The North Philippine Union Conference Communication Department recently conducted the first-ever distinct seminar-workshop, a 3-day short filmmaking boot camp at the Literature Ministry Seminary, Bugtong, Lipa City, Batangas, on February 22–24, 2024.
Headed by NPUC Communication Director and Hope Channel Philippines President, Pr. Joel Sarmiento, the boot camp, gained full support from the nine missions and conferences in Luzon and was attended by around 70 delegates.
The event aimed to enhance the skills of the media teams and volunteers by providing them with advanced knowledge in various aspects of video production so that they may produce broadcast-quality conversion and mission stories for both TV and social media platforms.
Throughout the boot camp, special guest lecturers made significant contributions by sharing their expertise in different areas of video production. Participants were privileged to learn from mainstream media professionals: directors Jericho Filomeno, Michael Caroro, and Gem Roy Fuentes; TV commercial actor Valentino Filomeno; and make-up artist Grace Filomeno, who taught them about plot-making, scriptwriting, lighting techniques, videography skills, cinematography principles, acting tips, and make-up tutorials. These empowered the attendees to refine their abilities and develop a deeper understanding of the filmmaking process.
Also, these workshops allowed delegates to practice what they had learned during the lectures and gain practical insights into applying these techniques effectively. By actively engaging with each other and collaborating on group video production projects, they were able to produce 13 watch-worthy, three-minute short films showcasing hope and God’s leading.
With these video outputs, the participants showed significant improvement in their filmmaking skills and gained a renewed enthusiasm for creating impactful videos. The feedback received from them was overwhelmingly positive, as they expressed gratitude for having been part of such an exciting learning experience.
A delegate from Northern Luzon Mission, James Michael Alvarez claimed that the boot camp was a blessing for it showed him many possible improvements to his media ministry. “The speakers showed the easiest way to conceptualize and execute them. They also taught us the dos and don’ts in production.”, Alvarez said.
Another attendee from Palawan Mission, Qyx Guevara stated that it was a fully packaged training which has taught her and their team skills that they may use for their future projects. “Naging malaking blessing ang recent boot camp for our team. Full packaged kasi sya. May theory and may technical skills or workshops na very motivating… guided us sa pag- gawa ng shortfilm na talagang ma-aapply namin sa mga future projects for the ministry.”, she expressed.
Undoubtedly, the short filmmaking boot camp serves as a landmark event and has set a new benchmark for future endeavors aimed at nurturing talent to be used in the vast work of NPUC’s Communication and Media ministries.
NPUC Media Team
