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I brought section ABMA76 (note that this is no longer the original Gokusen class, but a mutation of the section due to MAPROD majoring) to the UP Film Institute so that they can observe the Sarsuwela Festival.

The Sarsuwela Pelikula featured today was a vintage: Maalaala Mo Kaya (1954), starring Rogelio dela Rosa and Carmen Rosales. Here’s a YouTube clip from the film.  It’s a story that revolves around a kundiman that was put together by the composer/pianist Celso and his sweetheart, the singer Pilar.  The two were separated when Celso tries his luck at fame in order to help his ailing mother.  They end up leading distant, but somewhat miserable, lives with Celso marrying his rich benefactor Patria and Pilar going into seclusion. A more detailed synopsis can be found here.

What struck me most about this movie was that, despite the abrupt transitioning and the character exaggeration that’s reminiscent of oldies, it had a real story with real issues.  I don’t know how to word it, but it definitely had more substance than those sappy Regine Velasquez starrers or those annoying teeny-bopper flicks. (Let’s not even begin to talk about Marian Rivera, please.) And for a 1950s film, I found it to be quite daring in its exploration of an unconventional family.

We were all shocked to see Dolphy as a young sidekick, of course. Hehe. And um…even though my nose was bleeding from the matalinhagang Tagalog, I was feeling the kilig factor. Hahaha!

In Search of a Theoretical Framework
First order of the day is finding a theoretical framework for this.  While my students only need to come up with visual reflections, I’m actually required by my professor to come up with a conceptual paper (which may need to incorporate the theoretical, conceptual and operational frameworks). So in essence, we’re doing the same exercise, only with a different medium.

Where to start? This is the difficult part about dissecting a full-length film.  There are so many angles to look at.  If I were to focus on Celso’s child, Precy, I could say that she’s managed to touch Social Construction of Reality by seeing only the good in everyone, even her hateful mother.  If I were to focus on the dynamics of Celso, Patria and Precy’s family, I could go into Relational Patterns of Interaction (under Cybernetics Theories), Relational Schema in the Family (Sociopsychological Theories) and Baxter’s Theory of Relationship. That would, of course, depend on which aspect of the family dynamics I plan to emphasize.  If I want to zoom in on Pilar’s struggle between a woman of conservative morals and a woman in love, I’d have to go with Cognitive Dissonance.  (The significance of the song Maalaala Mo Kaya can even get us talking about Semiotic Theories.) Lots of ways to dissect this because it is full-length. It’s all really a matter of how I’d analyze the discourse.

Discussion at the Sunken Garden
After the Sarsuwela Pelikula, we headed straight for the Sunken Garden to continue our consultations and exchange ideas.  I was already holding the book An Introduction to Game Studies: Games in Culture by Frans Mayra that I had borrowed earlier at the UP-CMC Library.  It was nice to see that April, Mauwi and Red were intrigued and that they were able to grab a couple of ideas that they could use for their proposal.  They’re moving on from Constructivism, to Symbolic Interactionism, to Social Constructionism. Oh, ha! Carlolo, Jason and Arvin, on the other hand, have begun working on their storyboard. It’s just a matter of fixing a few snags about realism.

The atmosphere, as always the case whenever I’m in UP, was relaxing. Sometimes, April, Mauwi and I would get distracted by Football Player #14 that our discussion would get interrupted. We surprisingly get back on track anyway. Justine spent some time envying the players (he was staring intently at the ball), while the rest were busy taking pictures of Football Player #14 and teasing us girls about him.

I think the day was pretty productive. Next week, the kids will be learning from the guys who’ve already done MAPROD, so I’m looking forward to that.  As for the pictures…I’ll wait till Red posts them then I’ll update this post.

Sunken Garden photo by Justine Joya, taken with Red Abuel’s Nikon d60.

carlolo wrote on Feb 26, ’09 Ambilis mo nmn mgpost!.xD Hehehe… Henry!!!.xD

leiheartyou wrote on Feb 26, ’09 INGGIT AKO!

bestboo wrote on Feb 26, ’09 Haha, I enjoyed it also. You should’ve seen the part where Celso and Pilar separated ways.. it was *sigh* don’t leave him.. hahaha! And the malandi girl I was referring to yesterday, was Patria. Haha. How about on the audio part? What theory would that fall on? 😀

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 bestboo said How about on the audio part? What theory would that fall on? 😀 Paragraph #6: (The significance of the song Maalaala Mo Kaya can even get us talking about Semiotic Theories.) Even if it’s not visual, it’s still very symbolic. Remember how Patria would fly off the handle every time she hears it? Hahahahaha! Gawsh, I was afraid we were about to see Butas. Thank goodness, Butas was playing elsewhere. Hahaha!

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 i just realized something…my mom was 1 year old when this film was showing! gawsh!!!!

itshobertday wrote on Feb 26, ’09 i like the film. maganda ung poster ng “BUTAS” xD

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 itshobertday said i like the film. maganda ung poster ng “BUTAS” xD aling film? nanood ka ng butas? hahahaha!

itshobertday wrote on Feb 26, ’09 skysenshi said aling film? nanood ka ng butas? hahahaha! magnda ung sarswela… ang galing umarte nung bata. di q akalain may ganun na kagaling na bata umarte that time hehe.. Ung butas, sayang, sana un nalang fildtrip >.< jowkkkk….

jdsamoy wrote on Feb 26, ’09, edited on Feb 26, ’09 SI HENRY! WAHAHAHA. May bayad ung stolen pic ko dun. kaso nakay Red e. sayang magkakapera ako dun. wahahah xD

carlolo wrote on Feb 26, ’09 Butas was showing sa 2nd Floor of the Bernal Gallery. 4:30 ngstart. syang.xD wahahaha!.xD

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 carlolo said Butas was showing sa 2nd Floor of the Bernal Gallery. 4:30 ngstart. syang.xD wahahaha!.xD edi sana nanood kayo. hahahaha!

ihomaga wrote on Feb 26, ’09 dun nalang tau magklase the whole term XD saka gusto ko ung structure ng theater pinaka matinong oldis type na naupuan ko;)

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 ihomaga said dun nalang tau magklase the whole term XD i wish!!!

itshobertday wrote on Feb 26, ’09, edited on Feb 26, ’09 ito ba yunnn????? “BUTAS” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQgX1_bt08M

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 ahk! bawal rated X dito!

itshobertday wrote on Feb 26, ’09 AY sori miss,,,, link ko nlng po…

skysenshi wrote on Feb 26, ’09 mukhang interesting siya, though. siguro pag medyo tumanda kayo ng konti, puwede na. maraming pang minors sa inyo eh baka hindi niyo ma-analyze mabuti…kung ano pa tumakbo sa isip nyo. har har har.

carlolo wrote on Feb 28, ’09 ngsalita.xD joke lng miss.xD haha..:))

skysenshi wrote on Mar 9, ’09 added a photo from Red’s camera.