Quaratined, or locked in our houses may be not good for everybody. But some may find it the best way to learn new things or to hone what they already know.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines – College of Communication held last Saturday, April 24, 2021 the Make It Reel: A Script to Screen Film Workshop, an exclusive one-day workshop for Film Aficionados Circle (FILAC) members and mentees.
But what was the goal of this workshop? Here are words from FilAC President, Trisha Mae Enriquez:
“Make It Reel workshop was made dahil we just really wanted to prepare everyone in the circle for FilAC’s annual major production after diving in sa basics ng filmmaking last PelikuLearn webinars.
Originally, dapat very casual workshop lang siya with some filmmakers, no program flow, and scheduled talks and activities. Pero I thought, since we got to work with some of TBA’s filmmaker last PelikuLearn, why not try to invite the whole TBA Studios this time for an event partnership. At first, the project heads refused na subukan ‘yong suggestion ko to invite TBA, pero later on they agreed din naman. When they agreed, I immediately messaged Sir EA Rocha and Miss Daphne Chiu of TBA studios to ask if this idea is possible. Then it happened. We had a meeting agad with the TBA team, we immediately worked on the preparation for the workshop since we only have 1 month to organize this.
We went through a lot of struggles in that one whole month. From building the Make It Reel team to creating and publishing the publicity materials to inviting speakers and a lot more. Dumating yong time na we want to give up and not include one topic na lang dahil di pa kami nakakahanap ng speaker. We were also receiving messages from a lot of people asking if this event is open to the public and even questioning why all FilAC webinars and workshops are exclusively for FilAC members and partners only. Lastly, it’s very exhausting talaga given the fact na we have to organize and prepare everything in just one month to make this happen, we have to talk to professional people in the film industry, and the fact na we have to go through all these without an org adviser to guide and support us.
It’s a very stressful and frustrating preparation, especially on my part as the org president. Pero knowing all the FilAC members and executives, and Make It Reel project heads, committees and other organizers, I know they deserve to have this and be able to participate and gain knowledge and experiences through this event. We need and deserve all these para patuloy pa rin kaming makapaglathala ng mga pelikulang mapagpalaya. And we can’t wait na magkaroon na kami ng enough time and resources to share the same #MakeItReel experience to the public lalo na sa mga taong may nag-aalab na pagnanais sa paggawa at lathala ng mga pelikulang mapagpalaya.
Ayon lang hehe maraming salamat at sana ay naenjoy at may natutunan rin po kayo sa Make It Reel!!”
The workshop was led by some of the most brilliant filmmakers of today’s generation — Film Producing with Daphne Chiu, Directing with JP Habac, Screenwriting with Crisanto Aquino, Production Management with Lexter Tarriela, Cinematography with Kara Moreno, and Visual Editing with Augie Balignasay.
As a media partner, I attended the workshop as well. And as a writer, I chose the scriptwriting workshop with filmmaker Crisanto Aquino, because I want to understand other writers as well, their processes, their thinking and their discipline in their craft. I wasn’t planning to participate in the activities, but I did anyway. And I’m happy I did.
You can feel the inclusivity in the workshop, whether you’re a student or a media partner like me, director Crisanto Aquino made his scriptwriting workshop easy to understand for everyone. And even if I was not prepared or even if I was not actually planning on participating, the knowledge imparted to us by our mentor was indeed helpful. And how he taught it to us, his ways are accepting, like part of the process of writing is failing. And that’s okay.
And as the workshop ended, it looks like we were not the only ones at the scriptwriting group enjoyed and learned a lot from this. Below are some testimonies from the Make It Reel workshoppers:
Heart Dela Cruz on producing with Daphne Chiu: Hello po, sa film producing po by Ms. Daphne Chiu marami po kaming natutunan. Nagsimula po kami from making the dossier and actualizing it. Yung mga dapat pong details po na nandoon. Then brineakdown din po yung mga types of producers and what theydo. Nagbigay din po si Miss Daphne ng tips regarding sa pag build po ng reels and how to gain more experience po sa producing. Regarding po doon sa technical terms and sa business side yung mga ganoon pong aspect. And the distribution and how to work around the field po ng production. Pati rin po yung paano po makisama and kung paano din po maging hands-on po sa pursue, pag pursue ng film at make sure na makikita po ito ng sambayanan po.
Russel John Velasquez on film directing with JP Habac: Ayan, kami naman po sa directing (inaudible) Yung mga films na ginawa niya po from the past, ay pinaliwanag niya po kung ano yung mga simple details na nakapaloob po doon sa film and in-expound niya rin po sa amin kung ano yung mga fundamentals ng directing ganon, kung ano po yung kailangan i-achieve, especially po sa writing na we should always keep it simple and relatable sa mga manonood, dahil ayon po ang unang-una nilang mapupulot and parang ayon po yung mag-iiwan sa kanila ng tatak all throughout the film experience ganon.
Joshua Oledan on scriptwriting with Crisanto Aquino: Hello, guys! I’m Josh from screenwriting. Si Sir Cris ang aming mentor. And ang challenging para sa akin noong experience na itinuro ni Sir Cris dahil sobrang daming lesson na pumapasok. And sa pagsusulat tinuruan kami ni Sir Cris na sa pagsusulat hindi lang dapat maganda yung sinusulat mo kundi dapat kritikal ka rin mag-isip ganon. Sa groupings todo ano talaga, ang bilis kasi ng pacing parang hindi kaya ituro yung screenwriting sa iisang upuan lamang ganon. Kaya napakagandang experience yung na-gain namin today mula kay Sir Cris. Yun po, thank you.
Nicole Ventayen on production management with Lexter Tarriela: Ayon, Hello po. Hi, Guys. Yung discussion kay sir ay smooth and entertaining. And then, narealize po namin or especially ako na yung production management or production manager parang sila yung pinaka backbone noong production. Marami po kaming natutunan like paano maghanap ng locations tapos tips kung paano makahanap ng good locations ganon and then yung budget breakdown. Yung pinaka natutunan ko po talaga is dapat laging look for welfare ng mga taong hawak mo sa production. Yun lang po, thank you.
Lance Lascano on cinematography with Kara Moreno: Hi, Miss Kara was a great mentor for us. She explained things briefly and she explained it in our own perspective as a beginner filmmakers. Kahit kaunti yung oras she managed to explain all things well. Yun nga it was very motivating and very exciting for us and for me also, sa mga tinuro niya.
Alleya Era on visual editing with Augie Balingnasay: Hi, I’m Alleya Era from visual editing. Yung talk with Sir Augie ay naging fruitful for me kasi recently lang ako nag take interest into editing and syempre as a beginner medyo intimidating yung editing phase kasi more on technical tools pero Sir Augie reiterated din na it’s not just the technical process pero artistic process din siya kasi trabaho mo bilang editor alamin yung puso ng script para mai-communicate mo ng maayos yung mga gustong message noong script sa output mo. Na-solve yung common misconception ko before na parang kapag may mali sa production o sige sa post-prod na lang yan ayusin. True enough kami lang din yung nahirapan sa dulo ayon at least mas nadagdagan yung familiarity ko sa work process ng editing. Yun lang po, thank you!
Check out photos from the digital workshop grabbed from FILAC’s Facebook page below:
Make It Reel: A Script to Screen Workshop is made possible by Polytechnic University of the Philippines – College of Communications’ Film Aficionados Circle and TBA Studios, in media partnership with Pelikula Mania, The Post, Viddsee, The Catalyst and The Communicator.
For more information and news for their upcoming events, you can visit their Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/filmaficionadoscircle.
You can still watch TBA Studios’ Dito at Doon on starring Janine Gutierrez and JC Santos, directed by JP Habac on Upstream, Cinema ’76 at Home, iWantTFC, KTX and Ticket2Me. For users outside the Philippines, you can watch the movie starting May 1st via TBA Play.
Watch Dito at Doon trailer below: