FILM | Behind the Silver Screen

Behind the Silver Screen

Making a short film I learned is not a one man show. A person can be so creative and yet this creativeness does not translate into creating a short film worth seeing. The creation of a short film requiring so much attention to various details at various stages can only be possible if there is teamwork.

Yes, teamwork spells out all the difference here. From the start, I knew that my opinion is only valuable if it coincides with my teammates’ otherwise I need to rethink that opinion and share it again to them. For example, upon the brainstorming of our main topic for the short film project, I kept on sharing my ideas but my teammates felt like some of them are way beyond our capacity.

So there I was, hit right on the face, realizing that I indeed sometimes become too fascinated with my ideas that they become larger than life. In one of our brainstorming, I wanted to have a scene where the main protagonist will be hit by a car; all bloody and dying and then cut to many people staring at the jerking body. It was great I think, the concept of death and blood to show the brutality of the scene. But my teammates said it is not possible given the time and resources we have. And so we had to labor again and burn some neurons to come up with a better idea.

This is also one thing that I really find interesting in Korea. Brainstorming can take you for three to four hours and then at the end of the day, nothing will be decided and you’ll have to meet again the following day or whenever everyone is available. To me this is really a complete waste of effort and time and surely makes me blow my top but when I think about it, what is wrong with meeting again?

In the Philippines, when I work with a group and hastily decide on something for the sake of having something, we didn’t have to meet again but in the process we still cram and sometimes the results could have been better. But here in Korea, they may stall for a while but still make it a point to meet the deadlines. This is one difference that really struck me. While I may protest against the uselessness of having nothing out of three-hour meeting, Koreans may see this as part of the process.

However, our triumph in finishing the project ends where our failure to create sufficient production organizer begins. Perhaps if we paid more careful attention to these small details then it would have made our project better. But overall I’m happy with the result. If there’s one thing I learned and hopefully apply to all my dealings, that is meeting deadlines.