MC105 2009 Review

In the summer of 2009, I have been tasked to teach a class of Third Year Mass Communication students of the Ateneo de Davao University. The subject I was assigned to was Basic Video Production Workshop or otherwise referred through its code, MC105. As the subject’s description implies, the students were bound to learn the basics of video production which include getting familiar with the roles of the members of a production crew, grammar of film, writing a film script, basic cinematography, among many things. Hell, they were even taught how to make fake blood. The class was also given a chance to apply what they’ve learned as they were required to submit short films as their final project. With this, they were divided into four groups with 7-8 members, each assigned to particular roles in the production.

    Thank you everyone, God Bless you all and remember to always try to have fun!

34th Logo Contest Win and the Cash Flows

When I said the Cash Flows, I didnt mean that money was coming my way although it is, but what Ireally meant was flowing cash is seen in my latest winning design. The company name is “My Page Pays” so what I came up with is a design that illustrates Page and Money. Simple and effective.. apparently, the Contest Holder agrees with me.

Brand Name:Code Hustler

Prize Money: $300

Total Number of entries: 53

Its My Friggin Birthday and I’ve won my 33rd Logo Contest

Well this is a good start for my birthday. I woke up today and told myself that Im just gonna enjoy this day. Then, sure enough, when I opened my email account, a beautiful message welcomed me that says “Congratulations! You’ve just won anotehr design contest!” Ah!.. What a great gift. 

The contest is for a Web Coding company and it is only about 2 days old and the Contest Holder probably just wanted my design so badly that he ended it quick with 5 days still left in the contest. 

Brand Name:Code Hustler

Prize Money: $200

Total Number of entries: 20

Tell me what you think! God bless you all and if you are reading this, you’re invited to my party in my place tonight! WEll if you’re close enough.

Account of My First Vehicular Crash

    On March 4, 2009, after watching Marley & Me in the cinema, my bestfriend, Cici and I went to a view point on top of a hill for some bonding moments and also to relax our minds. We are both having a tough year so far. We talked, laughed and teased each other senseless until it was 3:30 AM. I drove her home hurriedly as I was already getting heat from my mom for being out until early morning for almost everyday now. We stopped for gas and lost track a bit as I forgot which house I was going to take my bestfriend. I parked by a corner near her house and before she got out, I gave her a big hug as a thank you for the great evening and the things she shared to me that night. She got out and as she was walking to her house, I drove away. It was already 3:52 AM so I had to drive fast because I wanted to get as much sleep possible  and  avoid getting growled at. When I got to V. Mapa Street, the road seemed clear so I continued to speed up and slowing down only a bit as I pass by intersections. As I was on that road, I remember looking at this place, called Yellow House, and appreciating how odd it looks on a quiet morning. After passing by Yellow House, there’s still one intersection left to pass through before making my turn. I looked to the right and saw nothing, honked my horn as usual and looked to the other side. On my left, I saw this White Vehicle, which at that point I thought to be a taxi, speeding accross from my left to my right. I knew immediately it was bad news. With my mamoth right foot, I stomped on the break pedal with hopes of missing the car. I did miss it…

…but it didn’t miss me. I remember hearing my breaks screech, hearing a huge blow and then feeling a massive force that was pushing me and my SUV (Land Cruiser) to the right. I remember the left side of my SUV getting lifted for a while. It was 3:53 AM.

     When I bounced back on my seat, I looked forward and asked my self “Did what I think happened really just happened?” Then I answered myself “Yep… You are now f*cked!” From the looks of things and what I felt earlier, I really got worried that the SUV sustained a lot of damage on the front-left part. I leaned forward, looked at the white car and saw the driver doing the same thing that I was, looking shocked sh*tless. I was just hoping no one got hurt but honestly, I couldn’t care less if I sustained any injury at that time. I went out and the other driver did the same, we looked ate each other and he smiled, I smiled back. I was glad I wasn’t gonna be in a fight at least. He came up to me and shook my hand. He told me his name is Glenn and I told him mine. We both looked at the parts where our vehicles met, and assess the damage. That’s when I felt I was shaking like crazy. This was the first time it happened to me and I had no idea on what to do. I saw Glenn walking around taking pictures. I did the same. I checked for damage on the SUV but surprisingly, it only got a dented bumper and some scratches. I realized that my left-front tire took most of the impact. Glenn’s car on the other hand, got it worse. The hood of his car is surely bent and I think the headlights were broken. My SUV is tougher than I thought. I was thankful but the ordeal was far from over. I sat back down on the SUV’s driver’s seat. As I sit, the first thing I did was call Cici. She answered, then I said “Kiddo, I got hit by a car!” There was a little panic in her voice but she talked me through it and calmed me down. A reason why I called her up first. After that, I dialed 911 and told the operator where the crash happened. Three of Glenn’s friends arrive. Thankfully, they still weren’t picking a fight. Then a police officer showed up. Yep, It took them long enough. The officer took sketches, asked for our license and registration and told us to meet him in the Police Station. In the station, the officer asked some questions and told me that I was going to have my license taken away. I dreaded hearing that. Fortunately, after some explaining, the officer said I could keep my license this time and just let me go with a warning. I couldn’t be more relieved. Finally, it was time to drive home. It was 5:30 AM.

   On my drive home, i got to think of a lot of things. I thought about the many ways things could have been different that morning. If only I called off the night out with my bestfriend or went home immediately after the movie, I would have been sleeping on my bed by 3:53 AM. But I know I was so determined to having that night out with Cici and hang out with her until morning so calling it off and going home early was very unlikely. Then I thought about it the other way. If only I did 1 little thing differently, the outcome would have been a lot worse. If only I did not stop and gave Cici a hug, I would have left a little sooner and the SUV might have ended up further forward during the crash. That means the car might have hit my door with me next to it and I may not be here right now writing this. I am so thankful that car hit my tire and not my door. Then I got to think about life; my work, my dreams and the people in my life. I got to think about how I want to live my life, the things I want to change and who I want in it. I just know that this could be a second chance for me and I intend to live it better. God Bless you and be thankful for your life. 

32 Logo Contest Wins and Counting

Well.. its kinda slow but as I always say, at least it aint stopping. 

The logo is for Image Display Systems, a sign and graphics company. I wouldn’t mind working for this company. 

Brand Name: IDS (Image Display Systems, Inc)

Prize Money: $200

Total Number of entries:79

I’m Back with my 31st Win

 Its been an interesting year for me to say the least with two whole months of not grabbing a victory. Due to reasons that are too complicated to explain. Anyway, at least now I have been able to grab another win and hopefully this is a sign that I am finally bouncing back. 

The logo is for a software development house for gaming softwares. At first, it was a very quiet contest and I thought I was being ignored. Then the Contest Holder finally showed up and said that my entries were being considered. Then with 2 days left in the contest, I was declared the winner. Hopefully the next one won’t take too long. 

Brand Name: Connected Thought

Prize Money: $150

Total Number of entries: 36

Dragonball: Evolution Movie Trailer Released

  A screen shot of  the Trailer showing Justin Chatwin as Goku charging the Kamekameha.

watch the whole thing here:

http://media.movies.ign.com/media/479/479331/vids_1.html

I think its cool. Tell me what you think!

28 Wins and I’ve Broken My Record

(Note: Yes I’ve skipped another number and again, this is because the previous victory was for a private contest.)

  Well this win is a very special to me in many ways. Such as:

1. I’ve broken my own record of highest contest prize won that is $500.00

2. It is for a company that belongs to an industry which I really love, which is film.

3. This win will finally allow me to purchase a Brand New Unibody Macbook Pro

Brand Name: Crewger

Prize Money: $505

Total Number of entries: 70

 Its a site for people involved with Films. 

"A Deadly Silence" Short Film Poster for Mindanao Film Festival ‘08

This is the poster of the short film “A Deadly Silence”. A poster made for the 4th Mindanao Film Festival. This film was chosen as an entry in the festival. Details are in the poster. Hope you’ll watch if you’re near by.

Poster Designed by Yours truly  

Brock Lesnar vs Randy Couture Result and My Take

   I think Brock said it best in a post fight interview, “this feels like a dream!” It sure does. How unreal can it get? A man who headlined Wrestlemania and won the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Title a few years ago also took part in the Main Event in UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and won their Heavyweight title.

Brock’s Hands are just too heavy!  

  It was a fight that approached with millions of speculations such as Brock is too inexperienced against “the Natural” or Randy was just too small and old to fight a monster like Lesnar. But when the fight started, all (if not just most) questions wee answered.  It was a great match between two world-class wrestler. Randy had Brock pinned against the fence and Lesnar kept calm and just felt out Couture’s game. I’m sure the first round went to Brock as he took his opponent down succesfully (with a BIG-TIME SLAM by the way) and mounted him a couple of times. But what we could tell (Though Brock didn’t openly admit it and I think that is wise.) Brock got exhausted in just the opening minutes. Randy just made him work and as Mike Goldberg pointed out, all that muscle on Brock’s body just takes up all the energy.

Randy “the Natural” Couture put up a good fight

In between rounds, Brock’s corner told him to work on the jabs as he was connecting better than Randy while Couture’s trainer told him that it was a great round and he should keep working. In the second round, it was obvious that Brock wanted to stand up but also shot for a take-down but Randy won’t let it. Lesnar caught the Natural with a huge right hand and it weakened Randy’s knees but he quickly recovered. Landing a left, Couture made Brock bleed over his right ey. Lesnar said it worried him but also pissed him off. He knew he had to finish it immediately and then POW!! Landing a straight right on Couture’s temple, Lesnar knocked his opponent down then quickly pounded with hammer fists. The Natural was not responding so the ref had to stop it. So here we are. The man  who was dubbed as the “fake wrestler” who’s trying his luck on Mixed Martial Arts won the highest prize a mixed martial artist could ever achieve. He is now one of the only few who won a UFC title with only less than 10 matches in his record and ironically shares that honor with Frank Mir (his first UFC opponent) and Randy Couture.

   Brock’s next fight will be a title defense against whoever will win the UFC Interim Heavyweight Title match between Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. It will be interesting to say the least because if Mir wins, it will be Lesnar/Mir 2 and Brock will get a chance to correct his mistake. While if Big Nog wins, Lesnar will be facing the man who beat Bob Sapp, a fighter who is defenitely bigger than Brock. Still, Bob “the Monster” Sapp is no Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is a harder, quicker striker, much more agile and has sick wrestling skills. Can’t wait for Brock’s next fight and I for one am very happy for him. Well, here comes the pain, UFC!

AMBC3 "PRESS" shirt

   Here’s a design I made for my former students. I believe its for their Advanced Journalism class. It’s kinda rush job but I’m glad some of them liked it. I’m yet to hear from the rest of the class.

  Well as Marlou (one of my former studs) requested, I try to keep it in one color. So I did and also tried to make it as simple as possible. Similar to most of my graphic designs, this shirt is also under the category of minimalism. There’s also a nod there to Ayi Ola as she once pitched to me an idea of having an I.D. with a sling for a shirt graphic. :p

So basic elements are:

the word “PRESS” on an I.D. with a sling. A play on being journalists.

Then under the word “PRESS” is a button graphic. It was kinda hard to present that visually so I had to put it in 3D. Kinda tough in one color.

At the back, the phrase “DON’T DELAY” (not sure what it means though) but I replaced the letter “O” with the button graphic.

Plus I did a quick design for the “ABMC3″ logo

26 Logo Contests Won and its Hip-py

    Wooohooo! This is indeed a special win for as I have tapped my personal record again for highest contest prize ever won. From the very beginning my design was what the Contest Holder found exceptional. This particular design have actually been with me for a while now and I have been trying to sell. Now I know why it never won me any contests before as it was destined to be won on a higher valued contest. What’s extra sepcial about this vistory was some of the very best in 99designs.com have also entered the contest and tried their best it was yours truly who came out truimphant. All I need to do now is simply keep this momentum up.

Brand Name: Hippy Health

Prize Money: $500

Total Number of entries: 143

25 Logo Contests Won and it Ticks

   Well just over a week after my last win, I am at it again and I hope to keep the pace going are even turn it up a bit. Well what’s special about this particular victory is that the Contest Holder did not wait for the end of the contest to declare me as the winner. I’m just happy to help out.

   Anyway, this is a design for a Viral Marketing Company’s logo. Whew, that’s a bit of a mouthful. Well its paid and this victory brings me closer to acquiring the new Unibody Macbook Pro and I hope it isn’t too far from now.

  Tell me what you think.

Brand Name: Viral Pulse

Prize Money: $150

Total Number of entries: 10 (in just over 2 days)

24 Logo Contests Won and its Mondo-wide

    This one was practicaly decided way before it ended. My entries were the only ones that got 5star ratings from the beginning. The Contest Holder did not even wait as he declared me winner hours before the official end of the contest. I’ve actally had this particular icon for quite a while now and I just knew it will be sold sooner or later. It’s just one my better designs. hope you’ll like it too. Give me your thoughts.

Brand Name: Mondo Staffing

Prize Money: $200

Total Number of entries:32

   Thanks for reading and keep on dreaming! God Bless

Max Payne Movie Review

   Max Payne is a videogame adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg (Rock Star, The Italian Job) as Max Payne, a cop disturbed by the murder of his wife and baby. The film also stars Mila Kunis (That 70s show) as Mona Sax and was directed by John Moore (Flight of the Phoenix). Its a story about a cop determined to find his family’s murderer and the reason for the incident.

  Since its an adaptation, I want to talk about the similarities of the film and its source material. As someone who has actually played and finished the game, I can confirm that there were quite a few similarities in terms of overall theme, visuals and story. The story was basically the same. Max always remembers the day his family was taken away. Although for those of you who are familiar with the game and have seen the trailers, you’re probably wondering what the hell those winged creatures are. Don’t worry. They are given a fair explanation in the film and they surely add some great effects in some scenes. The overall theme is quite similar to the game. The setting is always gloomy and only a few bright colors are visible, which makes them more attractive once the colors are given focus on screen. CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) is almost always present in the entire duration of the film because of the snow falling. Watch out for them and you’ll understand. Other than snowflakes, there are quite a few great Visual Effects applied in the movie such as Bullet Time. Of course, this wouldn’t be a complete Max Payne Movie without the ever famous Bullet Time. It is the effect where the movement of the people or objects on screen that are so slow, that you can see bullets flying through. This provides for some great looking scenes in the movie. They really went crazy with bullet time. 

   Mark Wahlberg gave his given character justice. Old Marky Mark is just suitable to play an insane guy. My favorite part of the movie is the parking lot scene. Watch out for it. Mila Kunis truly adds eye candy to this movie. Her face suits Mona Sax very as she gives that dark, mysterious stare. Unfortunately, her petite sbody structure isnt too convincing for playing an assasin. Also watch out for familiar faces such as rap star Ludacris and singing sensation Nelly Furtado.

   The side where the movie falls a little short is probably the story, particularly the development of the characters. Some people in the film just practically passed by and could have added to the depth of the story. The flow of the film sometimes feels rushed. Fortunately though, you wouldn’t be lost in the development all too easilly as each phase are explained fairly before moving on. Even though one of the good points of the movie are the Visual Effects, there are times where it felt like they could have done better. Some scenes were framed in such a way that its too obvious that they were set ups for a CGi sequence. 

   Overall, Max Payne is a fun movie to watch. Whether you have played the   or not, as long as you enjoy good action sequences, you’ll surely enjoy this movie. Although it really is a plus if you’re familiar with the characters and the setting. Remember that even though it is Rated PG13, DO NOT bring the kids with you. 

A Deadly Silence (A Dark, Gritty Short Film) by Princess Zuhairah Candao

   I am very proud to present the very first short film of my one and only SweetPea, Princess Zeus. 

   It is entitled A Deadly Silence and if you pay attention to the film very carefully. you will understand the title. The film stars Iree and Irene Brillantes (her nieces), Red Mae Jau and Carlo Violan. Cinematography and Logo Animations are done by ours truly and it is Edited, Written and Directed by Princess.

   It is a little bit disturbing but once you get passed the gore and the conflict of the story, you can really appreciate its artistic execution

  The acting of the Children are just amazing. They are quite convincing in playing both innocent and disturbed children. Its just awesome how obedient children could be if you just promise them ice cream  

  The video Filters used are very effective. The Old Scratched Picture effect really goes well with the unstable camera movements and the gritty setting. 

  Good job on the editing with the cutting in motion and the synchronization with the audio and video. Great technical maturity for someone who has only been video editing for months now. 

  I just love the music. Really adds up to the whole theme of the film. Great Choice. 

  A Deadly Silence is certainly one of the best Short Films I’ve seen so far from an amateur. This is definitely better than my First Short Film. I am certainly proud of this work. 

  See the Short Film Below:

23 wins and its Tripping

Yes I’ve skipped another number and as I said before, this happens if the contest I’ve previously won is a private contest. What’s important is I’ve picked up momentum once again and I ain’t planning on stopping. Not the biggest win I’ve ever had but certainly one of the best designs I’ve put up there. Tell me what you think.

Brand Name: Trip Zone

Prize Money: $175

Total Number of entries: 49

I hope you’ll like it too  

Kulam Review

 
    Kulam is a Horror Movie that star Juddy Ann Santos and Dennis Trillo with Jun Lana as Director. The movie basically talks about the dark practice that has been embedded to Filipino Culture which involves dolls, needles and a lot of chants.

    Nothing really good to say about this movie. Except that it did make me hope that it was actually good prior to viewing it and realizing that I had just wasted my time and money. This is because I know that one thing that our local film industry was doing right was the successful run of horror movies in the past few years. I remember enjoying flicks like Feng-sui and Sukob even though some might consider them just pure dumb fun. Bottom line is.. they’re fun. And everytime that a Local Film seems to be at the very least entertaining, then I am very willing to give that movie a chance. This time, however, I was wrong.

    To start off, the quality ofthe production is very amateurish. I’m not sure but I believe this movie was shot in film but the picture really looks like it was shot in video. Not the good quality, hi-def video. It was more like from the lower-consumer line of camcorders. The colors really look dull on screen. I’ve seen better quality pictures from past Filipino Movies. The editing was horrible too. I believe a lot of the cuts in the film were too soon and they are very distracting. Although abrupt cuts usually works on horror films but this time. it really wasn’t effective.

   The story didn’t help either. There were so many plot holes in the script, the charaters could have tripped over them. Some elements in the story just didn’t make sense. Although I will have to admit that some scenes really had potential of being genuinely creepy but they were just really on the wrong hands. They could have been great scenes but were handled very poorly. Not to mention that the ending is probably one of the lamest I’ve seen recently.

    Acting-wise, you couldn’t probably have asked more from the cast. Some of them, especially Judy Ann, were just typecasted in their roles so they probably weren’t given much to work with from the beginning.

   Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this movie to my worst enemy. No one deserves to have his/her time wasted on something would make you feel bored and sorry afterwards. But as I always say, I’ll try to never lose hope for our Local Film Industry. Besides, it couldn’t probably get any worse than it is now.

1 out of 5 stars

Big Stan Movie Review

   Earlier today, my girlfriend and I were planning on seeing a movie. We didn’t know what movie exactly so I decided to check online to see what’s currently showing. Righteous Kill got my attention first but all I’ve been hearing about that film are negatives so that left me with Big Stan but I couldn’t seem to find any good reviews about the movie. Still I decided to check it out. And now, after seeing the movie, I’ve thought to put up a review for the movie hoping it could help someone who might be interested in seeing it as I did. So here it goes.

  Rob Schneider Movies have been Hits and Misses. I’d say this one is a Hit. In a budget of about $10 million, its a pretty decent production. Basically it is a movie that tells you the horror of man-rape, particularly in prison.

   The Prison set were convincing although not realistically gritty, which maybe helps lightened the mood for more humor. 

  Schneider’s performance was one of his best as he carried the movie pretty well. Rob did well with his awkward facial expressions to his signature panicky line delivery. Additional props goes to Rob for buffing up real good for the role. Didn’t expect he could actually pulloff a tough guy character quite fine. 

  His supporting cast also did good. David Carradine was just cool as The Master. He could still be convincing as a badaas even for his age. I think it’s because of how he uses his voice or something. As a Mixed Martial Arts fan myself, it was fun seeing Randy Couture, Don Frye and Bob Sapp having hilarious moments in the film. Although, its weird to see Sapp in a prison film again with him being in a similar setting as in The Longest Yard, a film that stars Adam Sandler, a good friend of Schneider’s. Speaking of which, for those of you who are expecting to see another Adam Sandler cameo in the movie, don’t count on it. He wasn’t there.

  The development of the story seems ok although it somehow feels a little bit rushed as a lot changes in a short span of time. Nothing much new in it really when it comes to the plot but the whole theme of the movie is really something intriguing. Anti-man raping movies don’t come around so often so I think the basic message of the film is interesting enough to say the least. Worth mentioning also is that the theme is where we get the funniest and/or meaningful moments in the film. Somehow, the movie does have some lessons in it and after you watch it, you can clearly state what they are. 

  More credit goes to Rob for also directing this movie. It shows you how capable he is in making his own films. Good job! 

3 out of 5 Stars

PS

For All Filipinos out there, I highly recommend this movie as Rob seemed to have made sure to put some nods in this fim for his fellow Pinoys. 

21 wins and this one goes to School

Ok, maybe you’re wondering why I went straight to my 21st win and did not even bother mentioning the 20th. Here’s why: the last contest I won was a Private Contest (a new feature on the site) and therefore I am prohibited from putting it in my portfolio. Sucks huh? Well I saw no point on posting it without having anything to put up here. So here’s the latest win which isn’t a Private Contest. Its for a Virtual Assistance Community. Its a good mix of Purple and Green so I hope you’ll like it.

Brand Name:Virtual Assista

Prize Money: $200

Total Number of entries:27