#aDoPsLife Musings Cinematography

[abgarcia]

Looking at this photograph threw me into a contemplative mood this morning. On the far left is Romy Vitug, One of Philippine TV and cinema's most prolific cinematographer. Having worked with top notch directors, he's responsible for a lot of iconic images in the history of Philippine Cinema and some of them got into pop culture like, Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion's Silhouette scene in "PS I Love You" or Richard and Dawn's "habulan" and "nandyan na ko scene" in "Hihintayin kita sa Langit" and not to mention Cherie Gil's famous "copycat" scene in "Bituing Walang Ningning". Romy Vitug is part and parcel of the what was and what is Philippine Cinema. In the middle is Matthew Rosen, a household name in TV commercial and advertising production. This DP has produced hundreds of iconic imagery for the both local and international advertisers like Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, Globe telecoms to name a few. Both DPs are multi-awarded in their respective fields. One for feature film cinematography and the other for TVC excellence. If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, I wont be surprised if you have seen both of their works on TV one after the other, Romy Vitug's imagery on film re-runs and Matthew Rosen's TVCs on commercial breaks. If you look up their filmography, you'd see that each one dedicated themselves to a particular field. In principle, the craft of cinematography should be the same across all applications yet we were born into a dichotomy where crossovers seem to be frowned upon for reasons I still have to comprehend. There I stand on the far right, dwarfed by these two giants of Philippine cinematography, wanting to be as best or at least at par with these two for both their technical and creative excellence. It also led me to a serious thought, 'Can a DP really excel in both fields or should one choose over the other?' Amongst my immediate seniors and contemporaries, I know some have managed to but its still a question of one over the other. A TVC DP that does films or a Feature film DP that does TVCs. Why do we have to have these sub-labels? Cant a DP be a DP who does multiple projects? I know out of experience moving in and out of multiple projects from TVCs, documentaries, feature films, TV series and digital branding that various skill sets are required for each project, including on-set protocols, but isnt it a DPs job to know how to act for each particular project? In the old days, an image intended for the big screen is treated differently from an image intended for the square looking TV set. I guess that's where the dichotomy came from. In this day and age, where image content is created for possible multiple formats (Theatrical projection to smartphones). I think it is the DPs job to put all these into consideration while still respecting the original intention. I recon, ignorance must be the biggest challenge. A lot of so called producers and people in-charge of production have little understanding of cinematography and what a cinematographer does. There is definitely a lack of understanding of what a DP can and can't do and I wont be surprised if I or some of my colleagues brought it upon ourselves... out of ignorance. In the end, dedication to one's craft is paramount to success in any field. Continous learning, experimentation and critical thought is part and parcel of improving one's self. I hope I'll be able to continously do that and that only happens if I land enough quality projects to work on. For a (fairly) young DP who has barely shot a few features and other stuff. It is a constant and fervent wish. I do hope that someday, I'll be at least half as great as these two masters. And with that, I need all the good vibes and all the luck I can muster. AB Garcia Cinematographer