In a world saturated with information and technology, being creative means more than just establishing great art and design. Students of Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT) invited 19 speakers from the multimedia industry to showcase what creativity means in the modern world in their two-day seminar, Multimedia Odyssey.
Held in Palacio De Maynila last June 15 and in MIT’s own campus last June 16, Multimedia Odyssey aimed to “wander through the diversified world of Multimedia” through the discussion of topics ranging from graphic design and illustration to film production and acting.
The speakers invited on the first day of the seminar include the following (in order): writer and film director Nick Deocampo, concept artist Tey Bartolome, video producer Emmanuel Escalona of Pixelfish Concept PH, designer and art director Ninoy Buenaventura of Straight Arrow Corporation, Adobe Community Professional and Certified Expert Rollan Bañez, portrait photographer Jashen Manuel, film director Petersen Vargas, film sound producer Nimrod Cruz, and film writer and director Giancarlo Abrahan.
Event sponsor 123RF Philippines discussed the importance and usage of stock photos in creative projects, along with providing an overview of what the service offers over lunch back in the first day.
Multidisciplinary designer Marlon Mayugba began the second day with his talk on branding design and was followed by Mariel Peñafiel with her topic on portrait photography. Animator and also a professor in the College, Dennis Sebastian, showcased his award-winning film and the creative process behind it while Rafael Banzuela then discussed illustration by showcasing his work.
Ivy Lim-Avancena of San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation entertained guests by displaying the evolution of packaging design of popular products manufactured by the company. Ditsi Carolino, an independent documentary producer, touched everyone’s hearts with her films that hoped to incite social change. Isobel Francisco then detailed her unique traditional art style by providing an overview of her artistic methods. Zigcarlo Dulay followed, presenting trailers of several independent films and detailing the intricate process of creating television series and feature films.
To close the event, award winning actress Mercedes Cabral ended with her discussion of acting in film and TV. Director and video producer Ice Idanan could not make it to the event, but left a short video as a consolation for the event’s attendees.
The speakers were generally engaging, with some even letting the audience participate in hands-on activities. Cruz, for example, invited two members of the audience to enact a sample conversation between two fictional characters in a sound production demonstration and Lim-Avanceña passed around packaging samples and joked about liquor and alcohol. Another highlight of the event were Buenaventura and Bañez’s preview of upcoming Adobe products, showcasing concept trailers of new and exciting changes coming to the Adobe Creative Cloud software service.
Open forums and question & answer portions were also held after every speaker or two. Afterwards, certificates of appreciation along with digitally painted portraits were given to the speakers. Performances by spoken word artist groups Words Anonymous and White Wall Poetry served as intermission numbers in the middle of the seminar, providing an interesting change of page with their sometimes intense, often heartbreaking monologues on love and loss.
Having 19 speakers talk about their creative processes is no small task to accomplish, which MIT’s Multimedia Seminar manages to pull off despite its personal setbacks. While the two-day event may be a little exhausting, it never held back in making sure that its attendees were filled to the brim with new learnings. After all, Multimedia Odyssey reminds us that the best way to experience creativity is to wander the world, forever curious and driven, in order to maximize one’s own potential.
The Benildean Press Corps along with other organizations served as the official media partners of Multimedia Odyssey throughout the event.
