On a whim, I decided to create Film Fridays. 🙂 Basically, it’s a feature about my film-related experiences that I’d like to share with my readers.

As you may have gleaned from my previous posts, I am film student. Currently doing my post-grad studies in UPFI. Why Film? I love movies, that’s the easiest way to answer it. 🙂 I know there are certain levels: from movie fans to film lovers, from cinephiles to movie geeks. I’m simply a movie fan. Hindi pa naman die-hard. And I don’t assume to be an all-knowing moviegoer. :))

I’m doing this thread because there might be people who are interested to read about my experience (how assuming! Hehe) Not really about me, but the knowledge and insights I’ve picked up from the workshops, conferences and trainings connected to movies or filmmaking.

In this first instalment, let me share with you some photos from the latest workshop I signed up for. It’s a free one courtesy of Panasonic. I heard it through Mr. Alex Ruelo, whom I met when I purchased my Lumix cam months ago.

It’s a cinematography workshop with the internationally-acclaimed director and cinematographer, Raymond Red.

I’d really love to learn more about cinematography. There’s something magical and intimidating about it that bewilders me ever since! So when they offered a free pass for this one, I’m all-out game for it! Who would resist?

It’s easy to take lighting for granted. I guess we barely go into its details when we’re home or when we’re outside- at the mall, the park or elsewhere. In this workshop, Mr. Red gave us a preview of what it means to be a cinematographer: lighting a scene, improvising on the spot depending on the weather and room conditions, working with models and directors. And these are just some of the very basics of the craft.

There were two models who became the subjects of the scene. They were asked to sit on a table and converse with each other. As they did, Mr. Red tasked the guys especially the gaffer to follow his instructions. What color temperature to use, How to adjust the lighting ratio, where to place the lights according to the blocking, how to capture the moment using the camera (we used the Panasonic EVA 1), and so on.

To be honest, it can be really overwhelming to hear all these pieces of information being thrown at us all at once! And I’m already a film student at that! What more if you’re just a regular moviegoer who doesn’t have a clue about filmmaking? It can be daunting. But I guess that’s the challenge: to never give up once something intimidating comes up. And that applies to anything in life. (Awow hugot)

Seriously, I’d love to know more about cinematography. 🙂

Sharing more pics below!