Inktober Phase 3

For the third week of Inktober, we're featuring the sketches by artist Siamese Rat.  Comedic and subversive, Siamese Rat's doodles are a gothic play on Philippine mythos, games and the humor of the everyday. 

Day 1 Beware of bootleg haplas

Day 2  Ang cumlaude

Day 3 Ang original tandok

Day 4  DEATH & PRANING

Day 5 DEATH & PRANING 2

Day 6 KAPRE SA MAKAHIYA

Day 7 st. struggle

Who Wants to Be a (Fully Funded) Filmmaker?

Getting bankrolled for a screenplay worth even a few hundred thousand pesos isn't as easy as picking low-hanging fruit.

Photos taken at this year's Qcinema

Following the money trail

Grants for short films can sum to Php30,000, and a full-length up to a few millions. Cinemalaya 2017 finalists receive Php750,000 in production grant. The QCinema International Film Festival hands over seed money pegged at 1M. Meanwhile, the CineFilipino Film Festival fetches in grants at1.5M. Cinema One Originals bags in 2M. In some years, these grant-giving bodies have either lowered or upped their funding a notch.

But what is it really like to get funding for a film?

Photos taken at this year's Qcinema

Paper talks

Convincing a panel of established individuals to fund your concept is daunting enough. For an independent filmmaker based in Visayas or Mindanao, it usually means paying—investing, really—for your airfare to Luzon where many central offices are located.

When you get that go signal, the effort that follows is where the rubber meets the road.

Any freelance worker will know how it feels like to work and operate on the basis of a promise or a written contract.  Funding is almost always by tranche, so there is often little you can do with delays in payment, even after deliverables are up and looking good. Filming on that scheme is just as familiar.

Time is never on your side, even with the best planning. Jumping ahead even without the moolah can sometimes be your only choice when you have a definite festival date to think about. For full-length films, imagine paying a few hundred thousand pesos to fund pre-production with money you do not have yet, which goes to pay tangibles for constructing sets and paying for raw materials and props. Some of the money goes to down payment for cast and crew, unless they are fine without it during the early stages. In other words, all these are what will get the motor running to a well-oiled production; it will take money to get things rolling.

Why not obtain financial support from other established sources? Sure, extra producers mean more money. With more money and more people wanting to get involved, you tend to be obliged to listen to more mouths, possibly compromising your artistic vision in favor of personal opinion.

Photos taken at this year's Qcinema

Name game

Many film festival panelists will encourage you to hire actors whose names will ring a bell to the paying audience. Recently, a film panelist sent a team of filmmakers from Mindanao a photograph of a half-naked Moreno with a full set of abs and gym-toned arms. They were told to consider the actor for their lead role. His presence can fill up the screen even without doing much, but could he have traversed a virgin forest to the location every day, speak the native language perfectly, walk across a batang, and climb a tree full of fire ants?

Famous names and good-looking actors on your set can get you instant following and hype, and if a star-studded cast matters more than the storytelling, then by all means hire a Mercedes Cabral or a JM De Guzman. Ultimately, if the peg does not fit the mold, why should creative integrity be sacrificed for the idealized but detached wishes of panel members?

Photos taken at this year's Qcinema 

Give or take

Biting the hand that feeds you is beside the point. Film grants are de facto collaborations between grantors and grantees. All grantors begin with the vision to infiltrate hard-up and hard to reach independent minds through available resources. The road to storytelling for a big production can be a logistical nightmare without proper funding and here are opportunities up for grabs every year.

If grantors leave you to your own creative flow, then congratulations—you are able to make a film to the best of your own devices. If you get stuck with funders that impose, suck it up and smile—or get through it and warn others about their wicked ways. After all, grant-giving bodies with a bad reputation will reap their own rewards soon enough.

--

The author has recently been part of a team of filmmakers trying to get funding from a local government organization

Words by: Anna Miguel Cervantes

Inktober Phase 2

This time we're featuring a few inktober pieces from graphic artist and illustrator Kathryn Layno

Day 1 Prompt: Fast

Day 2 Prompt: Noisy

Day 3 Prompt: Collect

Day 4 Prompt: Hungry

Day 5 Prompt: Sad

Day 6 Prompt: Hidden

Day 7 Prompt: Lost

Day 8 Prompt: Rock

Notes on the Art of Spoken Word

It Begins With Hugot 

Spoken word poetry seems to be all the rage in the city these days.   The performance art has spread across the region like an unchecked strip of rashes, making its way as another infectious millennial trend in many “literary” events.   

Last month I attended the book launch of the work of a respected balakera from Cebu. The event was tied in with a poetry reading hosted by a group of students and I was surprised that many of the performers were spoken word enthusiasts. I had hoped for a more… somber and insightful poetry session, however I was greeted with an excessively loud group of college kids in search of the hugot factor instead.  

The attendees filled up the space with their sheer numbers and brought with them unvarnished and candid word play in their spoken word pieces. While a few did manage to stand out, many of the so called spoken word "poets" blasted on and on, clearly losing hold of the sense of craftsmanship and artistry.

A large chunk of the performances were dedicated to hugot, and poorly written ones at that. Many of the pieces ended up as loud odes of everything mawkish, sappy and stale. It's as if millennials have decided to take spoken word as a hip new medium which they can use to rant and rave about their crushes and puppy loves. You know, like a cool kid would.

Ugh.

 As if Lang Leav quotes weren’t bad enough.

While there really is nothing wrong with good ( again emphasis on good) spoken word, it seems like there's only a select few in the current spoken word scene who give out great performances here in the city.

Pieces that speak about the temper of the times, and pieces about relevant advocacies are always good to listen to—especially when they’re well-written.  Pieces about love written with fresh imagery and style aren't all that bad either. In fact, new metaphors for love can be refreshing.

However many in the current scene care so little about the actual art of spoken word. Instead, performances are reduced to trashy word vomit as people begin to mistake volume for quality. Performers often try to force words into a tone and style that has become the brand of their movement.

Observe and you'll hear the same kind of cadence, the same rhythm,  the same style.  Many of these so called spoken word "poets" use listickles (eg. “10 reasons why I don't like spoken word in Cebu 1. It almost always begins in a list 2. Performers sound so trite 3.... ”), which isn't entirely bad when used correctly.

What's alarming is that many think that if they sound a certain way, they can pass their performance off for spoken word. Worse, many more cling to the same,old, tired clichés.

Spoken word here in the city is barely about the art of good stage performance and has instead simply become  about the rush that comes from being on stage.

Isn't it exhilarating when you thoughtlessly exhibit all your unfettered feelings of kilig even though your limited vocabulary, pale imagery and brash performance quality becomes a sin? 

Okay, so maybe we're being too hashtag fierce.  Lets try to make a few considerations.

Maybe these performers have just been trying to do poor versions of pieces done by popular international spoken word artists like Sarah Kaye, Phil Kaye, Neil Osborn and the like.

Maybe they’ve been taking notes from the now popular local Northern spoken word performers like Juan Miguel Severo who makes do with common imagery and lines of hugot.

Maybe they just don't care about spoken word as an art form; they're just in it for the ride. Go up on stage, get noticed, rake in the applause. Gush and blush, because now  "I am an artist of spoken word. I've been up on stage, I've raged. I am a poet." 

Many of the spoken word enthusiasts in the region (and country) have so much to learn, and yet many start getting all prickly when told so. 

Though some will defend the loud, millenial, "pa-artsy-kuno" bunch  and say that its okay to tolerate bad spoken word pieces as long as others enjoy it,  the better course of action would be to help the crowd grow. Performers ought to take constructive criticism and hone their craft.


For a spoken word piece to be considered artistic there simply has to be more to it than hugot forced into a slant rhyme.

After all, true artistry doesn’t spring out of feeling alone.

Everyone probably knows the popular blurb by Thomas Edison that  says, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Well, the same kind of logic applies to the aspirants dabbling in the arts as well. Afterall, the act of creation is a terribly difficult procedure. Many sacrifices are made.

“The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality," Ralph Waldo Emerson says. 

Art isn't just self-serving expression. It is perseverance and craft.

All About Spoken Word and Poetry

Another issue about spoken word is that its followers and dilettantes confuse it for poetry.

This one is a touchy topic really – the need to properly differentiate spoken word and poetry. Contrary to popular belief, there is a gaping hole between spoken word and actual poetry which can stretch for miles on end.

Poetry is a literary form which takes into consideration the rhythm, the meter, the stress of each word, the spacing between, the placement, the form, the imagery and the subtle metaphors it brings in. Poetry can say so much in so little. Writers and poets will all attest that there is so much lost in translation when a poem is conveyed through spoken performances.

While poetry readings are lovely to attend, an actual one-on-one session with a good collection is often preferred.

Spoken word on the other hand is another powerful art form; however this time, it is meant to be performed. While spoken word may not be able to show the powerful nuance of a capital I reduced to a lowercase i, or the implications of the different spacing patterns between verses, spoken word has power of its own.

 Relying on wit, word play and the inflection of the voice, spoken word can be a tool to bring in powerful messages about depression, racism, sexism, violence, love, and the like. Some really well-written spoken word pieces can even be considered poetic as well.

However, it still stands that the two ought not to be confused. Many would consider it much better if spoken word dropped the “poetry” tag all together.

Isn't it time we called a spade, a spade? 

Though others have said that it is an elitist notion to separate spoken word from poetry, some lines have to be drawn. After all, to recognize each art form for what it is, is an act of respect.

 Humanity has so far created many standards of association for himself, be it in language, in art, in literature, and logic. Though a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet, the rose will never be a sampaguita either, will it? 

Let spoken word be spoken word, and poetry be poetry. Let’s all try to agree.

We End With a Quote

So to cut this TL;DR post into a sizeable chunk, the point is, there ought to be a clear distinction recognized between spoken word and poetry. Though they may share a few elements, one is not the other.

 Spoken word artists and enthusiasts ought to be encouraged to better hone their craft as well. It’s not just about presenting your feelings and then getting validation from the audience.  Honestly, we’re all tired of the hugot lines.  It’s become terribly corny.  

Don’t be afraid of the challenge. Learn the rules first before you break them. Take your craft to a higher level and bring something new to the table for spoken word.  

“The artist is always beginning. Any work of art which is not a beginning, an invention, a discovery is of little worth.”

Ezra Pound

Article by: Tiny Diapana 

Inktober: Phase One

October isn't just about beer. On the second month of the ber-season, we celebrate alcohol, art and doodles. Every week we'll be featuring different sketches from a few selected illustrators and artists.

This week we're showcasing the works of graphic designer and illustrator  Karl Aguro.

Day 1 Saturday, October 1

Day 2 Sunday, October 2

Day 3 Monday, October 3

Day 4 Tuesday, October 4

Day 5 Wednesday, October 5

Day 6 Thursday, October 6

Day 7 Friday, October 7

Day 8 Saturday, October 8

Day 9 Sunday, October 9

BROWNOUT PUWETRY i.e. Shit

Say there’s a campfire and a happy band of savages are singing their Kumbaya’s and giving group hugs, high fives, air-kisses. Then, an evangelical Colombus-Captain Hook barges in, only to dampen the flame which is their way of life.   

What rouses the little big world of Cebuano cinema as of late is something like that. The now infamous thread has only been around for about a week but in the trending annals of social media it’s already lasted an eternity on our feeds.  You can tell when you’ve attained Internet relevance when the think pieces come out.

As everything eloquent to say has been said, we present to you the most concise fuck-you to you-know-who.    

words by: Mariya Lim

blackout composition: Mariya Lim 

Whoop

Whoop brings graffiti and the world via National Geographic closer to home with his study-then canvas dual-rendition of collaged images on Filipino houses.

Each image of a Maranao, Ifugao, Spanish, Colonial and Barung-barong house form the base of a study. Pictures and fragment cutouts are collaged onto the various parts of the base -- on the roof, on the walls, on the street.

 All images including the houses, are from the National Geographic magazine. The studies get onto canvas with Whoop's socio-whimsical graffiti style. His canvas color choices become brighter than those in the collage studies. The images intricacies morph into a cartoon-like look. The collage crosses into a painting.

The collage and canvas duo is a whole lot of irony and fun that keeps you looking at them every time and walking away with a wry smile. Legitimate graffiti indeed and right at our own homes.(Pia Hamoy)

Aerosoul

After 4 years since the last Sulat Kamay Graffiti Competition, we now have another live graffiti battle in Cebu. The first leg will be on October 1,2016 at Escario,Cebu.

Below is the piece by SSF during the 2011 Sulat Kamay Cebu Leg.via Bek's blog

If you are not yet excited for Aerosoul, we have a few photos from Sulat Kamay 2012 from Uzi's blog.The difference between the two is that Sulat Kamay was you have to compete with a crew and should have a team of 3 to compete and battle other crew, while Aerosoul is individual. Sulat Kamay was organized by SYLV and was a preliminary step to compete for Wall Lords PH. Aerosoul is organized by Ubec Crew, 1647, SSF, Peace Club and Stroke.

Be sure to come on time because Aerosoul wouldn't be just showing graffiti skills of local artists but also camaraderie, laughter and lots of beer.