Indi-fferent

Film – a medium of expression recorded on film, or so it was in the old days.  It could also be termed as “movie,” which came from the shortened phrase “moving pictures” because a movie is literally a set of pictures played in fast motion.

The world of movies has come a long way. Way back, nobody knew how to integrate music into the movie, so a live orchestra was on stand-by in front. It played music whenever a scene from the movie needed emphasis. And just like any other form of medium, it evolved into what it is today.

Technology has made everyone a potential filmmaker. One could record on a handy video cam, a digital camera, a web camera or on a cellular phone.  No wonder this year’s Metro Manila Film Fest took advantage of this technology and included a segment in this year’s fest entitled “CinePhone”.  Students from universities across the country made a public service announcement about road courtesy through video footage from the cellular phone.

Because of the emergence of such technology, there has also been a stream in the film industry called “indie”, short of independent. It is not part of the mainstream made by a big production house nor is it readily shown in the theaters.

I have always thought of indie as different to the point of being weird. It was gay, revealing and weird, or so I thought. Yet, sometimes as human beings we tend to judge even before we have seen the entire picture.

Last Saturday, in an event organized by a couple of UP students, called Full Length, I sat for roughly five hours watching two indie films come to life. At the end of each film, a open forum was held for questions or insights on the movie.

They don’t do this for the mainstream. Otherwise, it would look so bland. I couldn’t imagine bringing myself to the microphone infront of a film critique and an eager audience sharing how handsome Taylor Launtner looked in the last installment of the Twilight Saga. It’s either I get kicked out for giving wrong input or a Team Edward fan steals the microphone from  me.

Through the event, the indifference of Indi showed me that its importance to our society. This made me realize the need to make indie movies.

The intent of the movie is not to sell or to regain back the money spent in production. It is to expose the truth to a wide mass through a massive portrayal that no mainstream production outfit would ever dare to do.

Indi is daring because it wants the truth out. It shows what is reality and not some distorted perception of what reality is. Indi is gay because it speaks for the minority. It gives a voice to those who are unheard of, making the silver screen their avenue in telling the world their value and what they really are.

It is weird because it is a form of expression. Those who think that what is shown in the mainstream is the norm think that whatever seen not in accordance to the norm is weird. But weird as you might call it, Indi is deep and gives the viewer a wider understanding of society.

Films are not only because of a star actor playing the role or a New York Best Seller novel coming to life. The lessons, the portrayal and the values embedded in the grooves of the film sell to the human heart and mind that this form of medium should be supported.

**Published in The Freeman newspaper on November 20, 2012