Chuckster

There are certain things I could never forget no matter how hard I try removing these thoughts in my head. Jeez, I’m turning 24 in two weeks and these things continue to hunt me like I was still 16. Such cheesy ideas, crazy mindless things, these are. Well, let me just blur some of them…

1. How could I forget how soft her left cheek felt when I first kissed her?
2. How could I forget how tender her right hand when we held each other?
3. How could I forget how sweet her fragrance smelled when I placed my head near her shoulder? (Damn that Tommy Girl! Damn you Hillfiger for formulating that beautiful fragrance!)

Damn it! I sound like a sissy bastard. Damn it! It happened so many times but with each special person, the feelings remain very distinct, very unreal. I could only wait, just wait again. Probably there is still hope. The most beautiful woman in the world will hopefully sway my way again with any luck. No matter how much I dread it, I’m still waiting to feel and smell that beautiful creature. Will it be soon? Damn, it feels odd to be such a romantic fool!

Every artist’s dream is simply to share his work to the rest of the world. A painter wants to be seen. A musician wants to be heard. A filmmaker, well, wants to be seen and heard at the same time. This is why every aspiring or even professional filmmaker alike tries so hard to show everyone in the globe his/her film. There is no greater fulfillment than to share to the rest of the world the vision and message of a filmmaker. In the Philippines, where absolutely everyone in the film industry sells their souls just to be glimpsed upon by international movie audience, two young filmmakers bravely devised a system that would eventually help a Filipino film make noise, nay a very loud noise in Hollywood and Europe only using 1/24th of a budget any movie studio would spend for promotion.

Master filmmaker Yam Laranas directed a horror flick called Sigaw that premiered during Metro Manila Film Fest 2004. It made a respectable run during its local showing and won several awards. However, this turned out to be only the prologue of a fairy tale true Hollywood story. Sigaw was an early entry to this year’s Screamfest LA International Horror Film Festival to be held in Hollywood, California on October 2005. This is the single biggest genre festival in North America where the best Asian Horror classics like The Ring and A Tale of Two Sisters premiered then eventually purchased by major American studios. In this regard, Sigaw now known as The Echo needed major marketing strategy to have its presence felt in the said festival. However, due to the movie industry crisis, the mother studio of The Echo could not afford to spend millions to market the movie internationally.

This was the reason why master filmmaker Yam Laranas tapped once again his long time collaborator webmaster Chuck Gutierrez, a padawan filmmaker himself, to devise a marketing strategy to create a buzz only in Hollywood. Since their early days working on the websites on such films Radyo and Hibla, they always try to do something new and original to attract movie fans. With The Echo project, Gutierrez suggested a totally unheard of idea. Gutierrez boldy toyed with the idea of making a website done completely with video and sound. This would literally give its visitors the experience and vibe of the film in an instant. Laranas approved the idea without knowing that Gutierrez had absolutely no idea how to achieved this proposal. There has been no website in the history that showcased a full video interface without any loading time and media player to be downloaded.

Streaming video files require either Real, WMP or Quicktime players. Each stream would at least be 3 MB for a 1 minute video clip. Macromedia Flash compressed video and sound in a staggering way that it would require anyone to download a 5 MB file before he/she sees the site content. That would be at least 6 minutes of download time with a DSL connection. Gutierrez at this point of the development decided to direct an 8 minute film and show it on the internet using what would later be know as The Echo System.

Gutierrez finished Dagan, a Cebuano horror film. He devised a compression technique that would make it small enough without sacrificing the video and audio quality of the movie. He then, used plug-ins already native with internet browsers such as Explorer, Safari and Firefox so that people would not have to download any additional programs to see his film online. Without any major equipment, Gutierrez successfully premiered a film online with no loading time or any additional media player. Gutierrez based his theory on developing The Echo system using the discipline of Euclidian Geometry that is “only use what is given and you can solve any problem”. Laranas gave his seal of approval for the system and the rest would be history. The Echo website then premiered with one common reaction from its viewers, total astonishment. Gutierrez produced a full video website that was only 300 KB in size.

The second phase of the system is promoting the movie to the world through its website. Gutierrez searched for genre and fan based websites that cater to horror film lovers. He personally invites webmasters, film critics and bloggers alike to visit the site. They would in turn inquire for DVD screeners so that they could review the movie. Laranas and Gutierrez would send them DVD’s through express mail. This cycle would repeat over and over for months. The result would be something that has not been done by any film from any movie studio in the Philippines, an over flowing demand for The Echo by both film critics and moviegoers. Beside the Screamfest LA International Film Festival, The Echo will have its European premiere at the CineAsia Film Festival at Cologne, Germany this December. Other invites from festivals like in Brussels, Vancouver and Dublin have also been received. Plus, talks with major American studios are on-going for distribution and remake agreements. Plus filmmaker Laranas has been signed by one of the most important talent agencies in the world, the International Creative Management.

Gutierrez is very candid in saying that his website is not the best website ever made just like what Laranas said that The Echo is not the best Filipino movie. The legacy of the Echo system is that it enabled two artists share their works to the rest of the world, successfully. Moreover, the two artists enabled the world to look at Philippine cinema once again.

Chuck Gutierrez is currently taking up his masters in film at the University of the Philippines. He has a BS in Information Technology from the University of Asia and the Pacific. He took up Digital Production at the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, California. His thesis, LOVE, premiered at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival last November 2004. He is also currently applying to be the best boy for Yam Laranas next movie.

The Filipino movie RADYO by Yam Laranas has one scene inspired by the classic Russian film BATTLESHIP POTEMPKIN. The visuals and audio style of Erik Matti’s PROSTI were borrowed from Wong Kar Wai’s IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Gil Portes’ opus MUNTING TINIG has a plot similar with Zhang Yi Mou’s NOT ONE LESS. Filmmakers tend to pay homage to their influences by infusing their idol’s style to their own movies. Everybody does this even in Hollywood. Lucas and Spielberg often times borrow a thing or two from Kurosawa’s films. This is a normal practice to improve the art of cinema. However it is a whole different story when someone uses the basic storyline of a movie. This is a crime. Anyone who has the nerve to do such act should be punished! This is stealing pure and simple.

SAY THAT YOU LOVE ME is the latest movie from Regal Films. Its basic storyline goes something like this:

1. Girl meets guy.
2. Girl turns out to be the bossy type.
3. Guy likes the girl even when the girl bullies him all the time.
4. Girl likes the guy because he reminds her of her ex-boyfriend.
5. Guy does the things the girl’s ex-boyfriend used to do to her.
6. Girl suddenly dates someone else.
7. Guy tells that other person the rules to follow to make the girl happy then goes away.
8. Girl realizes that she has already fallen in love with the guy.
9. Girl tries to find the guy.
10. A special circumstance brings the girl and the guy back together.

Sounds familiar? If you are a fan of Korean cinema, bells should now be ringing. This is the exact storyline of the box office smash hit MY SASSY GIRL.

MY SASSY GIRL is often times referred to as the film responsible for the emergence of Korean cinema to the world market. Since its premiere on 2001, the film spawned legions of fans around the globe. It made people cry, laugh and fall in love because of its intelligence, wit and originality. It launched the careers of its stars Jeon Ji-Hyun and Cha Tae-Hyun. It also made its writer-director, Kwak Jae-Young, a household name. MY SASSY GIRL gave the world a peek on everything Korean. In effect, the world responded by making the Korean movie industry a US$1,000,000,000 per year industry. Hollywood is now set to make an English version of MY SASSY GIRL along with other top Korean films like OLDBOY, JSA, IL MARE, RED EYE and MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER.

Regal Films sure did some modifications to their final screenplay. They made it “more Filipino” by adding “dancing in the beach” scenes, “dancing in the mall” scenes, placing familiar Filipino jokes, melodrama scenarios and ofcourse including a homosexual subplot. However, there should be no contention from anyone familiar with Asian cinema that Regal Films used the exact storyline of MY SASSY GIRL. I would leave out the details of each scene for you to watch and decide for yourself what to call SAY THAT YOU LOVE ME. In my humble opinion, this film committed a serious offense!

The victims of this scenario are once again the Filipino people, particularly the masses who made SAY THAT YOU LOVE ME an overnight box office hit. Wala silang kamalaymalay na nagoyo sila! What’s even more unfortunate is that these producers might capitalize on this kind of behavior and continue such practices. There will be no more motivation for Filipino filmmakers and film students to be innovative. Filipino masses will just be contended for whatever garbage this kind of producers gives to them. How could you expect the world to take our local cinema seriously if we just make films copied from other nations? Furthermore, how could you expect Filipinos to be more intelligent movie viewers?

If you want to know why Filipino main stream cinema is such a bore in recent years then observe the latest movie from Unitel Pictures, La Visa Loca. Mainstream directors like Joel Lamangan, Gil Portes, Marilou Diaz Abaya, Laurice Guillen, Jose Javier Reyes and now Mark Meily are most probably trained as writers and not as filmmakers. They are acustomed to tell stories wherein fim should be used in showing stories. There is a huge difference between the two. In La visa Loca, Meily simply tell his story by letting his characters talk and talk and talk about scenarios. As an effect his film looks like a theater play and not a movie. In addition his humor often times fell flat on the floor because he makes his actors tell jokes as if they are stand-up comics. Movies are not and should not be like that. The best thing about cinema is that it lets the audience experience the story by showing them emotions or feelings that could change their lives… not by preaching to them about it. Meily and those old school filmmakers should just stick to writing (or go on directing plays) because they are the ones who are killing the movie industry by directing such boring and unimaginative films.

If you want to see true Filipino cinema now, don’t fail to catch Bikini Open from Jeffrey Jeturian and Boso from Jon Red. The 2 filmmakers just mentioned are part of a very elite group of directors who know how to show stories. They are the ones who properly use film as a language. Moreover, they are the ones who do movie magic that could elevate Filipino cinema.

For the past few years, I have stoped praying to God. I could no longer see what’s the point of asking for grace and miracles from my Savior. This causes me to feel pity to those who devote much of their time on praying and asking for mercy. What’s the use of begging for so many things to God if he already gave me little things to be able to live by and achieve my dreams. I really think alot of people fail to realize this. God gives us blessings every moment of our lives, it’s just a matter of finding them and be contented by them. I believe people tend to be selfish hence ask for things they don’t need moreover deserve.

I have so many problems and angst in my life today. So many, that it’s so difficult to wake up each day to face them. I dare not ask for God’s help. There’s a part in me that is so afraid for yet another rejection or disappointment from the heavens. God made me disabled in some facets of life. He put a burden on my speech that caused me to communicate in such extreme difficulty. It’s so hard for me to say the things I want to say to people when the need arises.

However, God gave me little things for me to live a good life. He gave me a special pair of eyes for me to see what normal eyes couldn’t. He gave me a heart, though broken most of the time, for me to experience simple joys like sharing time with real friends. I couldn’t ask for more. I dare not beg for more. The past few years made me realize that I have enough blessings for me to live a miraculous existence for myself and others. Although I couldn’t say this to God in words, I’m very thankful for everthing.

Hoping you could feel the same way.