Ready For The World: TESDA and the President's Scholars
* Ilonggo goes anime': Merging skills and passion into animation
KINARTON: 1st Ilonggo animation exhibit, November 24-December 24, 2007, Museo, Iloilo City, Philippines (open Monday to Sarurday) --- Filipino nurses, teachers, doctors, performers and laborers comprise a significant number and stand to be one of the most respected of the global workforce.
From the highly-industrialized nation of America to the world of construction in the Middle East, from the competitive medical community in Europe to thousands of homes and communities elsewhere in Asia , the Filipino spirit lives on with skills and dedication unmatched.
Now that workforce has grown in the hands of skilled Ilonggos like Vic "Jann" Galino III and other fellow Ilonggos who underwent professional training into the world of animation.
For starters, Vic and the rest of the first batch of forty six Ilonggo enthusiasts made a successful finish on months of Professional (2D) Assistant Animator Training. And they are not our everyday graduates – they were all full scholars, thanks to the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Training for Work Scholarship Project (PGMA-TWSP) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Just as it was not your everyday training where skills and passion merge and the result, unmistakable wealth of ideas in pictures drawn with fervor and keenness.
Already, the second batch is set for similar training, guided by the amazing works and great sketches of the first batch. As such, it can finally be said - Ilonggos are now ready for the world of animation. Iloilo has animators ready for the world!
The group took inspiration from the works and life of Filipino animator Ronnie Del Carmen. Now "Head of Story" at Pixar Animation Studios in California, USA, the makers of great animated Disney films like Toy Story, Monsters Incorporated, Cars, Nemo, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, Ronnie in his blog shared how he "draws incessantly and carry a sketchbook everywhere." And in all these Ronnie had a lot of help from watching a lot of cartoons and a lot of movies.
Like Ronnie, the Ilonggo animators had a lot of passion in them alongside that skill seen in every sketches. Sketches that created and translated into an optical illusion of movement true to what animation is.
Looking at the bits and pieces of drawings and sketches of the Ilonggo animators was seeing hidden talent unveiled. In their words, the training provided venue for them to translate their skills into something that truly can be their life. It was what the likes of Vic has since dreamt of and PGMA-TWSP and TESDA made it come true for them.
To the first batch's credit are three short animation works – The Barter of Panay , trailer of Shamus Gob The Movie and 3rd World, A Dreamkeeper Story.
This animated version of Barter of Panay was the maiden work of graduates under the "Apex Animators" group with Arnold Fuentes as director.Trailer of Shamus Gob The Movie was the combined work of Dimbox and the night class. 3rd World, A Dreamkeeper Story was the product of Vic's hardwork.
"It was a rare opportunity that was given to us. We are so happy and proud to be part of the animation industry," Vic shared moments after graduation. "It was worth all our hardwork and yes, we are ready." Ilonggo goes anime'. Thanks to PGMA-TWSP. Thanks to TESDA. Ilonggo animators shine and are ready for the world.