ourcinemalayaexperience - Tumblr blog

[ourcinemalayaexperience]

Cinemalaya X - Vlog

[ourcinemalayaexperience]

JAPANESE INVASION

You’re well-aware of Janice O’hara, but have you ever wondered why she always makes period films? By Coleen Cristobal

     Sundalong Kanin is Janice O’Hara’s entry to this year’s Cinemalaya Film Festival under the New Breed Category. Rice Soldiers or Sundalong Kanin are those people who don’t count in the battlefield. The story was during the World War II, particularly when the Japanese invaded our country at year 1941. We had the opportunity to interview the Director which was Janice O’ Hara. This Director mostly creates period films and it was her first time to join Cinemalaya as a Director.

The film won Audience Choice Award in New Breed Category. When asked of how she felt that audience wanted and chose to watch her film she stated that, “It’s definitely nice because overwhelming ‘yung response. I wasn’t expecting it kasi it was a period film...” The director never imagined that out of other films nominated, her film was chosen by many. What inspired her to do this film? Basically, she wanted to show her audience that at a very young age, kids wanted to be soldiers to show how brave they are. Even though people would laugh at what they aspire to be, these young minds have big dreams.

In the interview, she was asked about her opinion to those people who are not fund of watching Independent Films. She said that audiences have different tastes of their kind of films, the film makers cannot impose their own aesthetic but rather, they should know their target audience. When it comes to Independent Cinema, they have a variety to offer its’ audiences unlike commercial films because in Independent Films they have a free market of ideas compared to films produced by big companies. We are very thankful for the opportunity to be interviewed given by Ms. Janice O’ Hara.

               As our group have observed during the film showing of “Sundalong Kanin”, we have noticed that the Cinematography really mirrored the era that should be depicted in the scenes which used a sepia tone to make the shots older than it would look like. One of the most memorable scenes in the film is when the four boys saw what happened to their girl friend being raped by the Japanese soldier. After seeing what had happened, a Japanese soldier was sleeping where they were hanging out; they took the opportunity to kill this soldier. Nitoy was shot in a worm’s eye view to let the audience feel that this brave boy had the power or authority just to protect his friends especially his family. Another aspect of Cinematography was the sound.  They used diagetic sound to depict the natural sounds heard in the setting. An example would be the sound of the forest, it gives us the meaning that the place where the guerrillas hide are hard to find. 

[ourcinemalayaexperience]

#Y: The Y Generation

By Rhianne Raval

          Last August 6, 2014, we were with the whole production and fans of #Y in their gala night, held in Cultural Center of the Philippines. Many people were there to support the film and we were very fortunate to interview the director of #Y, Direct Gino M. Santos, one of the youngest directors this year.

          #Y belongs to the New Breed Selection in this year’s Cinemalaya. When asked about how he felt that his film was one of the entries, Director Gino said  “sobrang overwhelmed na I’m back again..ang hirap kasi makapasok sa Cinemalaya. Ang dami daming filmmakers at mga screen writers na magagaling na nagsusubmit every year. So just to be part of the ten or the twenty, sobrang big deal na yun… so I’m very very honored and excited na I’m part of the festival this year”

          Direct Gino told us that #Y meant Y Generation or the Youth today.  His inspiration in making this film was the stories that he heard during his college life about teen suicide, which sparked an interest in him on why teenagers do it

          Lastly, Direct Gino said that if people are comfortable in watching mainstream film, it’s okay. “But if they want to..kung gusto nila ilawak ang sarili nila sa mga pelikulang iba, manuod sila ng indie films”

          The award Special Ensemble was given to #Y’s cast, Elmo Magalona, Coleen Garcia, Sophie Alberto, and Kit Thompson.

         The cinematography of the film was exciting to watch. First, was the continuous shot of the different places in Taft, from the buildings, to the crowd, and traffic. It gives us a preview of the environment of the movie or the characters. It also connotes meanings such us chaos or disorder. The shots in the scene where a Psychiatrist interviewed the characters are normal shots. It covered the whole frame, the background, the seat, and the subject. In addition, the following shots were different people but the way they spoke was continuous.

         Slater Young’s role in the movie, Elmo’s ‘brother’, was kind of his conscience or imaginary friend. The first clue in the movie that he wasn’t real or only Elmo can see him was in the part where Elmo’s family was having a dinner. The first shot was bird’s eye view. It was in that view so that the viewers can see who were sitting, how many are they, and what’s on the table. Which were Slater, Elmo, Elmo’s parents, three plates, and the dishes. Slater doesn’t have a plate. The next scene was when Slater was teasing Elmo, the next shot was focused to her mother’s facial expression of “to whom is he talking to? Is he okay”. This scene was also similar when Elmo was talking to Slater while his nanny was inside his room cleaning. At first, the shot was normal, everyone was seen. But as Elmo and Slater spoke, the next shot was focused to his nanny’s face portraying fear and confusion because she was wondering who Elmo was talking to.

          The part where Elmo was at the top of the building and in the shots, we can see the peaks of the other buildings. It simply says that where Elmo by that time was really high. The scene where it was Elmo’s birthday, the shot of Elmo was half light and half dark. It symbolizes that something dark will happen. The sex scene of Elmo and Sophie was a point of view shot. The movement of the two synchronizes with the way they look to each other. Elmo’s shot was worm’s eye view, meaning he was at top while Sophie was bird’s eye view meaning he was below Elmo. It was also medium close-up. The party scenes have blurry effect. It symbolizes the dizziness or the highness of the cast after taking drugs. Most of the sounds were non-diegetic especially to the party setting. Also it started in a voice over. There were also scenes like for example the scene were Coleen was talking, then it was paused, and all we can hear was the voice over of Elmo’s thoughts.

          Learning how cinematography works helped me in analyzing a movie. Not just analyzing, but is must be efficient. Some may say that it’s hard, well, it’s tricky and confusing, but it’s really enjoyable. Before I just appreciate films., but now, after analyzing the whole movie, I value it more.

[ourcinemalayaexperience]

From Mainstream to Independent

Confessions of a director: Luisito Ignacio shared his thoughts and adjustments for this year’s Cinemalya X film festival. By Hermes Joy Tunac 

            “This is my first time to do an Independent film that is why this is a big thing for me.” Those are the only words that Director Luisito Ignacio was able to say when he was asked how does it feel to be part of the 10th  Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. Out of more than 50 directors, only 5 were chosen for the Director’s Showcase category. It was a big adjustment for him to do an Independent film because originally, he was a mainstream cinema director. As a director who has an experience to both fields of cinema, he said that the only difference of a mainstream to independent film is that it is commercial and the latter is an art and alternative cinema at the same time. Although the people who support independent films in the Philippines are increasing, we cannot deny that there are still a lot of people who don’t appreciate it. Director Luisito Ignacio calls for those people to enter Cinemalaya for them to understand what the people behind those independent films are doing. He proudly mentioned that from a mainstream to independent film directing, he delivered well the qualities of indie films that is why it was part of the top 5 in the Director’s Showcase category.

Asintado

          The “Taong Putik” festival held every 24th of June at Bibiklat, Nueva Ecija became the inspiration of Director Luisito Ignacio to make the film “Asintado”. The people who participate in the said festival put mud all over their body and put drying leaves packed together at the top of their heads. They offer this festival to Saint John the Baptist.According to Director Ignacio, in Asintado, you will know why the people in Bibiklat act like that. In every festival, there will also be the element of drugs. They abuse tourism to enter bad elements. The love of a mother to her children is also seen in the movie. How our mothers guide us and how intense are their love for us. When he was asked if the actors or actresses that should be inside independent films are not popular, he disagreed with it. According to him, it does not matter if the actors and actresses are not popular as long as they can deliver the concept of the characters they have to portray. “Independent film is a concept. Your script should be beautiful and whoever artists will be inside your film, they should deliver the qualities and standards of an independent film which is international and Cinemalaya quality”, he added. It was also impressive to know that the actors and actresses inside Asintado were personally chosen by Director Ignacio. He said that while he was writing the script, they were already the actors and actresses that were inside his head. Director Luisito Ignacio himself took care of the Cinematography of Asintado. Many acclaimed his work because the cinematography, production design and music scoring was a perfectly fit to the film. You can feel the intensity and tension of each scene because of the music scoring especially to the part when Jake Vargas peed in his pants because of nervousness. The song playing during the death scene of Gabby Eiganmann was also a perfect fit. It was dramatic and heartfelt at the same time. The operations of the cameras were also excellent as Director Ignacio managed wide and close up shots perfectly that add effects to the intensity of every scene. He being used in making commercial films also affected the use of words of the actors and actresses. In independent cinema industry, it is allowed to use vulgar words all throughout the scenes but in Asintado, the times that the characters spoke bad words are countable.

         To sum it all up, Asintado was a two thumbs up! I highly recommend it to everyone who always watch Independent films and to those who don’t also. Director Luisito Ignacio wanted to make a non-commercial film that will leave unforgettable scenes on our minds and I sure am that he accomplished that aim. He did a very great job in this film and I’m hoping to see more Ignacio films in the next Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festivals.

[ourcinemalayaexperience]

Behind the Magic: The Janitor by Kathleen Satuito

      The Janitor was one of the 5 out of 50 films chosen to be part of Cinemalaya’s “Director’s Showcase” Category, and for a good reason. Everyone who worked on this film worked magic.  The audience was aided by the elements of film in order to understand and appreciate the film; to unravel the magic. The elements of film were also used to manipulate the audience’s thinking.

       For the mise-en-scene, the roulette, a prop, was used in the gory torture scene. Its characteristic of slow movement heightened the anticipation in the audience; whatever result the roulette showed would help the audience predict what was going to happen to the victim in the film. Makeup was also used to help us connect the pieces; although we did not exactly see the victim being beaten up, the makeup alluded to the fact that he was. The landscape also told us where the scenes took place; there was no need to say it directly. For example, the scene showing a dilapidated and run-down building suggested that there were illegal deeds happening inside. Lighting helped to influence the our feelings; to unnerve us, many scenes used low-key lighting as a subliminal message that something bad will happen or is happening. For example, the fight scene between the main character and a suspect had a dark background and only the suspect was lighted, before he was shot to death.

        For the cinematography, different shots were used to express feelings and perceptions. The point of view shot was used when the main character saw that his father was taking advantage of his handicapped mother; making the audience identify with his anger at his father because we are seeing the situation from his point of view. Many close-ups and extreme close-ups showed the character’s feelings. For example, the extreme close-up was used on the torture victim’s skin to show sweat, signifying his nervousness and fear. Long shots were also used during chases to show the audience a clear view of what is happening; one example of which was when the police was chasing a suspect, a long shot showed how close he was to the suspect. Shallow focus was frequently used to draw attention to certain people or objects to allow us to predict the next action; like the fight scene where there the gun was focused on, and the background blurred, allowing audience to predict that the police was going to shoot someone.

        Sound was also manipulated to influence the tension within the film. An instance was the scene of the drugs bust. Silence was used as an allusion to ‘the calm before the storm’, to heighten the suspense. Then the ‘storm’, which is the sudden explosion of fast-paced sound effects like shouting and the banging of doors. The sudden contrast of sound worked to increase the tension of the drugs bust scene.

         We managed to interview the main character of The Janitor, Dennis Trillo, about Cinemalaya and his feelings about independent films. When asked about how he felt to have his films being one of the 5 chosen out of 50 films to be in the Director’s Showcase category in Cinemalaya,  he said he was very happy and proud to hear that it was chosen. We also asked about his experiences, to which he replied, “A lot. Many physical and emotional experiences happened to me”. Although independent films are gaining much notice, there is still no doubt that there are still people who don’t appreciate them. Dennis expressed that he believes they’re missing out on a lot, “there are so many films out there with great material and beautiful stories that I hope they’ll try to experience”.

        This film is one of my favourites in Cinemalaya, and I hope I’ll see more of these in the future.