Ako ay nagbenta ng mais sa Katipunan.

In an effort to keep school activities from bugging me should I have shoots on Saturdays and Sundays from now, I changed my Saturday morning JEEP insertions to a Wednesday. I started my community service this afternoon and I must say,  it's definitely worth giving up a free Wednesday afternoon in exchange of a Saturday well spent at a shoot for my upcoming internship. Helps develop a good impression on my soon-to-be "boss". :)) Though my usual afternoons in the library are going to take a hiatus because of my new requirement of  selling corns along Katipunan, I can count on my ever hard-working self to get through this whole experience alive. .

The only thing I don't seem to be impressed with with this decision is the amount of customers who drop by on a Wednesday afternoon. Today, for example, out of the 4 hours I've spent waving my hands  in hopes of getting vehicles to stop by, the corn "ate" and I were only able to sell 5 packs of corns. A bit frustrating on a first JEEP day under the scorching sun.

I'm not complaining about the humid weather or the boredom I go through from sitting there for hours...BUT I am frustrated with the great lack of people to sell for. Hardly anyone stops by... I might as well just bring out a book and waste into an afternoon of nothingness. Can you spell unproductive? *sigh*

L'adaptation

Adjusting has always been difficult. But in some cases, it is necessary.

Pray hard I go through this gracefully.

And one more thing: Nothing sucks more than doing something for the sake of completing a requirement. I've been losing that drive I've had for school for years. Now, I'm floating around, hoping that the end goal will be met and I could finally move on with my real life - - -  that which is to make more films.

Drained out :\

Not Accepting Defeat

The events that occurred this week are living proof that nothing lasts forever. Things you grow to get used to will eventually die out, and certain people that you've helped and have learned to trust over the past years can just go away in order to get ahead.

Whilst I was busying myself with school affairs this week, my dad broke a rather upsetting news to me and brother. To cut to the chase of this post, our lives are going to have to take a step back for a while. For years, I've seen this coming but have never actually thought that this would come. Perhaps, it is fate's way of telling me that my time as a typical individual's up. A different kind of lifestyle is about to unfold, and I have to prepare myself for the worst. Nevertheless I am not the type to just give up on anything. I, along with my family, will take this head on, and wing through life with our dignities intact. Whatever happens, I will stick to what I have planned for myself for months now. Things may come and go, and they may change us. But it is precisely because they do that could also enable us to look at the other side of the coin.

My philosophy professor have always stressed on the idea of "traumatism". For months, our student lives have dwelled on the philosophical groundings of Levinas - - -  that of which is to keep wounding ourselves to constantly see how sufferings are a great way for us to disocver things we would, otherwise, not be able to encounter and draw meaning from.

When my dad confided in me this afternoon, it was as if everything that I've taken up my current philosophy class just rushed through my mind (i.e. knowing what it means to be human, to put the "other" before oneself without counting the costs). I guess, in some ways, I can see a side of my dad clearly now, where his strictness - that which I would constantly whine about - comes from.
Though we find it hard to express our sentiments towards one another, our father-daughter relationship is not the type to fade into indifference. I love my dad more than any other man in the world. (And to YOU who have decided to take a turn against him and kept him under the dark from certain dealings that just came out of the news today, shame on you for trading mentorship and respect for your own personal gain).

I will never see things the same way. And I shall try to keep my thoughts and impressions of people heavily guarded. Not withstanding the fact that nothing in this world is consistent, I would like to believe that some form of goodness will sprout for a better kind of change. Perhaps, something way better.
I admit that I fear the months ahead. But I would also like to believe that by God's grace, He'll see us through.

Whatever happens, I am not accepting defeat. Not now, not ever.
Neither will my family. My family never has. We're born fighters.

Production Design & Artistic Directing

Digital film-making class under Marie Jamora is such a useful and practical class to take for serious film amateurs. Not withstanding the fact that we practically have to turn in a short film every 2 weeks, with treatments and techniques specifically taught to us in class. And it has been this way since November last year. Since this blog thing is open record, lemme just point out that there are instances where I just regret taking up this class for the mere fact that it ends late at night and there are days when I feel like my time could be better spent if I could review for this review for that. 

But every once in a while, works of great and talented people, such as Marie Jamora and Jason Magbanua would just remind me why I've chosen to burden myself with all the workloads entailed by this class. Since I started finding videography as my calling, I learned to be willing to put in most of my time and effort in becoming an avid learner and practioner of this craft.

My junior year has been the hardest among my 3 years stay in the Blue Eagles land; but I've learned the most over the course of this year.

Such a meaningful year it's been. And that includes tonight's class.  I've learned about film production tonight more than I've ever had in months. We had an artistic director and a production designer as guest speakers, and their portfolios and the way they conducted their respective talks show how much experience they've accumulated all throughout these years. ( Too tired to expound on this tonight..Maybe I will do so tomorrow. This is just something I want to keep on my journal before I'll be too old to forget. LOL)

One significant thing Marie Jamora pointed out tonight was that production design is truly a indispensable component in the overall effect of a film. It may appear to be a sheer tapestry in the background, but in reality, the presence of a good production set makes a world of difference from a poorly made one. It is, however, hard to turn it into a form of craft here in the Philippines, unlike in most European countries and the United States who pay great attention to the tiniest details of a set. Over there, people build their sets from scratch. But due to the grave lack of funds in third-world Filipinas, our awesome directors and prod designers learn how to make do with what is readily available (i.e. moving the furnitures around, among others).  And that brings to light my hope that production design experiences the full bloom it deserves in our country soon, when my buddies and I are already out in the world for real to make our lives a tad easier! (haha) No one has to starve for being artists. Interestingly, my philo prof  just mentioned something that relates to that in particular this morning. (taking it as a sign to fully become an artist - hahaha)

The production design department is an integral element of a tastefully made film. And it's high time that the knowledge and practice of this beautiful craft reach the ends of this wonderful archipelago, in relation to videography and film-making.

P.S. The script that I'm writing for my final film is taking shape. I just woke up today knowing exactly what the conflict is going to be. i just need to figure out how the character is going to respond to it and how the baking of cupcakes can fint into the whole picture. I'm so excited. I can't wait to shoot this. 


Here's a demo reel of the commercials and mtvs Marie Jamora has done up to this date:

I am called to write papers ... not.

Editing videos make the whole idea of cramming for a paper a whole lot easier. But I love it, nevertheless.


http://vimeo.com/7201866

My first ever paycheck ... not

I was on my way home this afternoon when I got a text from the accounting office informing me about my first EVER paycheck. (Uy...someone's growing up). Hahaha. But before you get too excited, lemme stop you there and tell you that the check has now gone stale. Apparently, one of the websites I designed for an event last year did not advice me on the payment they've intended for a poor innocent student who had no other experience prior to this. And no one from the school dept decided to notify me beforehand.

Last year, at a time when I was just designing websites and drowning myself in the world of graphic design, I was asked to render services for orgs and events, none of which had ever proposed to pay me in any form. Having felt that all the projects assigned to me were more like play and less like work, I decided to regard them as works of art good enough to put on portfolio.

But going back to the subject of receiving my first EVER paycheck, I headed straight to the accounting office to see if there's still a way to claim it. Ambassador Manalo was signing checks and validation papers when I arrived, so I had to wait for (let's just say) a while before anyone can attend to me. And that was fine. Who would prioritize a student over a senior Spanish ambassador anyway? :)) Such a lovely grown woman, she is. She practically used "very kind" everytime her concerns are being addressed, as if replacing "thank you" with it.

Anyhooo, I waited for the secretary to make several calls to Mirlab, the client, to track down my performance record...only to tell me once again that the check's gone stale. But since the site I made is still up and running, they're going to file for another check for me. And depending on the rate of how the whole dept chairs and client signatures go, it's going to take a week to a month to get that processed. - - -> Is this how long these kind of things are sorted out?

Man, I've got to learn about these type of things. I'm graduating in a year's time!

Grow up, young lady, grow up!

Blah day *gah*

I feel like I haven't blogged for the longest time! Though it has just been last Thursday since my last post. 
Things are getting out of hand for me lately. All these extra-curriculars have been eating up my time, including dates and baking sessions with my lovely girls, and I could hardly find the time to squeeze in all these school works over the weekend. 
I've made my philosophy clean and clear since the year started, and that's to put my well-being (yuck) ahead of me; to learn how to chill when works are piling up, as that has always been my biggest struggle; to temporarily let go of stress when it's taking its toll..That's grabbed the life out of me last year, and I'm hoping it'll be different this time.
Currently at the height of work-a-holism (if there is such a word), I shall seek some form of medical attention, and nothing has served to be curative so far.  That said, I am left with no choice but to cram this film thing that is due tomorrow for Elements of Screen Art class. Editing can suck big time if the vibe you're getting is all work and no play. Looks like frustration's building up to the nth level tonight. *gah*