Digital Fortress

August 2007: I joined the multimedia contest for my company. At first I have no intention of joining because I know I can’t persuade my friends to appear on cam and I thought no one is interested but me. Oddly, it’s my friend who sent me a PM to join so I said “why not?”

The theme of the contest is all about “A day in the office” stuff so me and my friends started shooting some footage about our everyday lives in the office. Because we don’t have a video cam, we settled for a still camera (w/ video capture as an extra feature) with a 16MB memory stick to create this 3-minute presentation. This cam can capture a maximum of 40 seconds so we need to upload the footage to the laptop when we ran out of memory. We filmed it in the span of 2 weeks. Few minutes during lunch and after office hours. Wheew.. But it paid off. We won both the voter’s choice and major prize for the movie trailer style of our presentation. Php15K worth of GCs from PowerBooks and Php15K worth of Sodexho GCs. Nine of us shared the prize but as the editor/cameraman/director/writer, I deserved more. Hehehe… Unfortunately, I can’t upload it on Youtube because it’s for internal use only. I got certain amount of recognitions after that in our project. I used the prize to upgrade my hard drive just in case I need to do more editing stuffs. True enough offers kept coming. And I embraced them all. Hehehe…Fortunately my father (working on Saudi) sent me a Sony Handycam. I didn’t actually request for it…but it came.

After making presentations for all-hands meetings etc, there’s a film fest theme for one of our Christmas Parties. And because I have a “reputation” for doing it, looking for cast member has become an easy task. And on that December night, we swept all the major awards and a total cash prize of Php17K. Php2K for me for my very first Best Director Award. You can see my movie “My Girl” on my Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/tiamzy (The cheesiness is intentional…heheh)

And just recently, I’ve been approached once again to create presentations for one of the company’s leadership organization. Take note: “with pay”. The videos were shown as intermissions during the company’s leaders’ congress held at the ballroom hall of a Makati Hotel. Nice! Ibang level na…parang pwede na talagang sideline.

Sometimes I’m wondering that if ever I got bored over my current job, I’ll try looking for one on this field where I know I excel and most importantly enjoy. I daydream of becoming a successful pinoy filmmaker someday. Sabi ko nga sa About Me section ko sa Friendster: “Frustrated filmmaker” ako. I really want to be one. In fact, gusto kong i-take up initially sa U.P. yung Film and AudioVisual Communication kaya lang ayaw ng nanay ko kasi kailangan daw mayaman ka kung kukunin ang course na yun. So I settled for ComSci hoping that I’ll someday crossover from being a programmer into a visual effects designer. I’ve been fascinated in visual effects since I saw Godzilla when I was in Grade 6. But then, after watching The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, I realized that visual effects is not enough to tell a story. From then on, subconsciously, I always wanted to make a movie like that. It’s the one movie that changed me, really… and I became obsessed with it.

From then on, all I can do is wait for opportunities. I joined the school fillmfest once. And I believe luck is on my side after winning the multimedia contest. Kaya yun…napag-isip ko na baka yun na nga ang future ko. So I started to daydream. Baka ako pala ang magre-revolutionize sa Philippine movies. The one that will make people like me to go and see a quality a pinoy-made movie. A movie that doesn’t capitalize on the commercial value of the actors but by the movie itself. That’s just one of my dreams. Kaya lang sa current job ko, mukhang malayong marating yun unless I’m lucky enough to be on the right place at the right time. I’m just dreaming big, I know. I’ll better be ready when the big opportunity came…

I saw Stardust last week and I have to say that it’s the most entertaining movie that I’ve seen so far this year (followed by Ratatouille). It’s even better than all the summer blockbusters combined. I just know that it is based from Neil Gaiman’s work but I have no idea what it is all about. But when I finally saw it, I immediately rrecommended it to my sisters and watched it again with them.

The technical aspects of the film are also great. I really like the camera work, the swooping shots (eg. from The Wall to Stronghold) and the-feeling-that-you-are-there-shots that are best experience on the big screen. The special effects are not that magnificient but it’s enough to tell the story.

The great thing about this movie is that it is something fresh from the fantasy genre. It’s not at all that serious. It’s a bit unconvential and yet charming. There’s no complex background story, no good vs. evil war and no sequels. It’s a light movie, one of those movies na nakakalimot talaga ng problema sa buhay. It’s pacing is fast, the plot is easy to follow but also unpredictable. This is a really good movie but I wonder why it flopped in the U.S. box-office. My best guess is the poor marketing. They are selling the actors and not the story.

Speaking of actors, the movie is well-casted except for Claire Danes who, as she becomes older, also becomes uglier…not to mention that half of the Filipino people hate her because of his comment on Manila years ago. The rest of the cast is perfect and Robert De Niro’s Captain Shakespeare is the one character to watch out for. He delivers one of the hilarious moment in the film.

As a fan of film music, I know a good film score when I hear one. The music from Ilan Eshkeri, a composer I haven’t heard before, is a pleasant surprise. I immediately grab a copy of the soundtrack and immensely enjoyed it. It’s a good listenng experience and shares three common themes from LOTR. The Stardust OST is a decent score while I wait for the release of Return of the King: Complete Recordings (November). Hehehe…

I seldom endorse a movie to my sisters to the point na ililibre ko sila para lang mapanood nila sa big screen ang movie. Stardust is one of them.

Hanggang ngayun nasusuka pa rin ako sa mga Filipino films. I appreciate some of them pero yung karamihan talaga puro patapon lang at halatang ginagawa lang just to make money. I’m sure independent films are much better pero hindi ako nagkakaron ng chance makanood kahit isa man lang.

Tapos wala ng ibanh genre kundi romantic movies featuring the popular love teams na kahit ilang beses mang pagtambalin ay hindi pa rin nagsasawa ang mga tao. Ang nakakainis pa, lahat ng mga title ng movie ay galing sa kanta or yung title mismo ng soundtrack. Galing…napaka-creative! Sobra. At least assured sila na pag kumita ang movie, kikita din ang soundtrack. Ni hindi nga original yung mga songs e..puro naman revival naman.

Forevermore, Got 2 Believe, Kung Ikaw Ay Isang Panaginip, Kung Ako Na Lang Sana, Till There Was You, All My Life, Can This Be Love, Don’t Give Up on Us, Close to You, All About Love, You Are the One,First Day High, You Got Me, I Will Always Love You, Paano Kita Iibigin, Moments of Love, Till I Met You, I’ve Fallen for You atbp. (Buti naman natapos na ang lugar series: Milan, Dubai)

Just recently, isang love story ang ipinalabas sa sine starring Aga Muhlach and Maricel Soriano. Ang title nya, parang hindi na nag-attempt mag-isip ang mga filmmakers. Nung nakita ko yung trailer sa TV, akala ko nag na narrate pa rin yung voice over, yun pala sinabi na nya yung title.

At kung hindi naman romantic movie, horror naman. Halata namang gaya lang sa mga Japanese movie e. Sa totoo lang, manhid na ako sa mga horror films. Kabisado ko na kung san ka gugulatin. I’m sure iba ang experience sa sine pero hindi ako magaaksaya ng pera para manood ng horror movie sa sine. Tatawanan ko lang ang mga nakikita kong cliches. Baka mag nitpick lang ako…Heheh…

Pansinin nyo din kung gaano ka creative ang mga poster ng mga Pinoy movies. Kapag horror, lahat ng mga mukha ng artista nakabalandra sa poster, kahit mga hindi kilalang artista. Tapos lahat ng name nila nandun din. Pag romantic film naman, laging magkayakap ang mag ka love team.

At pagdating naman sa trailer ng movie, para mo na ring nalaman ang buong storya na movie sa sobrang haba ng trailer. Minsan umaabot ng 5 minutes. First minute, iintroduce ang mga characters, then maiinlov sila, by the third minute, ipapakita yung conflict…4th minute, resolution at d2 rin ipinapamalas yung mga iyakan part at sa last part naman sasabihin yung mga pangalan ng artista.

Hanggang kumikita ang mga ganitong movie, hindi sila magrereformulate. Sana mag try naman sila ng something new.

They say that you can never forget your first IMAX experience so when I learned that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be shown at IMAX 3D at SM Mall of Asia, I didn’t hesitate to reserve a ticket even it comes with a hefty price of Php400 each. The weekday mornings are cheaper by Php50.

So does IMAX theater at SM Mall of Asia really worth the price? I don’t think so. It’s overpriced. It should have been P250 or P300 only. They are bragging the so-called “IMAX experience” to sell more tickets. So what really is the “IMAX Experience”. Well, just upon entering the theater, you’ll be amazed on how big the screen is. But even before the movie starts, I was wondering how can I see the whole picture on that super large screen? Whenever there is a wide shot, you have to scan the screen from left to right (or up to down) to see what is happening. That is true during action sequences or even dialogue scenes where the each character is on the opposite side of the screen. Read more »

Sa lahat ng tinatanong ko kung maganda ba yung movie o hindi, ang sagot lagi nila sa akin: “Ok lang”. And it was also my response when my sister asks me how was the movie. Sabi nya: “Ay okay lang? Siguro panget…”

Well, not exactly. It’s not too good and it’s not too bad. Many people (mostly non-readers of the book) will be disappointed if they compare OotP to the two previous movies which are both equally impressive. This movie is a decent adaptation of Rowling’s longest novel. I like how they trim the story in just 2 hours and 15 minutes. Personally, I thought that book was overly long and it could have been shorter. I also think Rowling realizes that there’s not enough action moments in her book so she throws in this battle at the Ministry of Magic in the final chapters to compensate. That is exactly how it played out in the movie. No more big action scenes like the one we expect in a summer movies. The main focus of the film is Harry’s emotional journey and how he handles the present situation. He is taking more responsibility in his actions and he’s now on his own. And I have to say that Daniel Radcliffe impressed me more than the previous films especially on the scene where Voldemort possessed his body near the end.

The new director isn’t the one to blame if some people were disappointed. I guess it’s in the source material. I always thought that Rowling slows down the story by making the Ministry of Magic refuses to believe that Voldemort’s back. Maybe it’s her way of making the series longer so it will last until Book 7.

I wasn’t even disappointed in this film. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the movie that disappointed me. But in this movie, I’m a bit prepared of what should I expect. What makes this film special is the realization of the character of Professor Dolores Umbridge. Imelda Staunton fits perfectly and totally upstaging familiar characters. She’s not the typical Ms. Minchin teacher but rather ’sweet’ and ‘pink’. Alan Rickman’s Snape doesn’t fail to impress me either. His one-liners are the best.

With just almost two hours, they managed to capture the atmosphere of the film but there are times that I felt that some moments were too abbreviated. The “Snape’s Worst Memory” part is too fast that I can’t hardly breath during that little clip. It would be very interesting if they lengthen it. I really like the little flashbacks from the previous films. They were effectively used in the final moments in the Ministry of Magic (”I feel sorry for you…You can never learn love..and friendship”).

Next year, I think mid-November, the 6th installment will be released and David Yates will once again helm the director’s chair. I would have love if other director to step in for the project or Alfonso Cuaron to come back…

For me, Transformers is still the most entertaining movie of the year. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix lacks the action that we expect but is actually a decent addition to the Potter franchise.

RATING: (out of 10)
Stone: 7
Chamber: 6
Azkaban: 9
Goblet: 8
Phoenix: 8