Film and Cinema – Quarter 1 Module 1 Comprehensive Notes

Foreword & Context of the Learning Resource

  • Developed by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
    • Writers: Seymour Barros Sanchez
    • Editors: Jag Garcia
    • Graphic Design: Erika Garalde
    • Researchers: Jec Catacutan, Tim Rone Villanueva
    • Management Team: Marichu Tellano, Henrietta Kangleon (NCCA); Tanya P. Lopez (PerfLab)
  • Purpose & Philosophy
    • Provide a spiraled, scaffolded, multi-sensory approach for creative learning
    • Aims to build Higher-Order Thinking Skills: Analysis, Evaluation, Creation
    • Recognizes pandemic-related limitations; allows flexible, self-paced study
    • Encourages facilitators/teachers to guide learners within safe, responsible limits
  • Legal notice (RA 8293, Sec 176)
    • Government works have no copyright, but prior approval required for profit use
    • Borrowed materials remain property of original copyright holders

Introduction & Module Objectives

  • Media arts—particularly film—provide comfort and creativity during COVID-19 lockdowns
  • Artists can continue producing films from home; creativity thrives even in crises
  • Learning trajectory: history → analysis → evaluation → compilation of works
  • By the end of the module, learners should be able to:
    1. Identify key figures in Philippine cinema & their contributions
    2. Outline global and local cinematic history
    3. Analyze mainstream vs. independent Filipino films
    4. Compile significant works/masterpieces in Philippine cinema & broadcast arts
    5. Identify cinematic techniques using cinematic language
    6. Evaluate film as both art and entertainment
  • DepEd Curriculum Codes addressed:
    • SPAMA-FA10-Ia−b−1SPA_MA\text{-}FA10\text{-}Ia-b-1 through SPAMA-Ii−j−6SPA_MA\text{-}Ii-j-6 (six codes covering Q1 skills)

Core Concepts: Film • Cinema • Cinematography

  • Film
    • Originally: the photographic material (celluloid) storing images/sound
    • Now: a visual art form recreating experience to communicate ideas, stories, feelings via moving images + sound/other stimuli
    • Alternate names: movie, motion picture (from “moving pictures”)
    • Dual nature: art form & means of communication; reflects & shapes culture
  • Cinema
    • Can denote: filmmaking/production, the film industry, or the art form itself
    • Etymology: French “Cinématographe” → Filipino colloquial “sine”
  • Cinematography
    • The illusion of movement via rapid projection of many still photos on a screen

Optical Illusion of Movement (Persistence of Vision)

  • Standard theatrical speed: 24  frames per second24\;\text{frames per second} (fps)
  • The brain fuses related stills seen in rapid succession → perceives continuous motion
  • Flip-book demonstration (Activity 1) replicates this phenomenon

Introductory Reflection Questions (Activity Prompt)

  1. What is cinema?
  2. How do films create the illusion of movement?
  3. How did cinema start in the Philippines?
  4. Difference between mainstream & independent films?
  5. What differentiates film from other art forms?
  6. Define a shot
  7. Why analyze films?

Activity 1: Persistence of Motion (Flip-Book)

  • Draw 20–25 incremental stick-figure frames on notebook corners
  • Flip pages quickly; observe perceived motion
  • Illustrates optical/brain fusion of still images

Lesson 1: Early Years of Philippine Cinema (1896 – 1930s)

  • 1896–97: Spaniard Señor Pertierra plans film show at Salon de Pertierra → postponed; ends as stills slideshow
  • 1897: Swiss businessmen Liebman & Peritz bring Lumière Cinématographe to Manila (camera + printer + projector)
  • 1898: Spanish officer Antonio Ramos imports Cinématographe & 30 film titles; shoots
    • “Panorama de Manila”
    • “Fiesta de Quiapo”
    • “Puwente de España”
    • “Esceñas Callejeras”
      • First motion-picture producer in PH
  • 1903: Painter Jose Jimenez opens first Filipino-owned movie theater
  • 1912: Americans Harry Brown (theater owner) & Edward Meyer Gross (scriptwriter)
    • Produce first locally produced full-length film “La Vida de Jose Rizal” (~1 hr)
  • Competing short version (~20 min) by Albert Yearsley finishes earlier
  • 1917: Photographer José Nepomuceno (+brother Jesús) establish Malayan Movies
    • Nepomuceno = “Father of Philippine Cinema”
    • Viewed film as documentation medium & business prospect
  • 1919: First Filipino full-length silent film “Dalagang Bukid”
    • Adaptation of zarzuela by Hermogenes Ilagan
    • Stars Atang de la Rama (Angelita) & themes of gambling, colonial mentality
  • 1933: Nepomuceno’s “Punyal na Ginto” premieres: first Filipino talkie (sound film)
  • Many early works lost due to fragile nitrate stock & war destruction

Activity 2 Prompts (linked docu by Agustin Sotto)

  • Investigate lull between Rizal films & “Dalagang Bukid”
  • Identify other silent-era figures, causes of sound adoption, storytelling changes

Lesson 2: Early History of World Cinema

  • 19th-century backdrop: mass visual culture—lantern slides, museums, circuses
  • Core technological pillars:
    1. Photography (capturing still images)
    2. Illusion of motion (combining stills)
    3. Study of locomotion (animals/humans)
  • Eadweard Muybridge (1872–77)
    • Commissioned by Gov. Leland Stanford (bet 25,00025{,}000)
    • Sets 24 cameras along track → proves all four horse hooves leave ground (series “The Horse in Motion”)
  • W.K.L. Dickson (Edison Co.)
    • Invents Kinetograph (camera) & Kinetoscope (peep-hole viewer) 1891
    • One-viewer experience; films ≈20 sec loops; coin-operated parlors opened 1894 (NY, London, Paris)
  • Auguste & Louis Lumière
    • Respond to Kinetoscope; create Cinématographe (camera + printer + projector) 1895
    • First paid public screening: 28 Dec 1895, Grand Café Paris; program ≈10 shorts incl. “Workers Leaving the Factory”
    • Portable → global agencies selling system; term “cinema” derives here
  • Exhibition modes by 1897
    • Peepshow devices vs. Projected systems
    • Standardized 35 mm film with sprocket holes
  • Silent-film characteristics
    • Black-and-white, intertitles, live musical accompaniment
    • Acting style exaggerated; narratives simple
  • Georges Méliès (magician)
    • Recognizes storytelling potential; pioneers special effects: stop-motion, fade, dissolve, double exposure, jump-cut
    • Creates hundreds of films (1899–1912); seminal “A Trip to the Moon” (1902) = first sci-fi film
  • Sound Era
    • Early synchronization via phonograph discs/cylinders
    • “The Jazz Singer” (1927, Warner Bros.) uses Vitaphone (sound-on-disc) → birth of talkies
    • Optical variable-density soundtrack soon replaces disc system
  • Color
    • 1922: Technicolor two-color dye transfer “The Toll of the Sea”
    • 1932: Three-strip Technicolor perfected; industry standard for 25 yrs

Activity 3 Prompts (compare Lumière vs. Méliès)

  • Analyze form vs. content emphasis between observational actuality & fantastical narrative

Lesson 3: Golden Ages of Philippine Cinema

Pre-War International Recognition

  • 1937 “Zamboanga” (Fernando Poe Sr., Rosa del Rosario) = first PH film internationally recognized

Post-WWII Boom (1940s–50s)

  • 1946: PH becomes a republic; Hollywood dominates briefly
  • Rise of Big Four studios:
    1. Sampaguita Pictures (melodramas, stars)
    2. LVN Pictures (musicals, prestige dramas)
    3. Premiere Productions (action)
    4. Lebran International (varied)
  • Output ≈350350 films/yr; 2nd in Asia (after Japan); major government revenue source
  • Manuel Conde (National Artist)
    • “Genghis Khan” (1950) → first Asian film at Venice FF; later shown in Paris; inspired Hollywood remake (John Wayne)
  • Lamberto Avellana & Gerardo De Leon (National Artists)
    • Avellana: “Anak Dalita”, “Badjao”
    • De Leon: “Daigdig ng Mga Api”, “Noli Me Tangere”, “El Filibusterismo”, etc.
  • Studio era = star system: Rosa Del Rosario, Carmen Rosales, Mila Del Sol, Rogelio Dela Rosa, Rudy Concepcion, etc.

Decline of Studio System & Genre Diversification (1960s)

  • Big Four close; independent producers rise
  • New genres: Westerns, musicals, action, bomba (soft porn)

Martial-Law Era (1970s–80s)

  • Marcos regime = propaganda films; Board of Censors for Motion Pictures restricts critical content
  • Despite censorship, renaissance led by National Artists Lino Brocka & Ishmael Bernal
    • Brocka masterpieces: “Insiang”, “Jaguar”, “Maynila Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag”, “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang”
    • Bernal: “Nunal sa Tubig”, “Manila By Night” (City After Dark), “Himala”
    • Other notable: Celso Ad Castillo “Burlesk Queen”; Mario O’Hara “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos”

Commercial Slump & Formula Films (1990s)

  • Censorship, high taxes, piracy → low-budget, formulaic outputs; still ≈200200 films/yr
  • Late 1990s–early 2000s: yearly output drops to ≈5050; Hollywood dominance

Digital Independent Wave (2000s–present)

  • Affordable digital tech revives indie sector; easier production & projection
  • Major festivals spotlight PH films despite limited local screenings
  • Leading contemporary auteurs:
    • Lav Diaz: epic-length digital films; awards include Golden Lion (Venice) & Silver Bear (Berlin)
    • Brillante Mendoza: Cannes Best Director 2009 (“Kinatay”)
    • Kidlat Tahimik (National Artist): pioneer of personal/ethnographic cinema

Activity 4 Prompts

  • Contrast pre-/post-war work modes for directors & actors
  • List other key contributors (1950s–1990s)
  • Identify Filipino films acclaimed in major festivals; analyze critics’ praise

Key Activities Recap & Learning Pathway

  • Reflection Journals/Blogs accompany each activity to encourage personal synthesis
  • Activities connect historical knowledge with hands-on experiments (flip-book) and critical film viewing (online links)

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Implications

  • Censorship vs. Artistic Freedom: Martial-Law restrictions spurred both propaganda and subversive masterpieces
  • Government Ownership of Learning Resources: Public-domain status enables free education but requires permission for profit use
  • Pandemic Creativity: Demonstrates resilience and adaptability of filmmakers (home-shot films during COVID-19)
  • Technological Democratization: Digital tools lower barriers, fostering independent voices but raise issues of piracy & monetization

Real-World Connections

  • Cell-phone viewing parallels Kinetoscope’s single-viewer model; technology cycles back in new forms
  • Film industry mirrors socio-political shifts: colonization, post-war rebuilding, dictatorship, globalization, digital age

Quick Reference: Numerical & Technical Facts

  • Standard projection speed: (24  fps)(24\;\text{fps})
  • Muybridge’s camera array: 2424 cameras; bet amount 25,00025{,}000 USD
  • Philippine annual film output highs: ≈350\approx350 films (1950s) → lows ≈50\approx50 films (late 1990s)

Study Tips & Further Exploration

  • Watch linked documentaries & classic films to contextualize textual notes
  • Compare indie vs. mainstream films by analyzing narrative risks, budget constraints, and distribution models
  • Recreate early experiments (flip-book, simple stop-motion) to internalize technical principles
  • Track festival circuits (Venice, Cannes, Berlin) to observe contemporary Filipino cinema’s global standing