somehow, I know that their situations are connected to each other.

I was thinking, why can't the RP government investigate on this? As it turned out, before these two cases, there were other six same situations that happened in the same country! Most of their employers would either reason out that their helpers either fell or jumped out of their verandas. Wtf?! Do these Lebanese think that Filipinos are so stupid that we tend to fell off terraces? Do they think that it's our first time to look down or up from that angle that we tend to get so excited and fell off? What was that? An "oops" moment?!

I hope that our government would really look into this and protect our fellow Filipinos against these incidents. Whether they fell or jumped out doesn't matter. There must be a grave reason why these things have happened. If they look into it, I'm very sure that falling won't be part of the answer. If they jumped, then something must be wrong. Who in the right mind would jump three or more stories up when they know that they could lose their lives? Before the numbers rise up, I hope that they could do something about it.

***

A 7-yr old Filipino boy in Canada experienced discrimination from his school just because he uses fork and spoon while eating. His principal reasoned out that the boy should learn to eat the Canadian way -- using just a fork. Because of this experience, the boy didn't want to go to school anymore and refuses to eat. When his parents confronted the principal about it, the prinicipal said that eating with two utensils is uncivilized and "nakakadiri"! He also added that their kid shouldn't act like a pig! Eating with fork and spoon or chopsticks is unintelligent. There's no other way but using just a fork!

Oh yeah? Why don't we, Pinoys, stick all forks up in his ass so he could come to his senses?! If he finds eating with both utensils "kadiri", what more if he sees us eat with our bare hands?! He might get a heart attack!

Seriously, though, it isn't funny at all! As Filipinos, we have experienced enough prejudices and discrimination! Questioning the way we eat our food is too much already! It is but right for Pinoys in Canada to sue that bastard and protest with what he did and say!

How Confident Are You?

How confident are you? I seldom hear that question whenever I go to job interviews. In fact, it was the first time that an employer asked me that. I just got back from my alma mater where I did a teaching demonstration about the topic they selected, "Theories of Personality". I didn't get much time to prepare about it since I've learned about the demo only last Wednesday. But then again, I need not prepare much since it was only 5-7 minutes short. What I prepared was sort of an introduction to the topic.

After the demo and some questions asked, the EO of the said school finally asked, "How confident are you that you'd get a load?" This type of question is a tricky one. How could one answer such an inquiry without sounding overly confident of your self or in doubt of your capabilities? If you'd say that you are sure that you'd get the job, you may sound arrogant. If you'd say that you are not sure, it might show that you are doubtful of what you just showed them earlier on. If you yourself are in doubt, pa'no pa kaya sila?

Anyway, I told him, "90%" It is what's on top of my head at the moment. Because I know that I did good back there. I was able to introduced the topic well. I just did what I'd usually do in a class -- teach well. "And the 10% is...," the EO followed. "I'll leave it to chances. Because I believe that there no sure things in this world. No matter how much hard work you did, something is about to screw up. And you have to prepare for it even if it is just 10%."

When I left the school, I was feeling kinda anxious. That question really stucked in my mind. I'm not concern about the answer that I gave the panelists but how did it come about? Where did it come from? Why was it asked of me when it was not given to the first applicant before me? Was I over confident in my demeanor? I hope not. But what I know is that I feel that I studied my topic well. It isn't his forte so I felt that he can't asked much about it. True indeed because his questions were more touching on the personal level -- like my greatest achievement in life, my career path, etc. These queries seemed to surfaced with the fact that he seemed bothered with my GMA-7 workshop (this coming May 13 which was moved to the 20th). He must've felt that I won't be dedicated to the school. He have asked the question, "What if I get absorbed in GMA?" several times. I made the wrong impression with my first answer so I made sure that I'd redeem myself when asked again. I hope that saying that "school is my priority and that the workshop is something I need to do to learn" could make a difference.

One important thing to make note of during interviews is to whether say what seemed to be pleasing to the employer's ears or be honest with him and yourself. With whatever choice you make, make sure you could firmly stand up for it in the end...