By: Alexandra Megia
Eagle News
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Mise en place—A common practice in the culinary world meaning “putting in place” or “everything in its place.” A French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking.
And that’s how you make a movie!
Not really, but that’s the overall idea of making a movie. Careful planning and strategy. Making sure everything is in its place before fully emerged in production.
This is the theme for the second weekend of EBC Films’ Make it Reel workshop and seminars. Participants—aspiring actors and directors, learned the importance of pre-production before diving into the last seminar, Guerrilla Film Making.
“Pre-production is very essential in film making,” says EBC Films Producer Stephen Cruz. “Since film making really requires spending, an efficient pre-production helps us in maximizing each shooting day and lessens the cost of production.”
Visual Storytelling
During the pre-production process, one must think about how to translate the script into a visual story. Winston Catarroja, writer-director for films like “The Letter,” discussed the importance of Visual Storytelling. “Film is a visual medium,” says Winston. “in visual writing, descriptions must be in detail, so that you can tell a story even without dialogue.” Reminding participants that it’s important to “show more, not say more.”
In addition to Winston’s lecture, EBC Films’ own Carlo Cuevas shared some of his own techniques on how to turn a script into visual art. During this seminar, participants were able to collaborate and share their own thoughts and ideas with Carlo for the “How to Shoot a Scene” workshop.
Casting—Challenges for an Actor
Casting is a very important factor of film making. Casting the right actor, can make or break the film. Jon Lucas, actor on GMA series, “Descendants of the Sun,” touched on some challenges an actor could encounter. Sharing his own personal experiences, Jon advised the aspiring actors to “be ready when opportunities come” and fully appreciate and take advantage of it. “You’ll never know when the next opportunity will come.”
Jon also shared how it can be challenging being a Christian (Iglesia Ni Cristo Member) while working in an industry where Christian values aren’t in the foreground. “Act intelligently,” advises Jon. “Be responsible for your actions” and do what is right.
Putting Everything Together
Shooting a Scene – the last workshop before the big Guerilla Film Making weekend. This was an opportunity for Make It Reel participants to see how Carlo Cuevas shoots a scene.
Myn Tinio from San Fernando, Pampanga, drives 4 hours every week for MIR seminars. And today’s seminar was the biggest pay off. “We got to see how to really work on a short film, and how Direk (Director)Carlo works.” says Myn. The seminar also touched on the technical difficulties that a beginner filmmaker might encounter, but that shouldn’t stop them. Instead beginner filmmakers “should be inspired to try it out for themselves.”
“Director Carlo Cuevas taught us the different types of shots done on screen,” says Erwin Jay Dela Cruz, another Make It Reel participant from Nueva Ecija. Techniques on how to frame the shot and that acting, “should be natural, viewers should feel what you are trying to convey.”
Make it Reel’s Guerrilla Film Making competition just got more intense, with all the added knowledge and tools at their fingertips, the possibilities and creativity are endless. It seems everything mise en place for a great competition.
