Thursday, October 16, 2008

BORN ULTIMATUM


Time really does fly. Around this time last year, we were just beginning to get organized for the show. And now, the clock ticked and tocked and we’re very close in completing a full year – hear that?! Mag-iisang taon na ang Born!! Ang bilisss ng panahon!

Over the year, I’ve learned and experienced a lot of things. Some encounters were great elements in my diary, some umm were not-so-pleasant hehe, but overall – a general feel-good thing.
Let me share some behind-the-scene tidbits, general insights, himutok, learnings, etc;

- Producing a Nat-Geo quality wildlife show, requires TIME and MONEY. These are the 2 elements that we don’t have. Discovery Channel and National Geographic have the best equipment and gears, and take them months to several years to complete a shoot. In our case -I have a regular full-week (Mon-Fri) job, and I can only shoot over the weekend – my precious weekends! Places are nice to visit, but my schedule is tight and hectic. It has become tiring since I have to work almost 7 days a week. Thus, I don’t expect a super gratifying out-of-town trips. Snifh, Snifh.

- Shooting wildlife is VERY CHALLENGING. Especially mammals! If we can only schedule the shoot with them, madali sana . Asa pa! Finding information about a specific geography, specific species, and finding various elements to shoot – is a very challenging job for our researchers and producers. Oftentimes, this becomes the source of our frustrations and little aways. Sometimes, we go to a site, hoping that we’ll be able to find and shoot something. We were not always that lucky! :(

- I realize that I know a lot more about marine life, than terrestrial. And that shooting marine life is actually simpler or easier. Pag dive kase, they’re just there. Animals are just around somewhere, they’re not as scared compared to their land counterparts.
- Even if I’m a Dive Pro, I’m still more of a mountain person than a sea farer. But Born made me realize that wildlife encounter is easier underwater, than in the mountains or jungles. Perhaps that simply means that our jungles and mountains are already terribly screwed!

- I signed up for this kahihiyan ;) w/ an advocacy as the end in mind. I realize that viewers are interested in a wildlife show – and its entertainment value, maybe a bit of new knowledge, but most are still apathetic about conservation issues. Sometimes I wonder if we were actually able to impart moral or conservation values at all. =(
- I seemed to believe more (thru this Born experience), that our wildlife, our environment, and the world we live in – is continually degrading, and that we are running out of time to save it. It may not seem like it, but if you dig deeper, if you see the bigger picture and connect and analyze its various critical components, and if you’re more involved – you will realize that our biosphere, our planet- is fast-becoming a dooms-land. This TV show, is just a silent whisper in exhibiting this scenario; a rather, small voice that may have failed to reach a listening ear. Sus, ang drama! ;)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

anuveeeehhhh!!!!! ang drama drama mo naman eeeehhhhhh... hindi bagay teeeeeeehhhh...

Anonymous said...

hahaha! himutok nga eh.. buti nga super edited na yan :P hmph!

Allynism said...

blooming ka dito infairness!!! hehehe...

hmp!