April 22 marks a special day for the planet. This is a day to appreciate the bounty of nature and to make ourselves awared concerning the issues that affect our environment like global warming. Today, I celebrate Earth day through my craft, which is art. I serve as an instructor during the 1-month arts summer program of the Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago, where I instruct 7 students in developing image acquisition through Adobe Photoshop CS2. One of our activities is to create a poster for earth day which also promote enviromental issues. Here are some of their outputs.


For more of my students creations, visit my multiply account. Anyways, I also made an OBB (opening billboard) inspired by the Earth Day celebration using Adobe AfterEffects for my final project in my Video Production class. Enjoy!

Earth Hour on Saturday
29, March 2008,
at 8 o'Clock in the Evening

Support the worldwide campaign against global warming called Earth Hour that calls for everyone to take simple changes that will take simple steps to cut emissions on an ongoing basis. It is about simple changes that will collectively make a difference - from businesses turning off their lights when their offices are empty, to households turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby.

On Saturday, 29th March 2008, from 8pm to 9pm we ask everyone to join the rest of the world in the observance of the Earth Hour by turning the lights off just for an hour even when you are at home to send a strong message about the need for action on global warming, specifically about the greatest contributor to global warming which is coal-fired electricity.



Let us not forget the two storm surges Zamboanga City experienced last year which resulted to massive devastation along the coastal areas leaving many people homeless. Those experiences were said to be effects of changes in the climate. Continued reliance on electricity sourced from coal-fired power stations causes dramatic increase in droughts and severe storms and massive changes to the environment.

This campaign started in Sydney on March 21, 2007. For one hour, it made a powerful statement about the greatest contributor to global warming - coal-fired electricity - by turning off its lights. Over 2.2 million Sydney residents and over 2, 100 businesses switched off, leading to a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. What began as one city taking a stand against global warming caught the attention of the world.

WE DO THE SAME IN THIS PART OF THE GLOBE, LET US DO OUR SHARE,
SWITCH OFF LIGHTS FOR AN HOUR!



visit earthhour.org for more infos

AICG will be hosting the first Digital Art Exhibit in Zamboanga City at the Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago, AdZU campus. It will opened on March 10, 2008 in line withe celebration of the ICT Week. Sponsored by DISCOVER Digital Imaging, this exhibit is a collection of various artworks that were contributed by the AICG members. This aims to showcase the outputs of the students and promote the Computer Science Department.

Here are some of my contributions:

The Computer Science Department and its student organization, Ateneo Informatics and Computing Guild (AICG) will be celebrating its ICT Week on March 10 to 15, 2008. This year’s celebration is dubbed as “Switch On” as we aim to activate Information Technology promotion in the city. To accomplish this goal, we will be conducting seminars, technology display, ICT Quiz Bowl and Digital Art Exhibit.

Please visit the website for list of activities, schedules and more information.

At the end of the school year, Beacon publishes beautiful artworks, poems and creative short stories that were contributed by the students, alumnus and faculty members of AdZU. "Marejada" is the literary folio of the student publication of Ateneo de Zamboanga University, that aims to showcase the diverse talents of Ateneans in the field of literature and fine arts. Last year, the theme was seven deadly sins. The editor, MR Andrada expressed that the "Marejada 2007 explores the world of man's misdeeds, seeking not to celebrate its darkness, but rather shed light into what drives man to commit acts so strangely humane..."

This year's theme is Memories, with Agnetha de Castro as the editor in chief. We had a photo shoot at a hundred-year-old house at the Rizal street at Petit Barracks and enjoyed the view of the Zamboanga seas and the fine cuisine at the Lantaka Hotel. With our hard work and passion for art, we hope to bring this year's Marejada with reminiscence and a glimpse of the past to remind us of beautiful memories today before they will be gone forever. Below are some of the photos that we took and some sneak peeks of this year's Marejada. Enjoy!

After the directing workshop, we had a clear picture on film-making. Last week, we had an activity on storyboarding in our Video Production class (ITMM105). My group mates were Ric, Patrick, Richard, Matthew, Jervin, Caroline, Christian, Ervyn and David. The next meeting, we had our shoot based on our storyboard at the backfield of the school campus. The short film is titled "Jack and Jack," our version of the old nursery rhyme "Jack and Jill." We also learned Adobe Premiere to edit our videos. Here is my output. Enjoy!


In this video, i used the effect RGB curves to manipulate the colors of the video to have an old film effect. Instead of voice sync, i used captions, similar to silent movies during the early age of film. My style is "back to basics" where the music is used to express the mood of the film. I also learned to use jump cuts and speed alterations. Based on my research, old films looks like it has been "fast-forward" because the frame rate is lower. Usually, videos are played 30 frames per second. Anyways, I also enjoyed editing the video because i learned the flaws of our shoot. There are inconsistencies but it is up to the editor to cover these are. A little bit of creativity could be use. I hope you enjoyed our first short film. I'm looking forward to your comments and suggestions. :D

Pagbasa na ata ang pinakaboring na gawain sa buhay ko. Mag-iisang buwan na at hindi ko pa rin nagagawa ang reading assignment ko sa isang sabjek sa IT. Ilang beses na akong nagtangka na magbasa at nauuwi lang ito sa pagidlip ng aking mga mata. Sa tuwing di ako makatulog, ilang paragraf lang, nanaginip na ako. Di ko talaga maintindihan kung bakit sa magbabarkada nung haiskul, ako lang ata ang hindi pinagpala sa talento ng pag-appreciate ng mga nobela at pocket books. Gayon man, ang sakit kong ito ay di ko hayaang maging dahilan sa di ko paggawa rebyung ito.

Ang librong Trip to Quiapo na ata ang pinakakasusuklaman kong libro sa kadahilanang naging assignment namin ito at hindi sa nilalaman nito. Inaamin kong ang unang kabanata lamang ng libro ang aking naunawan, ngunit sa kakarampot na kaalamang ito ay maraming aral sa buhay ang aking nahagilap.

Ang librong ito ay inilimbag ni Ricky Lee, isang tanyag na screen writer ng ilang sikat na pelikula tulad ng Himala na nagkamit ng sari-saring parangal. Ang librong ito ay isang manual sa pagsusulat o scriptwriting. Ang scriptwriting ay napapaloob sa matiyagang step-by-step na proseso upang magkaroon ng magandang pelikula.

Ang script ang dugo ng pelikula. Dito naipapahiwatig ng mga aktor ang kwento. Sa paggawa ng script, may tinatawag na Pre-writing at Writing stage. Sa pre-writing stage nagsisimula ang pagbuo ng konsepto. Sa maliit na ideya, tumutubo ang mga magagandang kuwento na likha ng imahinasyon. Sa paggawa ng ideya, kailangang gumawa ng problema at ipagtagpi-tagpi ito sa bagong ideya. Sa mga fiction movies, nagsisimula ito sa mga tanong na "What if?". Paano kung buhay pa ang mga dinosaur sa kasalukuyan? Paano kung may isang kometang lalagapak sa mundo? Paano kung totoo ang magic? Sa mga simpleng tanong nabubuo ang mga ideyang maaaring pagsimulan ng ating script. Maaari ding gamitin ang mga karanasan sa totoong buhay upang magsimula ng kwento.

Sa pre-writing, nabubuo na rin ang mga tauhan ng ating kwento. Iba't ibang karakter ang kinakailangan sa sari-saring kwento. May mga pelikulang aksyon, komedya, melodrama, trahedya, parsa, dokyumentaryo, atbp. Ito ang tinatawag na genre ng pelikula. Ang iba't ibang genre ay may kani-kanila ring mga plot o pagsusunod-sunod ng mga pangyayari sa kwento.

Mapapansing purong Tagalog ang aking ginamit na may halong Ingles. Ang pag-presenta ng mga ideya dito ay isinulat tila nag-uusap ng impormal. Ang librong Trip to Quiapo ay isang modulo hindi lang sa paghaharap sa mundo ng pagsusulat, ito rin ay para sa ating pagharap sa buhay. Sa paglalakbay sa ating buhay, marami tayong daang mapagpipilian. Sa aklat, pinapakita ang iba' ibang paaran ng paglalakbay patungong Quiapo. May mga daang maluwag at masikip. Mayroon namang mabato o putikan. Tulad ng scriptwriting, maraming paaran upang makagawa ng kwento. Ngunit, hindi lahat ng daan ay masasabi nating tama o mali. Ang tanging nakakaalam lamang ng ating destinasyon ay ang mga disisyon natin sa buhay.

Kung gusto, maraming paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan. Ang pagsusulat ay hindi ginagawa kasi "feel" natin o nasa "mood" tayo. Ito ay nararanasan at hinahasa kasi may anking talento at karanasan ang isang tao. Huwag nating hayaang talunin tayo ng ating mga kahinaan sa buhay. Kung ayaw mong bumasa ng librong pagkahaba-haba, bigyan nyo ng oras ang inyong sarili na mapag-isa. Kung gusto mong sumayaw ngunit kaliwa ang dalawang mong paa, sumayaw ka. Isulat nyo ang inyong nararamdaman. Ang mga karanasan natin sa buhay ang ating kayamanan upang tayo'y maging matatag na tao.

File size is an important concern if you use digital video, because digital video files tend to take up a lot of storage space on your hard drive. T make files smaller, you need compression.

With text files, size is less important because the files are full of “spaces” and can be compressed very tightly—a text file can be made at least 90 percent smaller, resulting in a high compression ratio (the ratio of compressed data to uncompressed data). Other file types, like MPEG video or JPEG photos, hardly compress at all because they're in a format that's tightly compressed to begin with.
Why is digital video compressed?

Digital video is compressed because it takes up a staggering amount of room in its original form. By compressing the video, you make it easier to store. Digital video can be compressed without impacting the perceived quality of the final product because it affects only the parts of the video that humans can't really detect. For example, there are billions of colors, but we perceive only about 1024 shades. Since we can't discern the subtle difference between one shade and the next we don't have to keep every color. There's also the matter of redundant images—if every frame in a 60–second video has the same chair in the same spot, why save the data of that chair in every frame?

Compressing video is essentially the process of throwing away data for things we can't perceive. Standard digital video cameras compress video at a ratio of 5 to 1, and there are formats that allow you to compress video by as much as 100 to 1. But too much compression can be a bad thing. The more you compress, the more data you throw away. Throw away too much, and the changes become noticeable. With heavy compression you can get video that's nearly unrecognizable.

When you compress video, always try several compression settings. The goal is to compress as much possible until the data loss becomes noticeable and then notch the compression back a little. That will give you the right balance between file size and quality. And remember that every video is different—some videos look great highly compressed, others don't. You'll have to experiment to get the best results.
Compression strategies

There are many different approaches and strategies used to squeeze digital media files down to manageable size. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. Psychoacoustic audio compression. The word psychoacoustic looks complicated, but it simply means “the way the brain interprets sound.” All forms of compressed audio use powerful algorithms to discard audio information that we can't hear. As an example, if I shout at the top of my lungs and also lightly tap my foot, you'll hear my voice but you probably won't hear my foot tapping. By getting rid of that foot tapping sound, there's less information and a smaller file size, but it will sound the same to your ear.

2. Psychovisual video compression. Psychovisual video compression is similar to its audio counterpart. Instead of discarding audio that we can't hear, psychovisual models discard data that are eyes don't need. An uncompressed clip that shows a chair in the same location for 60 seconds repeats the same data for that chair for each frame. With psychovisual video compression, the data for that chair from a single frame is stored and reused in subsequent frames. This type of compression—called “statistical data redundancy”—is one of the mathematical tricks that WMV, MPEG, and other video formats use to compress video while retaining good quality.

3. Lossless compression. The term lossless means “no loss of data.” When a file is compressed in a lossless fashion, 100 percent of the data is still there, much like when you zip a document—the document file gets smaller, but all the words are still there when you unzip it. You can save lossless video over and over without any loss of data—compression simply squeezes that data into a smaller space. Lossless compression saves less space because you can compress data only so much before you have to start discarding information.

4. Lossy compression. Lossy compression discards data in order to achieve a lower bit rate. Psychoacoustic compression and psychovisual compression are lossy technologies that result in smaller files that contain less of the original source data. And every time you save your file in a lossy file format, it discards more of the data—even if you're saving it in the same format. A good rule of thumb is to move to a lossy format only as the very final step in your project.

Source: Microsoft.com

I had my first directing workshop last January 26 and 27, 2008, at the Co-AVR, with the resource speaker Mr. Guiterrez Mangansakan II, a Davao-based film director. The workshop was attended by BSIT and Masscom students taking Video production subjects, CS faculty, and special guests, Mr. Sheron Dayoc and Mr. Al Jacinto. During the two-day workshop, we had fruitful discussions on what and how a film is done and lessons on directing.

Before, film-making is a very expensive job. But today, with the variety of technology that we have, it is possible to make film with any medium. A film basically starts with an idea. Some starts with a question "what if?", and some may have an experience that may lead to an idea. With this idea, we start to make a story and soon, the plot. The script is written by a screenwriter or scriptwriter (some directors are witers at the same time). With the script, the director's job is to put into look the gaze of the story. He has a vision on what the film will look like, and it is his job to tell the story through directing.

Like cells to an organism, film is composed of shots. There are various types of shots. Close-up shots (CU) and Extreme Close-up shots (XCU) are used to focus on the emotions of a character. There are also midi shots that are different with medium shots. Midi is a shot of a character from knees to the space above head (like ones in weather reports), while medium is a shot from waist to head. Long and Extreme long shots are used to establish the setting and mood of the scene. Camera movements are also important, like panning, zooming, tiliting, and some use contraptions like cranes and dolly.

Today, many innovations are used by filmmakers to explore different techniques and styles. As long as they are creative, they could use different combination as possible. But one important point in directing is discipline. As a director, one should be disciplined enough to know the limitations of films.

Anyways, that's just some information that i learned about film language. We also learned to compose a shot. We did a little activity wherein we were asked to draw a shot in a paper. He requested some students to explain their shots and gave feedback and reactions. During the next activity, we grouped ourselves and tried to make a story out of our shots. Different groups had interesting scenes and plots. Some had tragic endings, some had funny scenes. Everyone was very creative.

We also watched some films which are relevant in our discussions. The film Isaak by Nick Deocampo is an interesting short film that started with a painting. The director told a story of a boy who wants to be loved by his father but does not get it. The story is basically an interpretation of the director's past. We also discussed about the film industry in the Philippines. They say it is very commercialized and is now dying, but I don't think so. It is, rather, evolving. Indie films are now very popular and it has been bringing honor in the country, as well as documentaries.

Mr. Sheron Dayoc, a product of Ateneo de Zamboanga, is now a director of films. He was with us during the workshop and we also saw his short film about the Yakans titled Angan-Angan (Dream). Truly, the film industry has been reaching its way to Mindanao. Our speaker, Mr. Gutierrez Mangansakan II, has the advocacy of making Mindanao a breeding ground for directors, who will soon bring the talents, stories, and beauty of Mindanao to the world.

Photos are now available at gallery.adzu.ph

With the fast development of technology, information is now accesible almost all ways possible. From radio, print and television, information technology has now gone to a new level. Gathering information could now accessed through the computers especially through the internet. Along with the progress, teaching has also developed using computer technology. The Computer-Aided Instruction or CAI is designed to create modules and make tutorials through multimedia. Examples of CAI's are tutorials, simulations, and interactive cd's.

According to Davis, (et al, licensee BioMed Central Ltd.) computer based teaching sessions have advantages over lectures: they are more flexible for doctors to fit into their work and learning programme; there is the ability to pause or revisit areas of the session; they have more learner led interaction; hyperlinks and additional materials can be provided instantly for the learner; they address the issue of standardizing the quality of teaching materials across a region; and they deal with the cost and logistical difficulties of specialist lecturers teaching large numbers of students in different locations. Existing studies of knowledge and attitudinal gain by computer based teaching have mainly been at undergraduate level. According to their study, they feel computer based teaching and learning is as effective as typical lecture based teaching sessions for educating postgraduates in EBM and systematic reviews.

CAI also allow teachers to provide computer technology for instructional
support and workplace simulation. They use computer assisted instruction as a supplement to, not a replacement for, traditional teacher-directed instruction. Through the use of computer and word processing software, they are able to foster the development of writing skills of the students. It also provide high-interest drill and practice programs to support learning, especially
for students requiring skill remediation. Teachers could also provide computer-assisted instructional activities for chronically misbehaving students and students with negative attitude toward traditional learning.