This blog exhibits the various projects that I have produced, as well as the other multimedia works that I have engaged myself into. The Dynamic Expedition is about my continual quest in turning my ideas into reality by molding my capabilities into finished outputs.
Well, it's been a while. Anyway, I actually started working on this cover last May along with Runaway. It was my second (easier) option if ever I really couldn't finish the other. Fortunately, after quite some time, I did finish it. So I then proceeded working on Sweet Escape by Alesso. I found the song on my Soundcloud feed and I decided to queue it on my list since I liked the melody.
Just days away from the semester's opening, I managed to shoot all the rhythm clips but I was aware that I was already running out of time. I knew I couldn't finish it as I hoped.
After two stressful and exhausting months of college, we were given a one week break. I went home and took the opportunity to continue my unfinished project. It was good to be home because those two months were tough and terrible. As I departed the city, I wanted to leave all my worries as well. I guess I really needed that "Sweet Escape" out of my college miseries.
Okay, talking about the shooting and editing. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be especially for the chorus part where I had to shoot the lead melody by short clips because it was too fast to play and I couldn't shoot in one take. The structure isn't really the same as the previous songs; but it isn't as hard because I just had to repeat the verse and chorus twice. It's still quite exhausting but I was fulfilled in taking a new challenge.
Anyway, there's not really much activity on this video but it's memorable for me because of how the title of this song described what I felt in the process of making it.
I am so relieved that I have uploaded my third cover! The previous one was uploaded last May 15 and this one was last June 1. For a span of two weeks, I took a break from producing covers and I also had an island getaway for a day. Initially, my goal was to upload a video every week; meaning I should have had 5 full-cover videos at the end of the summer; but well, things don't really work out so smoothly as we expect them to be. Two days after I uploaded Safe in the Sky, I decided to take on the song "Runaway" by Dennis Sheperd and Cold Blue featuring the vocals of JES.
I've heard this song on Dennis Sheperd's album "Fight Your Fears". The album is an excellent compilation of the German producer's progressive trance songs. I've been a fan of him since 2012 when I heard his song, Edge of the World, which was also the song that got me into trance music. Up to this date, he is one of my favorite progressive trance producer because he's very consistent with his productions. He can incorporate his style into his every song without being too repetitive. Anyway, I was sure I would be covering one of his songs from the album but I just did not know which one was the best option. I tried working on 2 or 3 songs but I ended up doing Runaway because it was the song which stuck on my mind. It's not my favorite song from the album (and I can't choose any) but I like the chord progression of the song and the mood that it generates. One of the reason why I'm into this genre is because I like how the songs are structured and the chord progressions are more creative and interesting than mainstream songs. I guess many people wonder why I choose this genre because I know it's not really popular (especially in this country). If I were still into mainstream stuff, I'd probably have more views; but of course, I'd rather play the songs that I like rather than what pleases others. But the good thing also is that I have no competition in this genre. I know there are famous pianists who cover electronic music (Evan Duffy, Yana Chernysheva) but I don't know of any guitarists who do; so what I'm doing is something new and unique.
Always the first thing that I do, I listened to the song on Youtube and broke it into parts. The reason I use Youtube is because of the speed option; with this, I can listen to the song in half-speed and it helps me get the lead melodies. It was not that hard to get the chord pattern so it took me just a night to somewhat dissect the song. However, it was a combination of laziness and a drought of ideas that made me abandon the project indefinitely. I just could not find suitable plucking pattern for every part of the song. I wanted to preserve the mood of the song but I was really having difficulty. By now I think everybody should have known that I am a musically-inclined person; but to be honest, it's not really like I want to play guitar everyday (same goes to as being a writer). Sometimes that part of me is just not accessible and I don't want to force myself to. It's only on some occasions that I get that sudden surge of passion to play. That's also the reason why I am not considering being a musician as a main career. I am aware that I lack the creativity to be called a musician; and I believe I would not survive for long in this industry if ever I enter it. Although there is no doubt that I love what I do, I think it would be best if I do this for leisure only.
On the 28th of May, after having an unproductive week, I went back into shooting for this project. As I've said in my previous post, I rely on spontaneity and I keep on experimenting on new plucking patterns to suit to the song. Before I did that, I discovered something quite monumental for me. This song was on capo 2 with an Am-G-D-F-G pattern. It's a totally different progression from the first two covers that I did. When I tried doing the progression, I was uncomfortable with the D chord since its bass is the higher D and it sounded softer than the other bass notes that are on the E and A strings. Then out of nothing, I just had that "what if" moment. I freed the low E string from the Capo 2, leaving only the 5 other strings. I thought it was a crazy idea at first but I ended up using it for the whole project. It gave me more convenience in playing since I could now use the bass D note (actually the E but D in capo 2). If you don't get what I mean, here's a picture of it:
After that moment of serendipity, I was so motivated again to finish the project. I eventually found good patterns for the each part. There was not really much trouble after that; but on that week, the temperature ranged up to 34 °C; my lip actually cracked because of the heat. It was really hot shooting; after a minute of turning off the electric fan my shirt would already get soaked in sweat. (turning on the electric fan or the air conditioning would add background noise so I had to deal with it for 10 mins at most) Especially for the rhythm clips, it was challenging since I kept making mistakes and the heat added up to my agitation. But of course, I did my best to be patient and eventually, I finished shooting them in 3 sessions.
On the lead clips, I did not actually expect that this would be more sophisticated than the previous one. For this project, I reached 3 layers of audio for certain parts and it required more effort for me to put them together. It was a tough task. I've reached a point where I hated listening to it over and over again that even before I went to sleep it was still playing in my head. But despite all these, I was pretty sure I wanted to finish it as soon as possible.
I decided to tweet a screenshot of my project just for the sake of announcing it and unexpectedly, I got a response from one of the artists.
I thought it would just go unnoticed but wow, I somehow managed to get attention.
I could've uploaded this 2 days earlier but I was stalling on 2 particular parts of the song where I couldn't think of a lead. For the breakdown part, I knew it would not be good if I repeated that same melody for the entire part; so half of it was my own improvisation. I thought of adding the scales just to try something new and a random simple lead. It took me a considerable amount of time to create the short leads and finally lay them on the rhythm; and that delayed the whole project.
After rendering the video, it gave me a great sense of relief. I know there were a lot of things I've left unfinished; but this time I managed to overcome that. However, I did not have much expectations for this video; I thought it would end up the same as the previous two. For a moment I actually felt sad that I didn't have many views for both my videos. But then I remembered that my main objective in doing all these is not about getting views or heaping praise. Of course that's also important but if that were the case, I would've stopped with the second video. For me, the journey is more important than the destination; I find fulfillment in what I do and that keeps me going. This project was a symbol that I tried again because I didn't succeed in the previous attempts. Although it is stressful at times, it gives me a sense of direction and a goal that I like to work towards. I've always had that feeling that by now I should have created something; and this has been it. I know I'm a person who has my own world and I'm sure that's strange for other people. I admit if I were a different person I'd probably not understand why Daryll Evan is always posting these things. But well, I am that person who is engrossed of turning my ideas into reality and in the process, I slowly build that world of mine.
Anyway, I uploaded the video, did my usual thing posting on social media and reaching out to the artists. With the earlier connection I've established to one of the artists, I gained a little hope; but I knew it would still not be easy. I was not really that confident at all.
The next morning, I saw a post of JES on my newsfeed and I decided to give it a shot. I posted my video as a comment hoping it would get noticed. I left my laptop for a while and when I came back, what awaited me was one of the most important notifications I've ever received in my life.
I finally got a response I was overjoyed to know that I will finally be getting a share from an artist.
Maybe it's not so much of a big deal for others; but for me, it was a dream come true. I felt happy that my efforts finally paid off and it was great to hear sincere feedback from the artist as well. I am running out of words to fully express myself right now and I've posted a lot about this on social media; but I am just really thankful for this moment.
Right now, I am more inspired to continue what I do. I only have 3 days left before I leave for the city and go back for college; but I hope I could produce a last cover video for the summer. This summer has been really fruitful for me and I don't want it to end this soon; but I can't do anything with that. I have to fulfill a greater ambition, my main career as a civil engineer (hopefully).
Currently, I am still working on an easier cover. I don't have much time but I will do my best.
update: already heard from Dennis as well
more update: I couldn't finish my fourth cover, I ran out of time but I'll have to work on it as soon as I get back.
Here's another cover of mine; and it's a bit more different than the first one I did. This time, it's an uplifting trance track, while the previous was a progressive one. I know it's not really a popular genre but it's the kind of music I've been listening to for the past few years and it's what gives me inspiration. Basically, a trance track has higher tempo/bpm than a progressive one. It starts with a monotonous intro then as it progresses, the melody is introduced. The breakdown part is where it gets heavier but at the same time inducing that uplifting feel. Vocals are of course a plus factor but some still could stand alone and be a good track.
Anyway, this was my second project for the summer and I chose this song entitled "Safe in the Sky" which is produced by Lee Osborne and with vocals by Roxanne Emery. There are actually 5 other uplifting songs by Roxanne Emery on my playlist that I love but I chose this one first. After I finished my previous cover, I did not have a concrete idea of what was next. Although I have a list of songs for me to take on, I had to consider which was most achievable. That depends on the chord progression of the song; I'm most familiar with F-C-Am-G so it's what I've always been using.
Like I always do, I listened to the original mix of the song for me to somehow dissect it, know the elements, and familiarize with the structure. It was more challenging since it's structure was far more complex than a pop or progressive song. I had to write it down so I could take it on by parts.
It's the first time I've done this and I admit it's not the perfect way to translate my envisioned sound into text. I always mention that I only play by ear and that I can't read/write notes. Anyway, it still was helpful for me to know how many repetitions of a certain pattern I had to do for every part. The previous cover was less sophisticated so I just did everything mentally.
This project was so challenging that I almost wanted not to continue it. I have already shot a few clips for the rhythm part, then I kind of lost momentum when I kept making mistakes. It was not easy for me to cope up with the tempo. I almost opted for a slower version instead - almost similar with the first one; but I realized it didn't sound good. I realized it was best to preserve that trance element brought by the tempo, as well as its wonderful complexity. I also want to avoid being too repetitive; as much as possible, I must have a different approach to every song that I take on.
I wasn't really feeling motivated because I barely had ideas for this cover to take shape. I tried to continue shooting but strange enough that I did not enjoy it; I felt rather obliged than driven. As someone who is kind of a perfectionist, I did not want to fall short from the standard that I have set. I needed to have ideas but there were none. On that moment, it was pointless for me to continue so I thought of giving myself a break.
Two days later, I opened the project file and gave it a listen and realized that what I started wasn't really far off from what I imagined it to be. The other day, I thought of deleting it, thinking there was no way to finish it; but now I felt relief that I left it as it was. I found the motivation to continue and as I worked, the ideas arrived out of spontaneity. In two days, I managed to produce the rhythm and lead clips. Although there were some clips I had to re-shoot, it wasn't really that burdensome since I had set my focus on my goal. Simultaneously recording and arranging the clips was like constructing the puzzle pieces and putting them together. It's something I enjoy doing, and seeing the end product is just the greater consequence of it. Hearing the clips harmonizing together and achieving the complexity I wanted to replicate makes me feel contented. Once all these fell into place, I decided to apply modifications on some of the audio clips. I played the project through speakers and I noticed the bass drowned out all the other elements so I had to do something to reduce it. I don't really know much on audio editing but with the help of the internet, I was able to solve the problem.
I didn't really have much trouble on rendering except that the video was almost 5 mins so it took an hour to produce the final video file but of course it was worth the wait. I've uploaded it and right now it has very little views; but that's fine by me. I guess I just have to leave it there and wait. Anyway, as I've mentioned, there are 5 other trance tracks with Roxanne Emery vocals that I'd like to do as well. I hope in the future I could work on them; but right now I have a long list and I still have to think consider a lot of things. For the last weeks of summer, let's see what I can come up with.
Update: I have successfully interacted with the producer, Lee Osborne and it's great to hear feedback from him.
Hi, it's been a while since I uploaded a full cover video, 4 years actually; so right now, I am really happy to have produced something new. More than a month ago, I posted an audio clip of my cover on the same song. From the previous post, I explained on how I discovered the song and why I chose it. I've also said I wanted to make a complete cover since what I made was barely half-done. Recently, I got a webcam and it's video and audio quality are quite good so I did not have any hesitation to start shooting. I listened to the song again to familiarize with the progression and the lyrics. I realized that my chord progression from my earlier version was wrong so I changed it to suit to the correct one. With this change, it was easier to play the rhythm part. Unlike my previous one, I opted for the original arrangement of the song and I took out that part I made up.
There was not really much problem in shooting the video since the webcam doesn't run out of battery and it was easier and more efficient to use for recording. However, the background noise from the laptop is noticeable and other sounds as well (birds, chickens, etc) but I think it's not that bad anyway. I was recording and editing simultaneously to make sure the audio clips were synchronized. On the drop part, I decided to overlay lead tracks just to not make it sound bare. Before this,I didn't have any experience in doing my own leads so it's just actually improvisation. I've worked on the project for 4 days and used only Sony Vegas to put everything together. Apparently, I still have to shoot by parts since I'm so error-prone that I find it impossible to do a one-take shot. By this way, it's also easier to arrange the audio tracks. On the fourth day of working with this project, I was already done with it; but my next problem was on rendering. The problem with Vegas is that when you render the project as it is (same format from the video clips used), the file size is ridiculously large and takes too long to render. I searched on the internet on the best file type and found out that mp4 would be the best. The quality is preserved with minimal size, and I read it's also a good option for uploading to the internet.
When I was uploading the video, it was kind of nostalgic for me since for the past three years, I have been wanting to do this - to produce my music based from the kind of music that inspired me to do so. Right now I don't have much views but I know I have to give it some time. It doesn't really mean that I would just stop on this one, I'll surely give another try to keep myself going. It's what I love to do, and that's enough to fuel my persistence.
Anyway, I've reached out to the artists themselves through Facebook and Twitter and luckily, I got a favorite from the vocalist, Jonathan Mendelsohn himself; and I think that's already an assurance that he's seen it.
It's been a while since I made covers so here's the latest one I have came up with. Summer has just started and from the very first day I knew exactly what to do. I have been working on a lot of stuff lately and this one was the newest entry on the list. It may seem pretty odd but this was actually unplanned. After I took my last exam for the semester, on that afternoon, I immediately tried to improvise an arrangement for the song.
The first time I heard this song was on Armin van Buuren's radio show A State of Trance (episode 700 part 2). The song is entitled "This Time" and it is produced by Nic Chagall (1/2 of Cosmic Gate) and the vocals are by Jonathan Mendelsohn. I really love the melody of the song especially on the intro part; and I think it is really captivating.
In 4 days, I spent 5 sessions working on this one; each session ranged from 2 to 4 hours. I only used the tablet for recording so it's not really high quality (but I think it can suffice). What made it difficult was me being so error-prone; sometimes it takes me 20 or more clips to finally record the right one. Aside from this, I also had to avoid having background noise especially I have to layer the audio clips.
After some time spent in shooting and editing for this project, the end product is just probably 60% of what it's supposed to be. First off, I wanted to create a video but along the course of the project, I did a lot of editing on the audio clips that they wouldn't correspond to the video clips anymore. Also, this one is just a part of the whole ideal cover. I had to take the first two parts away since I really had difficulties in putting the rhythm and solo clips together. They just didn't seem to harmonize and that got me so frustrated. But of course it's better to produce some little output rather than letting the whole project go to waste. I also had to go home to my hometown the next day and leave my college apartment so I rendered what I could.
I know I may not have produced a 100% output for this project but working on it still gave me a sense of fulfillment. For me, it feels great to have produced something and this feeling motivates me to produce more in the future. Right now, I am staying hopeful that I can finish the things I have started so I could finally make the best of what I can today.
Lately, I've told you about my problem with recording my videos. Today I've managed to record and upload a very short video of me playing a part of my own song composition. I wasn't really planning to do this but earlier today, I immediately did this attempt after the idea came into my mind. I haven't really tried recording from the tab so I wanted to give it a shot. At first I wasn't so sure of the audio quality but it turned out to be better than I expected. It was pretty difficult trying to record since I couldn't hold the tab myself to come up with a good angle. I just let it lean on something to kept it standing while I was playing. So I started recording clips and eventually after more than 40 video shots, I chose a clip that was used in the video. After this, I recorded another video that would accompany the the part of the song. Next thing I did was editing the audio from the second clip by layering it with the first video. I did some minor tempo alterations and cuts to the add-on audio so that it would harmonize perfectly with the video track.
About the song, I have been working on it for some months now yet I still haven't figured out how I would finish it. I couldn't exactly trace the exact month and year on when I started this. It was just a G-C improvisation and now it's almost becoming into a song. I still haven't thought of the best title for it though. Anyway, please wish me luck since I'm not so sure if I could ever come up with a video for the whole song itself. Thanks!
David
Sykes is being pursued by someone he does not know. With the help of his
friend, Victor Lien, they learn that it is Daniel Aviles who is after him.
Aviles uses Miguel Evans to continue to spy on Sykes but Chuck tries to stop
him and save Sykes.
Who
is Daniel Aviles? What does he want from Sykes?
Cast :
David
Sykes - Manuel Variacion Jr.
Victor
Lien - Alain Carlo Bandal
Daniel
Aviles - Jan Francis Lagare
Miguel
Evans - Paul Michael Boco
Kaitlynn
Devera -
Christine Durano
Nicole
Torres - Vengeline De Leon
Chuck - Carl Anthony Mejares
Director - Daryll Evan Mancao
Producer - Daryll Evan Mancao
Screenplay - Dycee Anne Leopoldo
Visual
Effects -John Christopher Tan
DOP - Paul Eliaquim
Tero
Production
Assistant - Al Villanueva
Blood Bound - this was actually the biggest project I have worked on, and the most memorable one. Of course, I did not work alone; I worked with 12 friends who are very talented and cooperative. Though I was the one who produced and directed the movie, the total output was a product of a collective effort from the team. We may never have done it if not because of teamwork and cooperation. This movie was a final requirement for our computer class, and also the last project we did before we graduated high school together. It was never an easy journey in making a movie; we were only students with very little experience in filming. And aside from that, we had to work with the movie while we were finishing our studies in high school. The whole process was indeed stressful, the shooting, the editing, the conflicts of schedule with our other school subjects, and all the difficulties we have encountered.. However, we will always treasure all the memories that we've shared together as a team, and all the lessons that we've learned together. And most of all, we will never forget how we have triumphed amidst all the challenges that we have faced.
It all started on a Monday morning during our computer class. We still didn't have an actual plot for our movie. All we knew was that we wanted an action movie since most of us were guys and only three were girls. Our previous project was actually an action-comedy short film which composed of us 7 members, all guys. Now, the girls, originally from another group decided to join us for the final project; and with this, we decided to add a little touch of romance for our plot. We began discussing and eventually formed a plot through our own individual ideas. I was really amazed on how smoothly everything fell into place. We were already a bit pressured since all the other groups already started filming while we were still on the first step of our movie. But wow, our brainstorming actually amounted into something that gave us an overall idea on what we would be shooting for.
For the whole month of February, we were always occupied in the weekends because of shooting for the movie. Thankfully though, we were also allowed to shoot during the schedule of our computer classes. In filming the scenes, we only used one video camera and one digital camera. The digital camera, however, was only used for the underwater scenes. Our videographers John V, and Paul T did a great job even up to the most difficult angles, and the running shots. They also did some directing in both acting and cinematography. Having a videocam was really an advantage; it provides better quality for the video and audio. We shot the whole movie in HD and we didn't have to worry about the audio since its microphone is unidirectional; the dialogues were recorded clearly. Digicams have omnidirectional microphones which make their recorded audio full of background noise. With only one videocam though, it was really a pain on times when the battery gets depleted in the midst of the shooting. Some scenes were shot more than once, but in different angles for better cinematography. Often times, we had to wait for the battery to be recharged; sometimes, we had to continue the shooting on a different day. We did not do the shooting from the first scene to the last; we usually shot them depending on which venue we were scheduled to shoot in. We had to be consistent with the costumes since the costumes of the characters depended on which scene we were shooting. Most of the time, they brought more than one set of costume in one shooting session. Another problem was choosing the appropriate venues. We shot most of the scenes inside the LIDE compound - on the pool, on the road, on the tennis court, on the beach, and on the houses of our members. There were two venues where we were not allowed to shoot in but we were lucky to find alternative spots. Aside from this, transferring from venue to venue was really tiresome and time-consuming since we had to walk with all our costumes and props under the heat of the sun. About the actors and actresses, we didn't really have much problems with them, just some very minor issues - like being late. Our lead characters -Manuel, Carlo, Christine, Paul B, Jan and the supporting characters - Carl, and Venge did a great job in their acting. the action scenes were choreographed by the characters themselves. However, there were some conflicts with schedule with our other school responsibilities. One time, we had to skip a clearance-signing just to finish our shooting. One member also met a minor motorcycle accident; but thankfully he was not badly injured. Time was our enemy; we had to shoot everything scheduled on the day before the sun would set. However, we were almost always behind schedule, and there were scenes that we were not able to shoot because we ran out of time. Some of the last scenes were even shot when the editing was more than halfway already.
...
The editing was the best part for me. Well, directing was kind of difficult and stressful; and editing was also stressful but I was so enthusiastic in working with it because I already had much experience on it. I was feeling euphoric the entire time seeing everything coming together. It's like the process wherein you are actually turning your ideas into reality. It all started on paper and now it's really becoming a film. One day we were just discussing ideas, and now we're already witnessing all those coming to life. Together with my friend, John Tan, we edited the videos scene by scene. He was in charge of the scenes that needed special effects, and I worked on the remaining scenes. We were really lucky to have him in the group since he's really skilled in video editing, special effects, and other multimedia and computer stuff. Day and night we worked on the editing for 3 days. During these days we didn't only work for the movie, we also came up with a teaser video, and an official trailer to make it more legit. I was really so excited in seeing the final product so I wanted everyone to share our excitement through those short vids. Scene by scene, we gradually finished editing; and after all the scenes were already finished, we compiled the various scene clips to compose the movie clip itself. Then we added the title and the credits. At last, the 50-minute movie was now ready. Screenshot of the video-editing process: We thought our troubles were over; but more struggles were yet to come. Now we had to do the most tedious and exasperating process - the rendering. It's the process wherein your project is converted to a video file. Through my video editing experiences, this was always the greatest challenge. Rendering takes too much time, even a 3 minute video might reach up to an hour of waiting. It also takes much space if the output format is in good quality. And to think that this project was a 50-minute HD video, the difficulty level is exponentially heightened. The first time we rendered it, there was an error when it was more than halfway of the process. It was such a dilemma since we have been anxiously waiting for it to finish rendering for more than 3 hours. The output video was not complete, and the file size reached up to 100+ gb- which is insanely large for any single file. Good thing we had an external drive with a 1 terabyte capacity. We had no choice but to delete it and re-do the rendering process. The next attempt was finally successful, but still with a very large file size. We finally viewed the video, after all our uncontainable mixed feelings of excitement and anguish. On the first minutes of the video, it was all smooth; but on the middle part, the audio did not match with the video. It was really frustrating. Again, no choice, so we did the rendering again. It was no joke since rendering really takes almost half a day. Finally, after all the failed attempts and forever of waiting, a perfect video file was produced - except with its file size. We searched on the internet on how to solve that problem and we found out that it's either we had to change the video output preferences or probably use a program that could compress the video file. Well, it was John who searched for a means to compress the video since I didn't know anything about those stuff. Later on, I received some unbelievably good news. The 133 GB video was compressed down to 350 MB! That's a very unimaginable difference! I really couldn't believe it; there must have been some sort of sorcery. Then we watched the entire compressed video. I was feeling so ecstatic the entire time; because we have actually triumphed against the great adversities that we were faced with. And despite the compression, the video's HD quality was preserved; the video was excellent, and the audio was clear. Finally, our movie was ready! The last step was to burn the video into DVD discs; and I did work on it from that night until the morning of the next day - nonstop. It took some time since I had some difficulties; but those were just negligible compared to the previous ones. That morning, we passed our final project to our teacher.
Here's the preview:
And the official trailer:
Here's the full-length movie:
After all those exhausting yet fulfilling times of shooting and editing, we rested for a week. Those times, our movie, alongwith the other entries were simultaneously shown in the computer lab of our school. The impact was phenomenal. It was really funny how our actors and actresses became celebrities for a week with our younger schoolmates calling them with their screen names. Not only that, even some of our teachers asked for copies of the movie and they actually liked it. I have also uploaded the movie online on my Youtube account so that our distant friends, family and relatives could view. The positive feedbacks we received were indeed incredible. Then came March 11 - the 2nd ECAY Film awards. Our crew, and all our other batchmates dressed up our best for the event. We took pictures, and had some chat with our friends to somehow ease that nervousness.
...
It was the time when our movie entries would be judged and given awards. The program started with each movie recognized and each group were called on stage. Then finally the awarding began. In every award, fragments of video clips were To sum it all up, here are the awards we have garnered:
Best in Visual Effects John Christopher Tan
Best Actor Manuel Variacion, Jr.
Best in Cinematography Paul Eliaquim Tero, John
Vincent Magaway
Best Director Daryll Evan Mancao
Best Editing Blood Bound
Best Musical Score Blood Bound
Best Motion Picture Blood Bound
Wow. With every award we got, we were all jubilant; all our extensive efforts actually paid off. Those weeks of shooting, those days of editing, those hours of rendering - they amounted into something greater than we have expected. And even if we didn't receive these awards, all the memories and experiences we have shared together as a group are immeasurably more meaningful to each of us. Those awards were just consequences of our effort as a team; it was not something we aimed for from the start. It's more of trying to do a good movie, and enjoy the process of it. I do not really remember everything I have said on my speeches; but I was very thankful to my members, and even to all my batchmates. Even though there were grouped into different contingents, there was never an atmosphere of competition; it was more of a very triumphant celebration for all of us as a batch.
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The last speech was when everyone of our cast were called on stage for the best motion picture. On that moment, I thanked every member of my cast for doing their individual roles excellently. It would never had been successful if not because of their cooperation and support. I greatly acknowledged all the sacrifices they have committed for this project, and our parents who were supportive of our endeavors. I also mentioned all the difficulties we have encountered during the production of the movie, and how we triumphed on each. I wanted to let everyone know how a collective team effort can overcome the greatest challenges. I was honest in saying I almost gave up on that movie; I greatly doubted myself because first, I never saw myself as a leader. Second, I barely knew anything on making a movie; and I didn't think it was even possible for me to do it. But the trust and support of my members were firm enough to break my fear and doubts. They were always there to support me, and to console me when I was almost giving up. If not because of them, the movie may have never been possible. And I also thanked our computer teacher, Mr. Ryan Ramos, for being a supportive and understanding mentor, and most of all - for giving us the opportunity to engage in this wonderful experience in film-making. It was the most meaningful and most memorable project that I have passionately worked on. And that moment on stage was one of the best moments of my life. It's when I actually understood the concept of leadership; it is bringing the best out of your members, and letting them see a common goal. We were all euphoric on stage, we were teary-eyed because of the immense joy that we were experiencing. I almost broke down in the middle of the speech, and most of the members were already crying so I had to end it after everything I wanted to say were expressed.
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Up to today, May 2, 2014, I still treasure that very meaningful day; and all those friends whom I shared wonderful memories with. I haven't heard much from them ever since we entered college; but sometimes they send me messages, asking about how life has been. Well, I thank you for remembering me; and I want to let you know that this blogpost is dedicated to all of you. I wrote this to preserve the feelings in that short wonderful time we have shared. Thank you for being a part of the best moments of my life. Thank you for all the memories, and lessons we have been through. Thank you for being for being a huge part in that expedition where we turned ideas into reality.
