(SYNOPSIS) Our daily activities can be repetitive, as routine as clockwork. Eventually, it will dawn upon every one of us that time lost can never be regained.

Based on excerpts from The Timekeeper by Mitch Albom

Producer & Director: Samantha Denise Ulita

Videographer & Editor: Samantha Denise Ulita

Executive Producer: Raz dela Torre

Type of Production: Video Production – Fiction

TRT: 4m 3s

Videography (BC 144) 1st Semester, AY 2015-2016

University of the Philippines Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

If you were to die today, what would you say to the one you love?

Producer: Erl Chak Navalta
Director: Erl Chak Navalta
Cinematographer, Editor: Erl Chak Navalta
Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre
Type of Production: Video Production – Poetry
TRT: 3m 5s

Videography (BC 144)
1st Semester, AY 2015-2016
University of the Philippines-Diliman
Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

The red string of fate ties together two destined souls… or so they say.

An interpretation of the poem, “You Who Never Arrived” by Rainer Maria Rilke, this production depicts the musings of a girl who longs for her soulmate.

Producer & Director: Yanna Heramia
Videographer & Editor: Yanna Heramia
Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre
Type of Production: Video Production – Poetry
TRT: 3m 49s

Videography (BC 144)
1st Semester, AY 2015-2016
University of the Philippines Diliman
Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

A young lady gets reminded by it girl Alexa Chung about the helplessness of being heartbroken, the silly things that one thinks about an ex-lover, and the deceitful quality of Instagram.

Producer & Director: Leanne Malicdem

Videographer & Editor: Leanne Malicdem

Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre

Type of Production: Video Production – Autobiography

TRT: 3m 5s

Videography (BC 144)

1st Semester, AY 2015-2016

University of the Philippines Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

Be calm, loosen your grip, opening each palm slowly now, let go.
Based on Shane Koyczan’s spoken word poem, “Instructions For A Bad Day”.

Director and Producer: Jag San Mateo
Videographer, Editor, and Production Designer: Jag San Mateo
Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre
Type of Production: Video Production – Spoken Word
TRT: 3m 07s

Videography (BC 144) 1st Semester, AY 2015-2016
University of the Philippines Diliman
Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

With age comes wisdom, with youth comes confusion. Given the chance, what would you tell your younger self?

Based on a poem by Helene Enriquez

Directed & Produced by Tati Guno

Videographer & Editor: Tati Guno

Executive Producer: Raz dela Torre

Type of Production: Video Production – Poetry

TRT: 3 m 39 s

Videography (BC 144)

1st Semester, AY 2015-16

University of the Philippines – Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

How much of today are you aware of? How much can you see, feel, and taste? Based on Exploration #45, an excerpt from How to be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith, As I See takes a girl to places she’s never been to before. And maybe, just maybe, to a place too familiar to even recognize.

Producer & Director: Danielle Mortel Fuerte

Videographer & Editor: Danielle Mortel Fuerte

Executive Producer: Raz dela Torre

Type of Production: Video Production – Journal

TRT: 3m 5s

Videography (BC 144) 1st Semester, AY 2015-2016

University of the Philippines Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

Sometimes, it just takes a little make-up to hide the dark circles under my eyes. I wish it were just as easy to hide the dark thoughts in my mind.

Producer: Jesse Rasco

Director: Jesse Rasco

Cinematographer, Editor: Jesse Rasco

Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre

Type of Production: Video Production – Poetry

TRT: 3m 50s

Videography (BC 144)

1st Semester, AY 2015-2016

University of the Philippines – Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

For the longest time, I had this preconceived notion that if you are a creative person, chances are you are highly unorganized.

Picture this:

A visual artist going to bed with splotches of paint on his hands, hair, and clothes. Normal.

A singer/songwriter sleeping on top of a mountain of crumpled papers of lyrics she’s been working on for weeks. Typical.

A chef who just cooked a mighty good meal leaving the pots and pans to wash the next day. Totally acceptable.

“If it’s all for the pursuit of perfection, a little (to a ton) of mess is acceptable and even necessary,” I always thought to myself.

Now, I realize I am terribly wrong with this theory, especially when applied to the television arts. As I get to know people who are practicing in the industry, it seems all the more improbable.

Artists need not be messy. The pros are pros because they know exactly what they are doing.  In fact, the highest form mastered should be so precise, clean, and almost surgical.

And if there is one thing I learned in our BC 144 class under Sir Raz, it would be that videography is an art. Observing a working set showed me that the form requires a lot of rethinking of intention, attention to detail, and mastery as much as any other masterpiece.

But then of course, videography alone does not make the TV production. Something as grueling as a shoot can’t possibly be pulled off by simply one line of work. You will always need the help of a crew, unless you have superpowers. The very nature of the collective media production breeds the need for different fields of expertise and genuine collaboration among the members.

Our BC 144 class under Sir Raz had the honor of visiting The Maalaala Mo Kaya set and we had the chance to observe and learn from the pros. I saw the staff and crew work confidently, sort of like a well-rehearsed symphony orchestra of the widest range of instruments, all doing their part, bringing to life a breathtaking musical concert.

There is a science to the madness, or rather insanely organized madness. The person responsible for this is the producer.

He/she makes sure that everything falls into place. A lot is riding on him/her all throughout the process – from funding, planning, production, up to post-production. He/she must capitalize all resources to give life to the seed of a concept. They will be ready to do absolutely anything for the realization of the vision.

They also have the vital task of filling their crew with competent people who will carry out the vision of the director amidst all constraints, emergencies, and deadlines. The trick is to put up a team that’s good at what they do and work together very well.

The producer’s main weapon is his/her communicating and negotiating skills. He/she will employ instruments such as production organizers, schedules, budgets, planners in order to do the job. These will then guide the staff and crew on the particulars on how to play their part which the producer will follow up all throughout.

In our lecture with Che, a producer from Plus Side Creatives, she highlighted the quote: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

This hit me the hardest. Of course, it got me thinking of what stresses I went through during a couple of my projects in and outside class. So many cases of rushing pre-production meetings, looking for talents a bit too close to the shoot, forgetting to bring a tripod and extra batteries. If it were a professional set, I would much likely receive a tongue-lashing.

Failure to plan and not having the foresight for possible problems as early as the pre-production can be detrimental to your project’s success. It is not advisable to depend on luck because it will eventually and most certainly will run out.

Here’s a couple of pearls of production wisdom I’ve picked up on the set visit, and in and outside class about work ethics and dynamics on set.

Be excellent at what you do, no matter how big or small the task. Because the production process is highly organized, there is an established assembly line and a set hierarchy of roles.

The videographer heads the camera and lighting departments, sound department, electrical department, the technical director, the cameramen and cam operators, gaffers and grips. It is no easy job coordinating with that much people, so it is best if everyone pulls their own weight and delivers.

Humility can also go a long way. Especially if you’re just starting out, put your pride aside and do the little and less fancier things with a smile. Humility also in the sense that you’re willing to listen to and accept constructive criticism from others.

Wear running shoes. You could see the staff and crew donning this footwear staple on set. This was also recommended during our productions in BC 104. The idea is to be quick on your feet because time’s a wasting. Money is being spent every second of the production. With every delay the cost of production piles up for the permits, the talent fees, the location fees, the equipment rental, the food expenses, etcetera. Of course, there is a deadline that must be strictly followed too. No pressure.

One guy who endorses this is Matt Siegel, a renowned director of photography in Hollywood who has a love for a great pair of sneakers. In addition to having the ease of movement, he said a flashy pair of sneakers makes him not take himself too seriously, which keeps him sane working in Hollywood.

Double check everything. When you’re in charge of handling equipment, your task is to guard it all throughout the shoot. One must ensure that they are in tiptop shape and will never get lost. Professional equipment are wildly expensive and a set is no place to be careless. It is imperative to stand beside the crates and ready yourself for any request for change of batteries, lenses, or extension cords to save precious time as well. There is a lot of cases in our experience as students that we lose our things because we disregard the importance of set down. It is a good habit to keep things in the same areas so that you easily get to see if you packed them.

Mistakes are a part of life. When someone commits a human error, there is no point going full Hulk on them. Instead of letting rage overcome you, think of a solution. During a friendly conversation with one of the cameramen on set, he told me that he likes this trait of Sir Raz as a director. Most directors shout at you when you do something wrong, he said, “but that does not really achieve anything.” Direk Raz always treats the staff and crew with respect, and if something goes wrong he’ll first try to think of a creative solution for it. He said this made him feel good working with him. “Idol ko ‘yan si Direk!” he grinned.

“The more unnoticeable your job, the better.” One of the things I got from our midterm production is that the task of the videographer and the production designer is to suspend disbelief. All caught on screen must be flawless and realistic because you are taking the audience into a world of make believe.

A jolt of the camera can wake them up from the dream you are trying to weave, making them aware of the presence of the camera and the nervous guy operating it. Missing wrinkles on the actor’s supposedly older forehead will make the production lose its credibility and will not win a Best in Production Design award in any film festival. You would also have to check the screen whether you yourself would believe your story.

Get to know the people, if time permits. Relax and make friends with the crew. “Telling stories is a fun job, we love what we do,” Sir Raz said the meeting before we are supposed to visit the MMK set. And it shows that they do love what they are doing and are having fun. There is a sense of professionalism on set and it is a joy to observe them work and bicker every now and then. “At the end of the day, fun is to be had when you’re doing your job well,” he said.

Do not overstep your bounds, let others do their job and you do yours… except in cases when you really have something constructive to say and know for certain that that can improve the production. Don’t meddle your nose too much in other people’s work.

If anything else, keep busy within your own department. If there is absolutely nothing else to do, then that’s when you may relax and observe and maybe suggest. But otherwise, let your inner micro-manager self take a backseat and trust that your colleagues are competent enough to handle their tasks themselves.

Make the actors feel comfortable on set. They have enough pressure weighing on them to deliver a good performance. There has to be someone ensuring that they are well taken care of.

In the sequence on the Katipunan footbridge with Inigo Pascual and Miles Ocampo, the two had to walk barefoot on the sun-baked concrete at the hottest time of the day. Direk had a personal assistant fetch a pail of water for the two to soak their feet in during breaks, a simple thing that is a huge breather for the talents.

Let the only concern that would be running in their minds is how to give justice to the character they’re playing. Eliminate the distractions as much as you can as a talent coordinator or production assistant.

And, finally, the last and most important advise is to plan, plan, plan. Prepare plans A-Z. So much effort will be saved if there is a good pre-production. For the producer, this is the road to a stress-free happy life. Once you have a solid pre-production meeting, almost half of the fight is already won.

At the end of the day, making sure that the message is put across effectively is what matters most. We are, after all, mass communicators therefore we must find it natural to tell stories. We must strive to educate ourselves and become competent in our skills.

There are more pearls of wisdom to be picked up in time, and know that the best things are to be learned through experience. Don’t be afraid to fail, timidity will destroy you. Have a bold and venturesome spirit. Put to practice what you learn as much as you can. Master the work ethics through experience and everything will be second nature to you.

“Repeated failure will toughen your spirit and show you with absolute clarity how things must be done.” – Robert Greene
(Although, getting it right the first time would be awesome too!)

Habang naglalakad pauwi, may mapagtatanto ang isang mag-ina.

Producer: Yanna Heramia

Director & Writer: Manuel San Mateo

Director of Photography: Samantha Ulita

Editor: Jerome Orejana

Production Designer: Almira Abril

Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre

Type of Production: Video Advertisement

TRT: 01:35

Videography (BC 144)

2nd Semester, AY 2013-2014

University of the Philippines-Diliman

Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

(Synopsis) “Mahal ang condoms, pero mas mahal ang magpa-aral ng mga anak.”

Producer: Kate Berbano
Director: Louis Hipos
Cinematographer: Leanne Malicdem
Editor: Erl Navalta
PD: MC Sacay
Executive Producer: Raz de la Torre
Type of Production: Videography Practicals – Advertisement
TRT: 1m 35s

Videography (BC 144)
1st Semester, AY 2015-2016
University of the Philippines – Diliman
Department of Broadcast Communication, College of Mass Communication

Huwag hayaang mapundi ang ilaw ng tahanan.

Project: Durex – “Hapag”
Duration: TVC 60s Master
Production House: Firefly
Advertiser: Durex

Director & Writer: Danielle Fuerte
Producer: Apple Cruel
Director of Photography: Tati Guno
Editor: Marc Mozo
Production Designer: Jesse Rasco
Lighting Director: Ron Mosot
Cast: Ivy Dela Cruz & Van Sulitas
Voiceover: Christel Lagdameo

Videography (BC 144)
1st Semester, AY 2015-2016
University of the Philippines – Diliman
Department of Broadcast Communication
College of Mass Communication