russelcgarcia

[russelcgarcia]

FINAL BLOG:

Critical Analysis of two Filipino films that falls under the Exploitation Film genre. These two has different story but also has a similarity. These are the kind of film that really enjoyed the people way back 2000’s. But some of them had a bad story, acting, camera angles, lighting and the audio quality.

I can say that these two films that I have watched are happening in reality and in our society long long time ago until nowadays. That is why most of the Philippine TV series, movies and radio story has a similar story with these two films. But there are movies that has an incredibly unique and unpredictable stories.

First film is Balahibong Pusa (Cat Hairs) 2001, Just give you a quick summary about this film, the film revolves around the 4 characters, which has a different connection with each other’s, Sarah who is the daughter of Vivian, who is getting married with Michael, but Sarah is hesitant with Michael. And Nick, a friend of Sarah who has a relationship with Sarah, that her mother disapproves.

At first it was boring, but in the middle of the movie it gets more exciting and thrilling. There are some scenes that has too much dead air or empty scene. And it also has many video inserts that can be boring with the viewers. The lighting is too dark, that the actors and actresses could not be recognizable. Although, Sarah, Vivian, Michael and Nick have different build of their bodies, that is why in some scenes, I can recognize them even if in dark scenes or lack of lights. It could be boring with some other viewers. The film really looks old, and still has a great actors and actresses. The story was quite predictable, where you can already think of what will happen on the next scenes, since most of the tv series and movies nowadays has the same story. It could be boring to other people when they watched it. Most of this kind of story really happen. That there’s a step father who has a malice with his step daughter and her mom will not know about it and suddenly in the part of rising action she will have a suspicious feeling about the two characters.

The audio quality was still loud and clear, even if there is no subtitle and I just had my volume at 50 percent. I also played it with an earphone, to really know the audio quality. But I think that the bass of the film is boosted or “sabog”. Some scenes are confusing when there is a lot of sounds involved; I cannot hear the main characters clearly. Sometimes the background sound or audio is overpowering the main character’s audio.

 After watching this film, I do not still get why they call it “Balahibong Pusa” I thought that it is just an Idiomatic expression like “Balat Sibuyas”, “Balat – Kalabaw” and many more. But I guess that it is with Sarah who has a soft and young skin, and as Michael said that Sarah’s skin is “Malambot” and the Balahibo of a cat is also malambot.

The second film that I have watched was “Twilight Dancer” by Mel Chionglo, 2006. An adult romance genre of film. Just give you a quick summary of this movie, it talks about the lives of Philippine macho dancers. This movie also revolves around the 4 characters, same with “Balahibong Pusa”. The 4 characters are Dwight, Madame Loca, Bert and Alfred. It also has lots of sex scenes and bed scenes, that is why it is rated R, not for children!

This film attracted me, it is very natural and real. The way the actors acted in this film was good. It makes the film more realistic. The whole movie was interesting! It really highlighted the lives of the macho dancers. Looking at the actors and Madame Loca (Cherry Pie) it seems like they had a movie before Twilight Dancers, they know how to act naturally.

In reality, there are lots of gay bars here in the Philippines that has a macho dancers, I tried one of them and I think gay bars are being managed by gays. Not only means that “GAYS” are only allowed to enter the bar but some of them are women, some are single moms, just like Madame Loca who is a ruthless corrupt businesswoman. Also, straight guys are sometimes in the gay bars. Many of them are located in Metro Manila, specifically in Taguig, Makati, Manila and Quezon City! Some are huge some are small. Gay bars also feature some of the hottest dancers and aims to live up to its promise of

“Real Men, Real Entertainment” – APOLLO.

“We put up 690 to cater to customers seeking good, clean fun, good-looking models never before seen in other bars and good quality entertainment in one modern and beautiful place. Precious hunks, nonstop entertainment in the finest venue.” said Wilbert, who is also a gay icon and the Founder of Fahrenheit Bar and Health Center.

“We will also have great performances from our male group dancers, impersonators, sing-along comedians and other talented artists,” added GM and co-owner Genesis ‘Gen’ Gallos. With his 14-year experience and passion for staging events and managing entertainment bars. - APOLLO

The film was quite dark but not the same with Balahibong Pusa. It is unpredictable where you cannot think of the next scenes or what will happen next. There are lots of video inserts but some of them are too dead for the movie. The audio quality is quite good, loud and clear even if there is no subtitle available. The background music was scruffy, some are too loud that the voice of the main character is no longer heard.

But I like Twilight Dancers than Balahibong Pusa because I like how the story went through. And I guess that there is no film that has the same story with twilight Dancers.

These films took me 7 hours to watched because of ADS!

I made the posters above. It is like a modern movie posters.

[russelcgarcia]

BLOG #4: MISE EN SCENE

Life of Pi – Ang Lee

At first, I thought that all of the animals were used with green screen. I'm still thinking of how animals moved smoothly with the backgrounds. It's real. So, Life of Pi is a film by Ang Lee. It was all about a man who got stranded in the Pacific Ocean but still survived. Anyways, I really like the font style and how it complements the movements and the scene. The font color, and the animation of the fonts.

The subtitles are easy to read even if it is white, they used black shadow to really highlight the texts, it is big enough to read even in big screen.

Some of the props are natural and some of them are can easily see outside. Also, the costumes used are simple and are the clothes that we use every day. The formal, casual or in-house clothes. But some of them looks classy and elegant. Specially th3 clothes of women. The use of costumes and props are fits in the scenes and the film itself.

The angle and shots are clear and not too shaky. Most of the scene uses long shot and high angle. The way the camera focuses was good. It's sharp and clear. The framing and the composition of shots are well managed. The island and ocean fit perfectly with the trees, animals and other character.

The scene in school really attract me, the color of the scene is brown, also with the students their skin color complement with scene which is a public school.

The ocean scene, where Pi, rescuing the monkey is quite realistic but you can easily identify that they used green screen, it’s kind of too obvious when the ocean waves bumping the boat. But when the sun hits the water and Pi started to shout, it looks so real.

The audio quality is loud and clear, it’s loud but not too much that can hurt the viewer’s ear. The voices of the characters are clear, even if there is no subtitle, you can still understand what they are saying, and the voice effects of the animals, the sounds of the environment didn’t overpower the voice of the character. Life of Pi was a great story, not too realistic but when you watched it you can feel the movie and imagine that it is real.

I just don’t get the point of the men in the beginning and in the end. 😊

[russelcgarcia]

LAST BLOG! 

Hi sir! Thank you for all the learnings! SO, my favorite activity was the BATCH 81 film which I’ve created the poster that you really liked! I really appreciate it sir! I learned a lot of things in FLOIFLM, which is to visualize, imagine and appreciate every movie, film or video. But one thing I really learned is be more specific when criticizing a thing.

I’d just like to say that even if we just met thru online and had online classes, I still enjoyed the class and learned so much things in terms of film! It was really hard to critic a film and make a reflection of review. 

Thank you and Stay safe sir! 

-RUSS

[russelcgarcia]

BATCH ‘81 (1982) 

 In Batch ’81 by Mike de Leon, it’s all about the seven students who applied to be members of a fraternity called “AKO” or “Alpha Kappa Omega” I like how the students prove themselves to the masters. From the beginning, all of them look innocent, unstable, and weak but Cid Lucero looks different from the other 6 students. He looks strange and strong inside. The way Cid Lucero acted in the movie keeps it interesting. And also the whole story keeps it more and more interesting. The show of brotherhood, and how they grow closer, it is because of Cid Lucero who gives them hope. In every tests, the group becomes doubtful whether they should continue or quit. But Cid is always there to cheer them up, “He encourages the brotherhood to stay and if they argue he calls them a ‘simplidor’, he reasons that they’ve gone through many things together and to quit will just make the time they’ve spent useless.”

As we all know that this movie is boring for us because it’s too old and I don’t think that this kind of movie will attract in today’s generation. Since it is a 1 hour and 43 minute film, it is quite long for that kind of movie. Some scenes are also clear even if I only used 480p for the quality; it is still good and clear. But some scenes are too dark especially on the last part where the Rambols happened. I still saw how they fought, their voices was all clear. The spit of the blood is still clear, but there is one sound effect that I think they forgot, it is the sound effect of knife uses to kill. It’s good that they used lights from the cars. The audio is loud and clear, but some scenes have extra noises? For example in the Decadent Musical, where they performed on the stage. Too much noise especially in the instruments. I think some parts of Lip Sync doesn’t worked properly.

In connecting to the society today, we still have fraternities in other schools, or even outside the schools. Many people who joined the fraternities, died because of how that fraternities initiated the people and they became weak after that. They call it “Hazing” where they hurt their recruits by smashing their ass using a thick wood, putting melted candle in their hands, etc. But there is one scene that made me think, it is what I called “THE FAKE ELECTRIC INTERVIEW” Where one of them will sit and put wires that are connected to a machine, I though Chito is gone, but It was all staged. Just like in todays “Vloggers or Youtubers, they call it PRANK.

In today’s society, not only fraternities will build our characters but our problems and obstacles in our life will build and shape our character. It makes us strong, confident and it is a learning process. AND NOW, other schools are prohibiting students from joining frats, inside or outside their school. They want to keep their students safe. Some students know that by joining frats they will be more powerful and protected by their respective frats and also they feel like, they are cool and “Tinitingala” like an athletes. I think they want to be like that.

It was all about POWER, they want to join the frat or group that they think they have the chance to become a master, to become a leader, head, boss, and commander, or etc. Having that kind of power is not that easy to get, you have to be strong and smart. Just like being a president of a country, it is not easy to handle things like people. You have to be strong or the strongest because when your people see you weak, they will also become weak or hopeless, being a leader or a master takes a lot of time. But a true leader is to influence and lead their people to a right path.

Only one line in the movie that keeps me motivated in life, “BRODS NA KAMI, MASTERS NA KAMI”. That line where Cid Lucero shouted, it shows their achievements even if they lost 3 brothers, they still continue to become a member of AKO (Alpha Kappa Omega). That line I think is one of the most important in the movie. On the last part of the movie where the recruits are officially inducted as masters, even if they were only 5 left, they are still happy and contented. Also, I felt happy and satisfied. It was good!

I made the poster above.

[russelcgarcia]

Blog #2: The Shorts: A Critical Review

“TAYO”

At first, I thought It is a love story, since the title TAYO stands for a two people, or a couple. But when the title appear, TAYO stands for “stand up”. I like how the film created. It has a simple story, but I think it is very interesting for me. The story is all about a guy who struggles in making his own show, he is a stand up comedian? a lowkey stand up comedian. He can’t make people laugh with his jokes. Alyssa, his subconscious, help him improve his talent. Alyssa is like an imagination for Reg, other people can’t see her. I thought Alyssa will be Reg’s lover. Alyssa keeps on giving advices on Reg. She keeps on cheering him up. Until Reg makes people laugh with his jokes. 

I only learn one thing, Don’t think that you are alone, think that you have friends to lean on and help you when you are in need. Just like the two other stand up comedian did to Reg, they ask for a help to Reg. 

I just don’t get the point of having an interview scene in the middle. 

But it was a good story. The shots, the cinematography, the audio. It was all good.

[russelcgarcia]

Blog Entry #3: Little Red Riding Hood

The book was an European fairy tale and it talks about a little girl and a wolf. The story from the book was quite simple and short, the little girl wearing a red hoodie with a basket full of cookies and she wants to visit her grandmother but she has to pass in a forest first. And a wolf is waiting and spying on her and wants to eat her, and suddenly the wolf appears beside the little girl. The wolf asks the young girl where she is going. And when the wolf knew where it was, he suddenly rushed to grandma’s house and knocked lightly at the door. And let himself in without any permission from the grandmother. The wolf disguised as the grandmother. A few minutes later, Little Red Riding Hood knocked on the door. She had a long conversation with the wolf that disguised as a grandmother, then a woodsman who was chopping logs nearby heard her cry and ran towards grandma’s house. He pulled the wolf and made him spit out grandma. And the wolf knocked out by the woodsman. And Red riding hood and her grandma had a nice lunch.

The adaptation of Red Riding Hood is a bit different, because it is an American romance horror film.                                                                  

“Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure.”

It’s all about a young woman torned between two men. She’s in love with the other guy but her parents arranged for her to marry the other guy.

The movie is far different from the book because it's more for a mature type of story.