“Hey, are you going to attend the Student Media Congress on July?”
12 words. 1 life-changing question.
These were the exact words coming from someone’s mouth back in May at the classes’ inception. Back then I had zero intentions of attending the two-day event although it offered a lot of opportunities for me as a Communication Arts major. Needless to say, two months later I have no regrets in taking out a huge sum from my savings in exchange for an experience of a lifetime which was the first-ever DLSU Student Media Congress held last July 26 and 27. To give you a quick look of what the SMC is all about, it gathers students and professionals alike in exploring media breakthroughs through discussions and workshops heralded by the presence of affluent personalities in television, print, radio, and the Internet.
Too bad I wasn’t able to bring my SLR for the said event so my apologies for the lack of coverage. Nevertheless, I’d like to give credit to The Lasallian’s Facebook page and Monzie for the photos for an up-close look on this groundbreaking event. As a proud delegate of the inagural Student Media Congress, I express my warm gratitude to everyone behind the event for a job well done in making this success possible. I am now stoked for next year’s SMC! 
Memorabilia for the record books: SMC tickets!
Some of the speakers in Day 1 at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium
The audience was in full swing; the media personalities’ lively and profound talks have already left permanent footprints in every delegate’s minds for the years to come. Not only that, the open forums offered fresh insights to both the audience and the speakers.
The next day, I attended four non-competing workshops: Documentary Film with Marnie Manicad (director of the film Dance of the Steel Bars starring Dingdong Dantes and the NatGeo documentary Inside Malacanang), Media Ethics with journalist Danilo Arao, Screenwriting for TV and Movie with Rex de la Torre (writer for A Very Special Love and MMK), and Blogging 101 with DLSU’s Arvin Ello of Strategic Communications (STRATCOM). All four of them enlightened me to never stop in establishing myself as a reknowned journalist or screenwriter judging from the experiences they’ve shared and the challenges imposed to us as innovative prospects and daily consumers of mass media.
I jotted down notes from Marnie Manicad’s workshop on Documentary Film which I can say is also my personal favorite of the four. Here are some of her tips in creating a successful and astute documentary (same applies for TV shows and movies):
- Start with a story concept
- Explore and develop characters
- Pessimism denied
- Write the script and give your sequence treatment (what you want to happen every scene)
- In a documentary, writing the script comes usually after shooting it
- Do the storyboard; visualize what to happen in future scenes
- Arrange the shoot logistics. Get a good photgrapher to lighten the set because it’s better for a bright set with shadows and depth
- Observe color grading (daytime / nighttime) in your scenes
- Always think out of the box not only through dialogues but also in musical scores
- Motivate your actors. Give them direction in playing their parts.
- Choose a camera with durable quality and something to master with the Red camera as a notable example. DSLRs are not advisable. Remember, your camera is your best friend!
- Keep it minimal and make sure everything is clear
- Shoot the film by location
- There are three drafts subject to change by the editor: first draft (editor’s draft), director’s cut (with additional scenes), and initial cut (based on the script) for adjustments
