My opinion.

Why the Filipino film industry is dying.

I don't watch that many Filipino films and when I do they are mostly utter pieces of crap. From the shot selection, the framing, use of lenses, picture quality, it's really pretty shitty. For example, a film titled Milan (released in 2003) looked like shit on my DVD player. The colors were faded, a lot of scratches, nicks, cigarette burns on the print, it looked like a film made in the 70s. On top of that, the dubbing wasn't that great, the voice would follow the lip movements a millisecond after. On another movie, Agimat: Anting Anting Ni Lolo, the picture quality was great for a Filipino movie but the sound was downright pathetic. I thought this was the first movie in Dolby Digital? I had problems listening to the film in 5.1 sound. Sure, the acting was pathetic but the picture was great. I think the overall problem with Filipino films is that they are trying to copy the American style of filmmaking which is just remaking other films. Cliche after cliche, most American films are just remakes, adaptations, or sequels. There are a few exceptions (Spider-Man 2 being one of them) but still the Filipino shouldn't be trying to copy the American way but rather make their own. Some solutions for the Filipino film industry:

1. BUY SOME HIGH DEFINITION CAMERAS!!!!! Sure, they may be expensive now but in the long run they pay off BIG TIME! Directors and companies save a lot of time and money with these cameras. Editing is much easier and transferring the movie to DVD is a breeze.

2. Take some time with the pre-production of the film. Great films like the Lord of the Rings took Peter Jackson 10 years of his life and he's now an Oscar-winner!

3. Hire some great authors to write the screenplays of your films. These people are untapped resources for writing great drama in films.

4. Don't take just seven days or two weeks to shoot the film. This speedy schedule can bog down a film if its going too fast. A film production should be patient. A great film is always slow cooked never flash fried.

5. Don't just take any pretty face and put her in the picture. See if they can handle the shit before you make the movie! Just imagine if Stuart Townsend was Aragorn in Lord of the Rings......we would have a weak looking Aragorn. And always get actors or actresses who are unknown because it gives more authenticity to the film. If a film is starring Ben Affleck, all you'll think is Ben Affleck and not his character.

6. Have preview screenings of your films. Preview screenings can make or break a movie but most of the time, they make the movie MUCH BETTER! For example, the first Blade had one of the shittiest endings ever, so after the test screening they reshot the ending that you see today!

7. Many Filipino directors follow too many rules in the film book. The rules are meant to be broken. Tarantino did this to perfection in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. Scorsese did this in Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and especially Raging Bull.

8. The last thing is that people should have fun making a movie. A movie is being made for entertainment so the people making the movie should have fun making it as well. Boring crew = Boring SHITTY ASS MOVIE! Most films in the Philippines are just being made just for the sake of it.

Now bring on Mano Po IV: Electric Boogaloo!