Music in Movies

"Music and movies have lasted longer than any marriage in Hollywood."
-Charlize Theron, Movies Rock


A 2-hour special on CBS last Dec. 7th, Movies Rock celebrated the most memorable songs from films over the years. Performers included John Legend and Mary J. Blige singing "As Time Goes by" from Casablanca, Usher performing "Singin' in the Rain" from the movie of the same title - to name a few. Near the end of the show, there was a video of Martin Scorsese talking about the importance of the movie's score in filmmaking. And Harrison Ford introduced film composer and 45-time Oscar nominee John Williams as his former co-star that never appeared in the movie. Which makes sense, music is actually another character in a film. It's this thing that you don't see but affects your mood while watching the movie. I admit to not noticing the score in the movie most of the time, yet it still enhances my viewing experience.

I recently made a video with characters having actual dialogue for the first time, and let me tell you, that was one of the most difficult editing experiences of my life. Shooting indoors is fine as long as you have the acoustics worked out. But outdoors, in the middle of DC with vehicles zooming past, on a windy day, is another story. While editing the video, I knew I had to rely heavily on background music. Mainly because I wanted to cover up some of the noise because Final Cut is not really famous for editing audio. It's brilliant for video... but that's about it. So I took a lot of sound effects and scores from iMovie and a few from the Heroes DVD (since the video was like a spoof on that show).

What a difference the music made. No, I still didn't get to clean the noise out. I just took audio out from any non-speaking shots and put in background music. But that actually set the mood for some of the scenes. Like in one of the earlier scenes, so as not to distract the viewers from the noisy trucks passing by and the wind gusting through our ghetto boom mic (pictured), I took the audio out and replaced it with a suspenseful background music from iMovie. It helped because in that scene the character was walking down the street (in "Hong Kong"), yet kept stopping because he felt that somebody was following him.

The video's far from perfect as everything was done in a short of amount of time. But even though it was not one of my best, I still find the project important because it was a learning experience for me. Mental note: next time rent a real boom mic and get something to block the wind. Also, get glasses (which I did recently after this experience) to notice the smudges on the lens filter during the shoot and not during editing when you don't have time for a re-shoot anymore. But most of all, I learned the importance of music in movies. It's not just to cover something up but to set the mood and enhance the viewing experience.

Watching Movies Rock made me think of a few of my favorite scores and songs in films:

• The score from Jaws - whenever I hear the "dum dum dum dum..." I feel like I have to look around. That was such a classic moment in the film that up to now it's still part of pop culture.
  
• Tara's Theme from Gone With the Wind - one perfect example of how you don't have to have dialogue or lyrics to tell the story. The marriage of music (especially the strings) and Vivien Leigh's facial expressions were all that took to let the viewer feel that through the challenges and sufferings of war, you will still find hope.
• Singin' in the Rain - iconic. For me the best and most creative choreography in a movie. And that was just done by one man. Even Usher - one the best entertainers in the world right now - admitted that he had a difficult time trying to re-create it. Watching it makes me want to take tap dancing classes. And anything that gets me to consider learning how to dance, is something magical.
  
• And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going from Dreamgirls - this was a good combination of music, acting and simple yet powerful cinematography. But the acting of Jennifer Hudson was the one that affected me the most as a viewer. Sure it may have been more difficult for Ms. Jennifer Holliday doing it live on Broadway almost every night. But I didn't see it.
  
• The score from Schindler's List - "The very famous and very sad violin solo stands out as a single voice of plead that represents millions of ordinary Jewish people who lost their lives in the holocaust." Couldn't have said it better myself.
• The score from Ringu - the original Japanese version of The Ring was so creepier than the Hollywood version mainly because of the score. It's like this scratching/screeching thing that I couldn't figure out and sounds so low tech but it scared me out of my seat. Seriously. I almost choked on a nacho and I have 2 of my friends that can attest to that.
• The Sound of Music (pictured) - come on, how can I not place this? Oscar winner everybody. I love the first part of the movie where it shows beautiful shots of Salzburg (been there woohoo! Thanks CFC!), and then the music builds up and suddenly you're on top of a mountain and Julie Andrews is twirling around. Amazing cinematography, amazing first scene. It hooks the audience at the start of the movie. And sometimes, that's all you need.
• The score from the Indiana Jones movies - every time I hear that I feel like I wanna chase a train or jump on rocks or something.
  

I know there are a lot more great songs (Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany's, the theme from Shaft, Disney songs, As Time Goes By from Casablanca) and scores (Psycho, Gladiator, LOTR, Star Wars, Back to the Future). But this entry is running long as it is.

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays

My level of homesickness goes up every December due to the bajillion Christmas celebrations happening in the Philippines this time of the year. As they say, the pre-dominantly Catholic country celebrates the longest Christmas season.

So to deal with this, I will list out the things I miss the most from back home during the holidays:

• Parols - those colorful stars, lit up by the bulbs inside them. I hardly see those here because they're expensive.
• Puto bumbong - buying a couple of warm puto bumbongs after a Simbang Gabi mass, with coconut on top and that brown powdery sugar... ooh and butter melting on top of it too... mmm...
• Simbang gabi - waking up at the crack of dawn, wearing a jacket, feeling the cool breeze as we walk to church, fighting off my heavy eyelids later that day.
• Choirs singing Christmas songs - we all know there are hundreds of versions of Christmas songs. But for me, nothing beats the version of a simple church choir's. I heard a rock version of O Come All Ye Faithful on 91.9 and my mind went "NOOOO..." I thank God and Toyota for the option of changing to another radio station. I know there are church choirs here, but I heard them more frequently back home. Probably because back then we would attend special masses in school and so of course the choir would sing Christmas songs, while the rest of the students are forced to sing along. If you don't comply, you will get a stern look from your teacher.
  
• ABS-CBN's Christmas special - what can I say, I am a sucker for Christmas songs. Even if most of them lip sync it. I make an exception during the holidays because they wear nicer clothes.
• Christmas shopping at ATC - the thing I love about this mall (aside from it being 15 minutes from our house) is that it's not one big building. It's open, outdoorsy... I don't feel claustrophobic even with the holiday crowd. Since it's not cold in the Philippines, I love walking around this mall and taking in the ambience, oftentimes seeing a familiar face - may it be a relative or an old high school classmate.
• Driving around Alabang to see the Christmas lights - they have more money over there so they have the better decorations.
  
• The weather - it's ridiculously hot in the Philippines, but come December that's when the cold air comes in. And when I say cold, I mean 70's.
• Christmas party at school - being forced to bring a food for potluck and a gift for Kris Kringle, then just sitting on an armchair while eating cold spaghetti and puto because what else is there to do in a small classroom. On the upside, we don't get to wear uniforms that day, wheee!
• Sound of Music marathon on RPN 9 - I still don't get the connection between the movie and Christmas (family?), but I got so used to watching it in December that I think I want to pop it in the DVD player tonight and watch, with a cup o' hot chocolate.
• Watching Christmas specials w/ the family at the living room - nobody wants to watch anything with me anymore. Geez. Maybe it has something to do with the shape of the living room here, and with the TV only fitting in one corner, it's got a weird angle pointing to the couches. Plus the TV's size is small if you look at its distance from the couches. Sometimes you can't hear much either because of the bad acoustics in the living room. Also, I analyze too much.
• Metro Manila Film Festival - okay, so, before I used to laugh at the movies being shown on that filmfest. It was like this festival where production companies can boast which of them got the bigger stars (though not exactly the best movie you can take seriously - I cannot count how many song & dance numbers these movies have shown at the end). But then when they started making quality films, starting with Jose Rizal, I took notice. Since then the MMFF became one of the things I looked forward to during the holidays, to see Philippine cinema's best movies of the year.
• "Helping" my mom bake goodies to give as gifts to family friends - and when I say "help," I mean taste the batter while watching the MMFF Parade of the Stars.
• Delivering gifts around the village - I didn't like it back then because I was scared of dogs chasing me, but I miss it now. Bring on the german shepherds!
  
• Anticipated mass at Christmas Eve - with the choir at their best and the church is at its crowdest, this is my favorite mass of the year. After that the kids get to run to the baby Jesus and kiss his feet, and the rest of us greet the other churchgoers, who we've grown up with, a merry Christmas.
• Christmas morning at home - being the first one to wake up and impatiently wait for everyone else; eating cheese (if we're lucky, Amsterdam cheese!), ham, crepes and ensaymada for breakfast; delivering gifts to our next door neighbors/relatives; waiting for them to wake up as well; and choosing the best thing to wear for Christmas lunch with my relatives.
• Trip to Baguio - I think this is where my love for road trips started. 7 hours in a van with my family and/or cousins. Going up to the house in the cold mountains of Baguio. Playing cards inside the house while exchanging ghost stories. Waking up to the smell of Baguio longganisa, fried eggs and garlic rice. Bowling with my cousins. Making cardboard sleds and riding on them. Buying peanut brittle and ube jam from Good Shepherd. Buying sweaters from tiangges. Getting some ice cream from Camp John Hay even though it's already cold over there. Horse back riding that just goes around in circles. Biking... that just goes around in circles.
  
• New Year's Eve - going to mass then getting home to smell the scent of garlic bread and baked macaroni wafting through the air, some of the food we would eat for the New Year's Eve celebration we always had at home with the relatives that live next door; hiding in my room because the fireworks scare me (they are really loud over there) until my cousins would drag me out so everybody could start eating; going to the other 2 houses next door with Tito Gene throwing coins in his house and Tito Noel in his house (I would later on use the coins I collected at a nearby sari-sari store); drinking Asti Martini at Tito Gene's when I got older.
  

Then What Am I Taking My Shoes Off For

From USA Today...

Most fake bombs missed by screeners

Come to think of it, I've had my Swiss knife go past the security check point in 2 of my trips. The first time was when I went to Chicago back in March, and the second time was when I went to Dallas last month. Both times I realized, after checking in on the counter, that I still had my keys (which include the Swiss knife). So I just placed them in my carry-on. Nobody noticed it in the X-ray thingie on both trips.

And when I did check in my keys w/ the Swiss knife, the plane loses my suitcase. I ended up working from home for 2 days, as I waited for my car keys. How does the story end? I don't have the Swiss knife attached to my keys anymore.

Things I Learned in Costa Rica

• Latin Americans love to worship.
• Always bring a Spanish phrase book if you want to be understood.
• The sun is a gift from God.
• Heredia is like Tagaytay.
• When running in the rain you think you see a light blue floormat, don't step on it. It's actually a pool overflowing with water.
• Take Dramamine 30 minutes before riding a plane, if you didn't learn the first time.
• The trampoline is a gift from God (through a human being that invented it).
• Do not panic when the cab driver charges you 2000 colones. He's actually charging you 4 dollars, not 2000 dollars.
• Just because there are a lot of common words between Tagalog and Spanish does not mean you know Spanish.

Things I Learned in Europe

• People in Paris let their dogs poop on the sidewalks.
• Lourdes is like Baguio City.
• A Mini Cooper is actually a mid-size car.
• If you want to order regular Coke, you have to say "normal Coke." All others are abnormal.
  
• The French language is sexy.
• So is the Italian language.
• I think the Germans are mad at me.
• The Handmaids are crazy... and I mean that in a good way.
• The real Maria Von Trapp made a cameo in The Sound of Music.
• Walking around Paris with a backpack containing your laptop, SLR, hard drive, cables, water, etc. is not good for your back.
• 8-hour layover in Rome's airport = boring
• Take Dramamine 30 minutes before riding a plane or train.
• Condoms are sold at sidewalks to tourists.
• When Filipinos in Vienna say something that sounds like "aso," they're not talking about a dog.
• Before dining in a restaurant in Lourdes, learn French or Spanish first. Your English is useless there.
• European chocolates taste much better.

Blessed

Love is the Answer

The Beatles were asked to write a simple song that everybody could relate to. They figured, what can be more universal than love? And so the birth of All You Need is Love.

The ability to love is a gift given to us by God. Whatever problem we're having in any kind of relationship, the simple solution is love. Love takes away the crazy little thing called pride. The more we love selflessly, the closer we get to Jesus - the ultimate symbol of love.


I always forget about this simple solution. For the past few days I've been getting messages to love. Love my household, love everybody in the community, love my family, love the poor, love my co-workers and our angry clients, and most of all, love God. Each day contains a new message of love. It's like God is knocking on my head (imagine Biff in Back to the Future - "Hellooo McFly!" tap tap tap - but in a more loving way) reminding me of this simple act.

The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace. -Mother Teresa

We are all human who have our own faults and weaknesses. Sometimes we tend to attach ourselves to worldly things, instead of to what is pure and holy. But we need to always take a step back and examine our actions - do we do this out of love? Do we love our neighbors as Jesus loves us? Once we realize that everything we do must be done out of selfless love, only then will our worries and negative emotions go away.

I'm a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change. -John Lennon

All we need is love.

Generation Now

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a near revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees
-Hosanna, Hillsong

It's time for us to stop waiting for people to tell us what to do. It's time for us to rid ourselves of worldly things. It's time for us to be pure, in mind and heart. It's time for us to step up. Time for us to uphold peace and unity.

Because in these, there is hope.

This just in

I haven't posted in a while so for the sake of updating this blog, here's some reading material for your pleasure...

You may now call her Reverend Tori Spelling
Just one of the many reasons why the sanctity of marriage has to be protected. And the sanctity of the holy order. And anything 90's pop culture.

It's like Bedknobs & Broomsticks, only with a lawn chair
"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them." I beg to differ, I'd wish I had the latest Harry Potter book and some Cinnabon.

Ginormous mushroom
He better be careful, Papa Smurf might still be sleeping inside.

GEICO's letter to Optimus Prime
I never realized that Megatron could be a woman.

Wash your hands with hands
What sick mind thought of this?

iPhone in a blender
Do not watch if you're an Apple fan with a weak heart.

There are quotes on the cups?

Yet another reason to say I don't pay attention that much. Apparently Starbucks has started placing quotes on its coffee cups. It's their way of getting people more involved with the brand, by having them put in their own thoughts on its website. Then they would choose the best quotes and print them on the cups.



I just had a hot chocolate from Starbucks and I didn't notice the quote on my cup. Heh. But someone who did notice it was a woman from Ohio. She actually got offended by what she read on her cup: "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure." The woman, who is also Catholic and a Starbucks lover, has decided to bring her coffee runs elsewhere.

If you had the sudden urge to get a hot Dulce de Leche from Starbucks, and once you get it you notice the above quote on your cup, what would you do? Would you get offended and boycott Starbucks, or would you consider it as freedom of speech and let it go?

I asked a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless but I am linking to his blog, what he thought about it. He said it's all about your attitude on stuff like this. For him, he takes that as a challenge. No he will not boycott Starbucks, but instead he is inspired to submit all of his thoughts about God to Starbucks' website. Get everybody else to do that, so we will fill the site with Christianity and the Gospel of life. And he's right, because it's another way to be a witness!

If you want to take on the challenge, go to www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit

And for the record, when I went to the site, this is the quote that I got (just goes to show that the views are very diverse): "I wish couples who desperately take every means to conceive a child would realize that adoption is a wonderful alternative. A child who becomes your child through adoption completes a family. Just as when you commit to your spouse or partner there are no biological ties, yet a family was formed. This child enters a family the same way! It is not blood and flesh that form a family, but the heart."

What It's All About

You know why I like this picture? No, not because I'm there and look like I know what I'm doing (which, I can tell you now, is all an act). Or that it was taken by a Nikon D50, the older brother of my baby D40.

If you take a look at the picture, you could see that the photographer focused on the crucifix, and the musicians are just in the background, kinda blurred.

Which is really what it's all about isn't it? In worship, it's not about the music ministry. Music ministers are merely servants. They assist the worshipers to have an amazing praying experience. It's all about God. All about Him and His majesty, His glory, His mercy, His faithfulness, His grace... everything!

God is good and worthy of all praise. Playing songs of praise and worship for Him and the worshipers is an honor and is always a humbling experience.

The 11th Commandment

I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13:34)

Earlier our Office Manager came in my office crying, asking me for our President's cellphone number. I thought somebody died in her family or something, so I hastily looked for the number and gave it to her. I asked her what's wrong, and she said our VP of Sales got angry at her and started cussing at her. Apparently they were trying to get referrals and they couldn't get any, so our VP said it's because of the sound of her voice and the way she talks. So he got upset and started dropping the F bombs on her.

This incident reminded me of how much love is needed in the world... especially at home and in the workplace. Everybody keeps saying we need world peace, but how do we achieve that? By love.

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
"Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world."
-Mother Teresa

We are all brothers and sisters, and God is our father. If that's the case, shouldn't we be loving one another? A lot of times it's not, because it is really hard. Two months ago I started asking God to help me be a more patient and loving person. I prayed to Mother Teresa to help me be like her. The past weekend I attended a Singles Weekend Retreat, and one of the things that was said in one of the talks was that if you ask God to make you a more loving person, He will give you to most difficult person to love. Which is exactly the case for me, with my service and my day job, it is a real struggle. I'm not exactly the most patient person in the world. Most of the time I fail, but what else can I do but pick myself up and try again.

A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
Should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
-From the Inside Out, Hillsong

And I know I need to work on this because every time I am asked to give a talk, for some reason the talk I'm supposed to give relates to what I'm currently going through. Like I am being taught a lesson through the talk. So when I was asked by SFC South Maryland to give a talk in their upcoming Christian Life Program, I said yes because I always see it as God asking me to do this for Him - so why would I say no, right? - and also because I want to support my friends in that unit (and then what usually happens is, several hours before the talk I kick myself for accepting the task because I hate public speaking. But that's another story, moving on...).

So what do you know, the talk I'm supposed to give is Christian Ideal: Loving Your Neighbor. I laughed when I learned what talk it was. I said wow God, that's so not subtle at all. I guess I need to start working on myself then. Otherwise I'd be a hypocrite.

Our VP just came in and started joking about the incident, like he didn't care that he made somebody cry. It's a good thing I was helping a client with a network issue over the phone, or I would have been expected to get in on the joke too, as did the other people in the office.

Or maybe it's not a good thing, maybe I should have been a witness of love.

The Geek is Ecstatic

PC World unveiled The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time and I am giddy with joy at rediscovering the gadgets and programs of the past. The evolution of Netscape Navigator! The Print Shop and Lotus 123 screenshots! Napster! TiVo making the top 3!

Oh I could go on and on.

But my favorite part of the article has got to be this:
...Windows 95 first brought us long file names, legitimate multitasking, and a dramatically improved GUI, which arguably represents the brief and final moment in time that Windows actually looked better than a Mac.

Awesome.

Purpose

"In some countries of Asia and Africa there is mostly material poverty; but in the rich countries of Europe and America there is much spiritual poverty and it is more difficult to cure."
-Mother Teresa

There were times when I would question myself on my decision to move to the United States. My parents and friends are in the Philippines, what's in the US aside from getting a higher-paying job? And I am missing the whole GK hoopla. I want to help build communities for the poor too, so I envied my friends and relatives back home who are so involved with GK.

It was only several months ago that I realized why God placed me here. At the SFC conference in Seattle, God showed His plan for me. The big problem in the western world is the culture of death. The biggest weapon of this culture is the media - which happens to be the thing that I love. So it's kind of sad to see the thing that you love do a lot of wrong things, right? It's like seeing your brother rob banks or something.

Sadly a lot of Christians condemn the media because of what (most of) it promotes. I love the media, and that's why I want to sanitize it. Save it from the culture of death. The media is a very influential tool, and it should not be condemned. So this is what I am called to do. And maybe the work will not be finished while I'm still alive. Promoting the culture of life takes a lot determination and patience. Lots of patience. This is a big deal, it's a whole new culture we are changing. So of course it will take time, we'll probably just see the finished work from heaven.

And our generation is called to do this. We are not the next generation, we are the now generation. There's no time to wait and be "the" generation. So it's time to step up.

Mother Teresa said she doesn't pray to God for success, she asks for faithfulness. And that is what we all need in this work. May our spirits never falter and may we never lose hope. May we remain focused on our calling.

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
-From the Inside Out, Hillsong

New Focus, New Blog

Some lessons learned since the year started...

March for Life (Washington, DC/January)

• We are not alone in this fight for life.
• Our generation is called to build a culture of life.

SFC MD Chapter Assembly (Central Maryland/February)

• GK is the gift of the Philippines to the world.

Pro-Life Conference (Chicago, IL/March)

• God is the author of life, and the enemy is trying to destroy it. Therefore, we are in a spiritual battle.
• CFC is Pro-God, Pro-Family, Pro-Poor, Pro-Life. We can't be one w/o the other.
• Christians should not only defend and protect life, but live and celebrate it as well.

SFC Northeast USA Summit (South Plainfield, NJ/March)

• We have become comfortable. The whole world is waiting for America to step up.
• Pray for a vision and He will show it to you.

SFC MD FCL Teaching (College Park, MD/March)

• Pray for faith.