A screenwriting workshop like no other
Today marks a milestone for me as the week-long advance screenwriting workshop under the tutelage of Sir Armando Lao, the master storyteller has come to an end. For the past few days of August 8-13, I found myself listening actively to Sir Bing about film writing, film jargons with bits of his short films that he let us watch. It was his way of incorporating all the things we learned in class and how it was commuted on screen.
The first few days were spent on the film theories followed by a few short films which he directed. One of the short films which made a huge impact on me is his Sulyap, a series of seven found short films which runs for about 20 minutes per film. As Sir Bing reiterates, found stories are derived from real-life events. The short films is composed of Apung Iru, Ginoo, Panunuluyan(Christmas procession), Tsubibo, PCOS, Undas, and Obando. Among my favourites were Tsubibo and Undas. The latter is a melodrama about a separated father who spends the whole Sunday with his daughter Krizzy. It is a poignant film but not too mushy. I love how he minimizes the use of dialogue in his film, and played on sound devices which help in the narrative voice of the writer. In short, it was more visual, less dialogue-that makes up an effective film. As for the Undas (Araw ng Patay or All Saints’ Day), it was about a mother who grieves over the death of his beloved son. Again, it was an excellent film because of the appropriate ideograms, picture representation of an idea used in the film. Also, I love how he treated the film. It was visually dynamic because the quality of the film and the fine storytelling. One favorite scene is when the dead son, clad in a white t-shirt is elevated in a higher walkway walking while his grieving mother carries the framed picture of her dead son along with his living brother. This scene illustrates the dead son watches over his mournful mother. In short, the dead watches over the living. These accounts are just some of the thoughtful lessons I’ve learned in Sir Bing’s class.
*note: This is a long overdue entry. I should have posted it last August 13,2011. But since I was pretty much preoccupied with a lot of stuff,it was only now that I have posted this entry. Nevertheless, enjoy everyone. Happy reading.;-)
The first few days were spent on the film theories followed by a few short films which he directed. One of the short films which made a huge impact on me is his Sulyap, a series of seven found short films which runs for about 20 minutes per film. As Sir Bing reiterates, found stories are derived from real-life events. The short films is composed of Apung Iru, Ginoo, Panunuluyan(Christmas procession), Tsubibo, PCOS, Undas, and Obando. Among my favourites were Tsubibo and Undas. The latter is a melodrama about a separated father who spends the whole Sunday with his daughter Krizzy. It is a poignant film but not too mushy. I love how he minimizes the use of dialogue in his film, and played on sound devices which help in the narrative voice of the writer. In short, it was more visual, less dialogue-that makes up an effective film. As for the Undas (Araw ng Patay or All Saints’ Day), it was about a mother who grieves over the death of his beloved son. Again, it was an excellent film because of the appropriate ideograms, picture representation of an idea used in the film. Also, I love how he treated the film. It was visually dynamic because the quality of the film and the fine storytelling. One favorite scene is when the dead son, clad in a white t-shirt is elevated in a higher walkway walking while his grieving mother carries the framed picture of her dead son along with his living brother. This scene illustrates the dead son watches over his mournful mother. In short, the dead watches over the living. These accounts are just some of the thoughtful lessons I’ve learned in Sir Bing’s class.
*note: This is a long overdue entry. I should have posted it last August 13,2011. But since I was pretty much preoccupied with a lot of stuff,it was only now that I have posted this entry. Nevertheless, enjoy everyone. Happy reading.;-)