As
I always say, the best teacher isn't a human being. In fact, it's an
abstract thing called experience. Last June
30, 2014, my group mates and I went to Mandaluyong City to interview and
witness the action in producing an animation film by an expert animation
company, Toon City. I can say that this
experience is something always worth remembering. The fact that Toon
City approved the interview is a blessing itself because the company is
one of the most known companies by animation studios and productions. As
students, this is a really big opportunity for us. So we went and gave
all we got.
The Preparation
Before
having an interview with Toon City, and far before we sent the
interview request letter, my group mates and I were very thrilled and
excited as if going to a roller coaster ride. We imagined everything and
saw it all come to its place from sending a request letter until the
class presentation. But all of those weren't as easy as they appear.
There
were a lot of request letters sent to a variety of different multimedia
arts companies before Toon City because none of them responds to our
request. We tried contacting some using the landlines but sometimes,
they don't answer and some doesn't even ring. We sent more than five
request letters through the internet to multimedia arts company/group
including Great Image, Holy Cow, Summit, Teamholix and more. But most of them didn't respond. We
were running out of time and hope, when a respond came the night of
June 29, 2014. It was Toon City responding to our request interview!! It
was very unexpected because other companies respond after a few days or
even weeks; Toon City responded in a matter of hours! My group mates
and I were chatting through Facebook when our group leader announced
that we have an interview with Toon City 10 A.M. at Mandaluyong City. I
literally jumped off my seat and started shrieking. I couldn't hold my
happiness, I told them. Because that same day, I bought my first DSLR -
Canon EOS 700D. I thought to myself how blessed I am and thanked God for
it.
Morning of Interview
Our
call time is 7 AM at our school, LPU-Laguna for the purpose of letter
approval. I was there 7:03 and saw one of my group mates there. Others,
came late. :( But anyway, it's okay because who we were really waiting
for is our professor, Ms. Ma. Anna Corina G. kagaoan to present our
excuse letter saying that we will have our interview today. She then
came and approved our letter and then we're off.
For
starters, I don't ride the bus often. I usually ride jeepneys and
tricycles. It was my first time to go to somewhere far without my
parents or any guardian. So it was a really thrilling and exciting trip
for me. Added the fact that we were standing the whole trip. :D We rode
from Makiling to Mandaluyong City for about two hours. The ride was
smooth and no accidents happened. And the whole trip, I was chatting
with my group mates about how we expect the interview to be, how we're
going to edit the video cover afterwards, what will be our token of
appreciation etc. All of us are excited!
An Unexpected Trip
Soon,
the bus dropped us at Robinson Mandaluyong City. It wasn't opened yet,
so we waited until we can buy Krispy Creme to be our token of
appreciation. Being new to the place, we were clueless where to go. So
we asked a taxi driver to accompany us to Toon City, Pioneer Bldg. The
driver didn't agree because he can only accommodate four passengers; we
were five. Dejected, we looked for another way to go there. Luckily,
there's another taxi that approached us and agreed to accommodate five
passengers. So we rode and trusted the taxi driver that he knew where we
were going. Unfortunately, he didn't. He dropped us at Pasig City, FAR
from where we should be, which really pissed off all of us. It cost us
80php!! That's really disheartening and annoying at the same time!
The Arrival
We
went further and a tricycle driver helped us reach our destination.
This time, for real. He was our savior that day because it's 20 minutes
before 10 A.M. and we should be earlier. Arriving at what looked like a
compound with lots of buildings around. Initially, you would not think
that animations are being done there. It was a bit dirty at sides and no
signs of animation. But we were psyched as we enter the building, and
saw the big "Toon City" sign inside. It looks better on the inside and
very different on how it looks outside. There's a big digital clock, a
front desk and a row of different animation films on the wall. It was
AWESOME.
First,
we were asked by the guard to log on their log book, then, we were
asked to wait for our interviewee, Mr. Rene De Guzman. Soon, employees
began entering the building for their work, and they kept on noticing
us, especially our clothes, basically because we were the only visitors
that time. That time, we were wearing our school uniform. It's a 3/4
white polo topped with a grayish vest and slacks-like, grayish pants for
the bottom. We can hear them saying "Astig ng uniform nila oh!",
"Nice!." It was flattering but even if they didn't say that, I'm really
proud of my school. :D
Meeting Mr. Rene De Guzman
We
can see Mr. Rene De Guzman going back and forth from the workplace to
his office. Basically, he's a very busy person. It made us realize how
really lucky we were to be having an interview with him. After a few
minutes, he called us to his office and in no time, we were ready to
start the interview. I was one of the interviewers together with Riciel
Monserata. I was really nervous that time and my heart was pounding
really hard. Maybe because of his presence that expresses total
professionalism. We chatted a little about who we were, our chosen
program, what course this formal paper is in and a little about our
experience going there. He seems so professional that adds to the
tension I was feeling.
The Interview
The
interview went like it was suppose to be, like a normal interview. We
introduced ourselves, readied the cameras, and started the interview. As
the interview went on, my tension got less and less. I was very
thankful nothing bad happened and it was smooth. When it was done, we
thanked him and gave him our token of appreciation. He thanked us and
gave us a tour on the animation company. We weren't suppose to see the
inside of the workplace but Mr. Rene let us took a peek of it. It was
big and more than 30 employees were working at the same time. Mr. Rene
said they are working at a project that time. Unfortunately, we aren't
allowed to take videos and pictures of their workplace. But it's okay,
seeing it in person is awsome enough for us.Aftermath
After
the interview, I felt like I lost 100 kg of weight. I was really
relieved that a big part of the formal interview is done. It was like
dropping a 1 ton bag for good. But at the same time, we were really
tired. Realizing that I'm the really heavy bag ready to fall down any
second because of being really tired. Before going back to school to attended our 3:30P.M. class in
Sociology, we ate at Chowking, SM. We arrived at school early so I had the chance to sleep for a few
minutes and I took it.
To
sum it all up, this experience is something extraordinary. It made us
learn things through experiencing. Things that doesn't only relate to
animation but in life. Mr. Rene's words inspired me and my group mates
about how anybody can be an animator. He expressed that with the right
perseverance and attitude, anyone can achieve being anything we want to
be. And that inspired us. Although what I really want to be is a
photographer, not an animator, his words enlightened me. And I know,
this experience will be one of those I won't forget in a long time.
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