Mini-break

The storyline for the shortfilm I'm planning to produce is coming in quite well. It's not audacious or anything overtly experimental as I earlier planned, rather, something very subtle, very contained -- the world I have lived in for the past 2 years. As I mentioned earlier, I don't (in fact, never) want to be apologetic for my work in terms of independent and non-commissioned films (for commercial films however, what the heck! I'm pretty adaptable anyway). For now, there are elements in my upcoming short that may be a bit unnerving (especially to my friends! wehehehehe) and probably downright shocking (for my relatives, if ever they get to see it), but I promise to myself that the 1st time will be in good taste (though it may hurt a little) and it would be in the tradition of being a truly artistic endeavor.

This is a NO BUDGET film, which means you won't be seeing any burning cars or cool Matrix-inspired karate scenes, no surreal lighting (oh how I wish....), not even the musical scoring of my choice because I can't pay for licenses and stuff. I hope my main actors won't be charging me for their acting. I'd only be able to promise them an amount if I WIN the contest. Who knows... In the meantime, steamed okra lang kaya ko.

Anyway, I've been at the storyline picking at all the crevices and asking second opinions from my now-employed friend. I wanted the sequences to be acceptably clean-cut before I start writing the script, at least to be able to see a satisfactory overview of the events before I go work on the nitty-gritty of Taglish conversation. I'm reading Ricky Lee's TRIP TO QUIAPO scriptwriting manual while at the same time I'm thinking of the concepts and characters. So far so good! I'm right on schedule Ü

I had a panic attack though when I talked to my friend yesterday. He asked me what the MESSAGE of the film was. I was dumbfounded. My mind just stopped working. It pretended to be in deep thought via the falsely suggestive reticence on my part on the phone. My mind went blank. There WAS no message and I never really intended for it to have one.

I went to Malik's computer shop today to try to sort things out. I felt I've become overly critical of the story and wanted to cut the story short becuase I feared it would exceed 20 minutes. Go down to the quintessence of the human experience alighting my idea and focus on the dialogue between the characters instead of focusing on the scenes and exposition via imagery (which I thought I was doing too much of). I was outside the shop sitting on the front steps beside the open parking lot of the building, checking out people playing tennis and people passing by trying to get a jeepney ride for their trip to Quiapo. I discussed with Malik the ins and outs of my plot and its treatment. He said it was ok, and that some parts can be modified through dialogue. I also realized during our conversation that like a painting, a film is an artform and as such, it doesn't necessarily have to have a message all the time. Like a painting, it is a representation of life as interpreted by the artist, by the director. It is up to the audience to either appreciate or abhor, the form in which creativity wished to express a facet of the world.

With this realization, I concluded that I am ready to start embarking on a writing trip. Wherever the journey brings me, may it be the birth of my firstborn.