For almost a month of no SDE, i'm back in event film making with the Trebor Z team. Val and Rhea trusted our team to capture the most important day of their life. The song was chosen by the couple along with other songs which are very fitting for SDE's. The song that i chose was also the song for their first dance, which means i did the right decision to choose this song among the 5 choices. Their wedding was an exquisite one. We got to work with Roy Guilly Photography and their team, where one of my former students is a part of. I definitely love their prenup photos which was styled by vintage queen Maam Aleli Tan. CMK was the coordinator and they gave the couple a pretty reception set up. So here's the highlight of Val and Rhea's wedding.



Val and Rhea Wedding
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PREPS Lantaka Hotel Loft | CHURCH St. Joseph Parish Church | RECEPTION Astoria Regency,
Zamboanga City | BRIDAL GOWN Edwin Uy | ENTOURAGE Benjie Alvarez | PHOTOGRAPHY Roy Guilly | COORDINATION & EVENT STYLING CMK Creations | PHOTOBOOTH Jess Yu Digital Images | LIGHTS & SOUNDS Sure Audio Mobile by Donjie

On April 2 to 3, 2014, Trebor Z Audio Visuals will be conducting the most awaited Event Film-making Workshop in Zamboanga City. Two prominent Videographers from Manila will be flying over to be our guest speakers. Jason Magbanua's Creative Videographer, Michael Jamandre, and Christian Andaya of Andaya Digital Videos, will be sharing their experiences and knowledge in film-making and the industry.

Michael and Christian are some of the creatives that belong to the Philippine Videography community called Pinoy Video Makers (PVM) which includes Jason Magbanua, John Marvi de Guzman, and Nicolas Brothers. Trebor Z's founder Robert Zapata Jr has also been actively participating in their community activities, joining their workshops like the PVM Sessions. Robert has decided to bring the videography industry here and Sweet Shots was initiated.

Along with Michael and Christian, Robert Zapata and I, Cedrick Zabala, SDE editor for Trebor Z, will also give a talk during the workshop. I will be talking about concepts of videography and photography while Robert will talk about gears and setting up for production. On the first day of Sweet Shots, the speakers will have their talks. On the next day, participants will have a hands-on video shoot with models. They will produce a short video presentation will be shown in the afternoon. The best video will be recognized at the end of the program.

Sweet Shots will be held at Gazebo, Astoria Regency Hotel. Registration Fee is only P2,000, inclusive of food, t-shirt, workshop kit and more of freebies. Early bird rate is P1,500 only (until March 16, 2014 only). We only have limited slots so register now! Call our Secretariat at 990-3231 or 09166947877 to register. Please visit and like the official facebook account https://www.facebook.com/SweetShotsZambo.

So i created this simple animation for a group of high school student's class project. They asked me to animate a baby from its conception to birth. It was challenging but i guess i need to do this coz i want to practice my animation skills. At first I thought this would be so difficult but they told me they just want a simple animation. So i created this simple masking animation and add a bit of animation with the text presentation, too. The time limit was 2minutes only that's why some text went so fast. Anyways, here's the video.



So here's my process for doing this. First, i looked for references online and i found these images and became my references for the shapes and colors.


I traced the basic shapes of the sperm and egg cells in Illustrator. Then, I imported the layers in AfterEffects and animated them. For the tail of the sperm cells i used the wave warp effect. I also used some 3d camera for the zoom. I duplicated the egg cells for the cell division then introduced a new layer for the cell with multiple divisions. Then a pink layer comes in which represents the uterus wall where the fertilized cell attaches. Then the little fetus slowly grows. I used one layer for the body during the entire animation that's why there are awkward parts like the part where the hands are deforming as it animates. I added a new layer for the right arm and leg add added some gradients to add a little depth.

For the stages of labor i transitioned the pink background into the reproductive system. This is the toughest part. I have to create a lot of keyframes so that the vagina (haha) layer will follow with the baby's shape as it is moving outwards. I also added a hand for the nurse/doctor to usher the baby as it goes out of the womb. ;) Well, basically that's it. I learned many things from this project, too. I realized that i don't need to trace the shapes in illustrator. I can do it directly in AfterEffects. It will also help reduce the number of layers. I'm looking forward for more Motion Graphic animation in the future.

It's the annual Graphika Manila, the biggest conference for Creativity in the country. In the nine years of GM, I've attended five: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Last year I wasn't able to attend because of the sudden change of schedule (from August to February). This year I made sure that I'll really push through and enjoy the conference. Indeed, we really had a great time! The speakers were awesome and inspiring!

I went to Manila with my classmate Tennyl, my cousin Wella and her classmate Windz. Some of our Atenean schoolmates also attended and we came together there. Unfortunately my cousin became sick on the day of the event, so she just went home and rested. Anyways, my buddy Tennyl was his first time to attend Graphika so I made sure he really had fun.


My GM2014 buddies. Joseph, their friend, and Jane from Cebu. Wella and Tennyl. We're all Ateneans except 'friend' :)


The speakers arriving at SMX while we're in line.


Going up :)

We went super early 7AM! And we're the first few people who lined up outside SMX. Our patience paid off coz we had good seats. We got conference kit and it has stickers and the GM book. I regret missing the submission for the GM book this year :( But the works are very nice! Anyways, inside the convention center we visited the booths and looked for freebies. I got my Adobo mag and a free photobooth print with Tennyl. I like the screen setup of Globaltronics who are promoting the National Digital Art Arwards that they are organizing. Tennyl and I bought the official Graphika Manila shirts, too, from Team Manila.


This is something new. They gave us ballers :) Cool!


With Lej, my former student who works for Globaltronics now :)


Fooling around at the booths :) Bought GM shirts at Team Manila booth.


Hahahaha. I like photo booths!!! So happy for this free print :)

Going to the conference proper, the first speakers were Teo and Carlos of DVEIN from Barcelona, Spain. They were very funny. I love how they use microscopic textures, 3d elements with a blend of good music in their videos. They discussed where their ideas come from. I observed that they really like organic and natural textures in their work. They also discussed how they became "Son the Pitch"-es. Most of their work comes from their pitch works and that they don't have a dream client.



Second speaker was Sarah Blake aka ZSO, an illustrator and graphic designer from New York. Most of her works look like traditional ink and watercolor works. She uses very interesting patterns inspired by nature such as foliage, feathers, and insects. I love the flowy style of her illustrations that are just mesmerizing to look at. She's so cool and she reminds me of Anna Kendrick. Anyways, she shared her humble beginnings and how our childhood becomes our identity as an artist. Young Sarah loves to explore the outdoors and sketch quiryk characters like "Snortvart". She also pointed out that our muscle memory should be exercised by always drawing, doodling or keeping a sketchbook.


Image from http://www.sgcny.com/

Then, lunch break! It was a tradition for me to have lunch at Tokyo2 during Graphika. For the afternoon session, we started with the energetic Ash Thorp, illustrator and motion graphic artist from San Diego, USA. This dude rocks! I love his comic inspired sketches and how he does it so quickly. He created visual effects for films like Ender's Game, Iron Man, X:Men: First class and the Amazing Spiderman. He said to do what you love and love what you do. Amen!


Some of Ash's awesome sketches!


Cool UI design from Ash.

Up next is the Filipina design goddess, Isabel Gatuslao, an Identity and Graphic Designer. Her talk was really close to my heart coz i had an indent project last year for Zoom In Zamboanga. She shared some of her projects for her clients like Liz Uy and Lebron! Her talk revolved around "Obsession". She said that when you like something, obsess with it. She's obsessed with typefaces and designing symbols. As a punkish teen, she loved black and white and as an Interior design student she was obsessed with art history like baroque designs. When I look at her work she always remain her identity as an artist no matter what the client wants to have. As designers we can also balance our work to show our indentities as artist, too. It is tough but the way is to obsess! I love her maka-Pinoy projects and how she said "I'm not always 'Proudly Pinoy' but i do it obsessively. This is so true! When you have a project, you will do anything passionately and even obsess with the tiniest of details. Isabel truly inspired me! :)


Custom Lebron shoe design by Isabel Gatuslao

Another Filipino speaker came next, Eugene Gauran of The Mill, is based in Los Angeles. He's a cool guy who does post-production and visual effects work for years now. He was overwhelmed when he realized how many Filipinos were so passionate in the creative industry and how he wants to give back, too. He became emotional :'). He's truly a world-class Pinoy to be proud of and i hope someday ill be like him. And last speaker was Jessica Hische for Lettering and Graphic design. I was really looking forward for someone to talk about the cool art of Lettering which im obsessed recently. Whenever i see cool stuff in the internet i keep them in a folder and when i saw Jessica's works, most of the lettering works i kept are hers. She was responsible for the awesome posters and book covers with vintage inspired letterings that i really love.



Jessica also shared some tips and tricks in creating her custom lettering like how she uses the stroke width tool in Illustrator. She also discussed the difference between Calligraphy, Lettering and Font. Calligraphy is the art of writing, Lettering is drawing or designing texts and Font is the software to manipulate types. She's so cool and funny! Love her!


Team Zamboanga in Graphika!



Well, i could say that this year's Graphika has one of the best bunch of speakers! I went home with tons of inspiration. I hope i can make use of my new knowledge and inspirations in my works. I'm looking forward for next year's Graphika and hopefully i go back again. For those who aspire to be in the creative industry i highly recommend that you attend Graphika. and i hope i will see you next year ;) Anyways, please check out my latest artwork in my doodle blog for the 30 Day Drawing Challenge here. Thanks for reading my blog ;)

This year marks the 77th Year of Zamboanga as a chartered city. To commemorate the event, City Hall Office, City Tourism Office and other NGO's set a lineup of exciting activties for the entire month. Highlights of activities includes the Dia di Senador RT Lim, Birds Festival, and a City Wide Sale by Major Shopping Malls in Zamboanga City. Another big event is the 2nd Zamboanga International Film Festival and the opening of the brand new Cinematech by the Film Development Council of the Philippines fronting LTO office. I'm particulary excited for the annual Cheerdance Competition and the Food Festival. This year's theme is Build Back Better Zamboanga. Check out the official tarp design courtesy of truly yours :) Click for full view.

View the poster version here.