Elyandre Dagli has worked on many projects. But “Pinakanakapagpapabagabag-damdamin” has a different kind of challenge. Working with 3 people on the production in only three days to create this stunning film, winning Sine Siklab 2020’s Best Cinematography.
The production of “Pinakanakapagpapabagabag-damdamin” has its best and worst parts just like any experience, but all experiences are different. The best part that he loves about being a cinematographer of this film is the need of bringing your deepest passion out along with the people who are working on the same level for it.
Source: Facebook
Elyandre personally enjoys sudden film shootings because that is where he brings out his heart into his work making it seem astonishingly creative. Considering the sudden plans, you wouldn’t even notice that he can do way better than expected.
The reason why he continues to express his creativity is because of a project that he’s deeply proud of. A film called Pamana ni Lola (2019) directed by Regin De Guzman and Bradley Pantajo was his first time to lead as the director of photography while he uses only one camera for the film. Unexpectedly, that film won the MMFF Student Short Film 2019.
Bonus fact, Elyandre’s favorite film is Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus (2018) a film directed by Dwein Baltazar. It is about how four different men fall in love with one woman with all their hypothalamus. He loves everything about it, from the concept, writing, and cinematography, he did not only appreciate their production, but also learned so much from each character on the screen. Since this is specially made here in the Philippines, he loves this film with his entire hypothalamus.
Elyandre’s message to people who continue to dream, he wishes you to never give up on their studies for the kind of art that you wish to pursue. Just like his life saying “Talo ng may puso ang magagaling.” you must pour your heart and soul to gain that creative juice because that is what really matters, loving what you do.
Be updated with Elyandre’s new work on his Facebook Page, DAGLI FILMS.
Blenda Calinaya’s role as “Philomena” in “Mga Kwentong Pambata Tuwing Gabi”, from FEU’s Lumetri Production directed by Edrian Cabudbod, was her 5th acting project since she really started pursuing her passion/dream of becoming an actress just last October 2019. People might think that She is a “late bloomer” in this field, but she has a theater background for 2 years during her college days in PUP Sining-Lahi Poly Repertory about 3 decades ago.
She had her first-time experience and it’s the most memorable thing being a part of the PUP Sining-Lahi Poly Repertory. During her first ever acting project with an outdoor, night scene, she had to travel all the way to Binangonan, Rizal, and Little Baguio Park in Quezon City. It was indeed exciting yet challenging to be bitten by mosquitoes.
” Nagpahid ako ng off lotion at may Vicks VapoRub din ako! ‘Di po ako ganong handa. Pero may part sa arm ko na naisahan o nakagat pa din ako ng lamok tsaka, medyo ngarag ang beauty peg ko tuwing nag shoot kami dito kasi natataon na the day before or the night before is meron akong raket (one is an Indie Film shoot then, one is my acting stint in “Kadenang Ginto”) pero dahil doon, it stretched my “sense of professionalism” to give/deliver my best for the scene takes despite of my lack of sleep. Buti na lang kasi maganda o peaceful naman ang vibe/atmosphere sa shoot, mababait at masayahin lang ang buong team”.
During her childhood in the late 70s, she had her eyes glued to the TV screen, attracted and inspired by the glams and elegance of Carmen Rosales, Gloria Romero, Susan Roces, and Rita Gomez. It fascinates most people to watch “Sine Siete” or “Sine sa Nuebe” movies from Sampaguita Pictures or LVN Pictures, giving everyone a shared emotion and connection towards the audience of the Philippines.
Every time she sees them, she had always dreamed that someday, she’s going to be a star like the actors and actresses on screen. “Napingot ako sa tenga ng Nanay ko kasi ambisyosa”, she said. Even though she has this unstoppable addiction of watching TV through the day, her mother was very supportive of her joining declamation contests.
As she stepped into high school, she became a fan of Lorna Tolentino, Gina Alajar, Vilma Santos, Sharon Cuneta, Dina Bonnevie, and Gina Pareño until college. But lately, her acting role models are Viola Davis and Meryl Streep.
She looks up to them since she isn’t able to attend acting workshops in theater acting schools as it brings artists to talent agencies where they could connect her to a lot of possible TV projects. But that doesn’t stop her from acting, she creates her whole DIY class for herself by the use of YouTube where you could possibly find videos on how to act, how to memorize a script, and learn from actors and actresses that share their experiences, tips, and advice. In addition to that, she watches tons of movies and TV series. She has been a TV addict since her teen years, but this is where she gains skill, she’s a whole “watch and learn” person without having anyone to tell her that phrase.
We all know that the challenges and fears don’t disappear in this world, Blenda didn’t focus much in the past to become the actress that she desired to be, she wished to shift her course that’s acting-related but her auntie had much supported her in the course that she had taken. Instead, she became an office girl.
Another determining factor for hesitating to become an actress is that she is vertically-challenged and not well-endowed. Insecurity entered the room and thought that her dream of becoming an actress was impossible. God pushed all those things away along with lines coming from a K-drama and Bollywood movie. That was her turning point, it gave her enough confidence to move forward despite her limitations.
“Are you happy selling mackerel for the rest of your life? Just be content telling your child one day: “your mother also used to have a dream once.” Dreams are not there to be reminisced but rather, to be pursued or to be fulfilled. Don’t do something that you will be sorry for the rest of your life.” –The King of Dramas
“He doesn’t have great physique, he is not very tall, he is just ordinary, so what makes him the hottest thing today?… The answer is in your question. If he has all these? Then, what makes him different from others?”
“When a normal person becomes big, he becomes big but when a handicapped person becomes big, he becomes a legend.”
– Amitabh Bachchan, Shamitabh
With the same role as an actress in “Philomena”, She got nominated too for “Best Actress” at CMFF2020 (CineMorayta Film Festival) last February 2020. And for her who had just started October 2019, being nominated or to be recognized in such a short span of time is already a blessing to her. She said that “Ang galing ni God mag-offset for all those seemingly lost years and opportunities!”
Keep yourselves tuned in with Blenda Calinaya’s unique Facebook page, she is very much updated with film festivals, and other local films that you might find interesting to watch.
Three sound design students of Sagay National High School have brought “Tubod” The Best Sound Design of Sine Siklab 2020. Tubod is a film directed by John Kent Desemperado. He is also one of the sound designers and editors of the film. The sound design team along with John Kent includes Bea Molo, who is also the cinematographer of the film, and Vincent Apostol, who is an amazing songwriter.
The three are part of their school’s film organization, Anggulo Films, an organization that brings out the creativity, skills, and talent of their students through filmmaking. The three still have their own unique skills even if they all worked together in sound designing. It almost sounds way too impossible to imagine how they created music together during this quarantine that we call the new normal. The main goal of the team was to build a connection between the audience through sounds. They used rock as their music genre to emphasize the film’s plot twist, which is quite unusual but remarkable to hear from local short films. But their main obstacle was budgeting, casting, crew limit, and location scouting, or almost everything that is difficult to face especially during this pandemic. This is a life-changing experience for anyone to step in the first place, getting to personally learn and manage harder situations while trying to work things together all at once and at a distance? That’s tough work for a team. After the success of Anggulo Films in Sine Siklab 2020, John Kent, Bea, and Vincent did not stop what they were doing. They continued to explore more of what filmmaking can do, they were never afraid to unfold the unknown capabilities that they did not know they own. They express themselves through their original pieces instead of treating them as a hindrance in their lives.
John Kent continues to create more films for this year, gaining inspiration from the people he worked with from Anggulo Films and has a strong faith in God. On the other hand, Bea doubted her own skills until her mentor trusted her, now, her great passion pushes her to improve her skills, and she is able to tell herself that she can do things that others can’t. Last but not the least, Vincent writes music to share his perspective in meaningful words that people would feel related to. Altogether, with their excellent dedication, they have managed and created the most extraordinary sound design last Sine Siklab 2020. As they all continue to meet their goals and burn brighter in different ways, they believe that there is always a challenge to every part that we take in our lives, even if filmmaking requires a lot of face-to-face interactions, there will always be a way if you are very passionate about what you are doing. Overall, this reminds us that we shall support our artists in any way possible, most especially in this time of the pandemic.
Regin De Guzman is a media student from Eugenio Lopez Jr. Center for Media Arts Senior High School. She started to take interest in film when she entered senior high-school. She pursued it because of the influence, the thrill, and the excitement she received from her friend, her co-director, Bradley. Though the start of her journey was rough. Due to a lack of confidence, she did not take any of the opportunities to join different film contests. But then, when she was introduced to a small film-fest by her former teachers in junior high, she started to love competing and producing films because, for the first time, she was able to bring the best film award and best director award home. After that, many of her Facebook friends and family members kept on mentioning her at different film festivals and that is when she finally gained the confidence to keep on trying.
She said that she usually writes and directs films and plays but here in the Sine Siklab 2020 entry, For Cecille “A Letter for a Thousand Lifetime”, she is the production designer and the co-director of Bradley [Director & Writer of the film]. She stated that it was one of her hardest films produced and of course the most challenging one because of the pandemic, which forced them to shoot this film indoors with little to no knowledge about lights and production design. It was all through faith, hard work, dedication, and trust that they finished this film.
Regin proudly holds the Best Student Short Film trophy from the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Sine Siklab 2020 wasn’t her first short film festival. Her sheer determination on voicing out her heart and advocacies in hoping for a changed nation, she has already produced and achieved awards such as;
Best Film & Best Director in Rodriguez First Film Festival;
Best Film and Best Director in CineMandirigma 2018
Best Director in CineMandirigma 2019
Top 8 Finalist in Sine Kabataan 3 that featured in cinemas nationwide with the PPP entry entitled Open;
Top 10 Finalist in C1 Minute Original;
Best Film CineGinhawa 2019;
Best Film 2019 in Metro Manila Film Festival Shorts that featured in cinemas nationwide with the MMFF award-winning Mindanao
Top 3 Finalist in C1 Spoken Word Poetry at PETA Lingap Singing with Words Anonymous
Top 19 Finalist in Video Home Festival [current competition]
She has come so far from where she was before, receiving awards along the way, but the real award for her is the knowledge, passion, and compassion imparted to the audience. She has learned that every film has its own voice and has its own uniqueness. Her favorite reminder to herself in making a film is, your talent won’t betray you and to keep the fire burning.
Acting might be something you want to consider taking in college. Yes, there is a course from Polytechnic University called Theatre Arts where an actor, Nathaniel Molina performed as a supporting role in the short film directed by Jermaine Tulbo, Pinakanakapagpapabagabag-Damdamin. Nathaniel began his journey in performing arts from elementary to his highschool stage. He dug deeper into the acting role when he stepped into college, it was in his belief that acting was the path he wanted to take.
Nathaniel Molina smiling for the camera as he holds their Jury Prize trophy for the film, “Wa, Nan” in the Singkuwento International Film Festival 2019.
As he became more fascinated and involved in acting, he decided to start freelancing full time and do professional acting projects such as theatre productions, short films, and digital ads, until it reached to where he is now. He never felt pure comfort performing in theatre arts and it inspired him to pursue it.
During the film production of Pinakanakapagpapabagabag-damdamin, he stated that there will always be an issue in every set, nevertheless, those things will always be manageable when you enjoy what you are doing. At one point during filming, the sun hit his skin so hard that it gave him a sunburn, and when they were filming a scene at the beach, he had a wound on his foot, just to name a few. Despite all of that, he enjoyed the shoot he had with the people he worked with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZn7N661_mI
It must have been a fun shoot for the production, the amount of effort they had to put out and the lengths they had to go through for their underwater shoots was all worth it at the end. As a result, Keso Productions won several awards from the Night of Sine Siklab, while he won as the Best Supporting Role nominee from Nakakapagpabagabag-damdamin.
Nathaniel Molina will always ride on the acting role and soon, he will shine on our TV screens and shine under the lights of a theater play. Without further ado, check out and follow Nathaniel (@nathandmolina) to see what he will be planning to perform next!
Kacy Nathaniel C. Salve, a student from CIIT senior high school was behind the post-productions of Tropeo ng Kalayaan. He arranged the clips, sound design, CGI, and color grading with the help of Bradley Gonazales, a CGI artist, who modeled the CGI version of the trophy in Tropeo ng Kalayaan.
His source of inspiration is from the continuous support of his friends and family, compelling him to learn how to execute his ideas and create more concepts of his own.
Kacy is an only child, he grew up spending most of his time alone and exploring video editing software. His interest grew in video editing when he discovered Windows Live Movie Maker, creating a montage of pictures with music playing in the background. He started uploading those videos on his YouTube channel, “KacySalve”, to showcase how much he improves whenever he created videos.
He and his friends wanted to strive and do their best to win at the MMFF, Cinemalaya, Cinejuana, and Sine Siklab but lost the opportunity. Instead, Polaris Production, a production he was part of, was nominated as the best cinematography in a mini music video competition from his school.
Another would be in Cinejuana, KMBT Production, a production he was in, won 1st place and best picture in the competition. He stated that the only thing he learned in every competition, is that you always have to give 100 percent in your work, there will come a phase in filming where everything will fall apart, but don’t let that stop you and make you feel discouraged, be patient. Let that passion fuel your creativity and desire to make films.
Kacy working on a video edit.
Kacy Salve is open to do commission for motion graphics and video editing. Contact him through Facebook, Kacy Nathaniel C. Salve, and Instagram, @kacysalve. To see more of his works, he has projects on YouTube channels called Variety Filmsand Content Complicated. Watch their films for more content ideas.
“Today, I am still learning and striving to be a better artist than I was yesterday”.
“Support local artists and just keep moving forward.”
