A film student from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde recently shared a short stop motion film about the concerns faced by Filipinos during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mariane Ylagan uploaded the 33-second clip on Twitter last Sunday. Her video was retweeted over 20,800 times and was shared 8,400 times on Facebook.
It also gained more than 400,000 views.
Ylagan captioned her post with: “Breaking news: President Duterte distributes relief goods during the COVID-19 crisis.”
It also highlights the national government’s response on the health crisis.
BREAKING NEWS: President Duterte distributes relief goods during the COVID-19 crisis.
(a short stop-motion film by me!) pic.twitter.com/cGzhrV0QI5
— mariane ylagan (@sumeryen) May 4, 2020
The short clip featured popular brands of canned goods being peeled to reveal a number of concerns raised by the public amid the government’s implementation of the enhanced community quarantine.
The enhanced community quarantine implemented last March 17 was extended until May 15 and now only covered areas considered high-risk of COVID-19 transmissions. Areas that are moderate to low risk are placed under general community quarantine, which is also scheduled to be lifted on the same date.
The issues revealed on the video include calls to prioritize medical solutions than security or military takeover, mass testing of citizens, mass promotion for students, and protection for the health workers and other frontliners as well as calls to oustPresident Rodrigo Duterte.
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The video’s audio, meanwhile, featured snippets of Duterte’s remarks and broadcast reports on these issues.
Ylagan told Interaksyon that her video was a fulfillment of a class project wherein they were tasked to do a stop motion video about any topic related to COVID-19.
While several of her classmates talked about their experiences under home quarantine, Ylagan decided to tackle the political side of the health crisis.
For Ylagan, the pandemic can’t be solved by health care alone because it also involves politics.
“It’s a political issue whether we like it or not. I think it had to be my obligation to make sure that was known. That was the message I want to convey,” she said.
Being a vocal critic of the administration, Ylagan hoped that people would be more aware of the deeper problems which came with the rapid spread of the new disease.
The brands of canned goods she used were not intentional, Ylagan. She said these are the only ones available at her home.
The film student explained that she used canned goods because these are common items provided by the government as part of its relief operations.
“I wanted to make an image in which yes the government does give relief packs, but these are band–aid solutions or temporary solutions,” Ylagan said.
Some issues Ylagan mention led to adjustments of government measures and response following the public clamor for it.
These include the health department’s expanded protocols for testing and accreditation of laboratories and donations of protective equipment to the health workers.
How the video came to life
Ylagan explained that she had to do almost everything by hand.
She re-made the labels from scratch and made sure they fit on the cover of the canned goods.
Ylagan also sought help from her mother while recorded the film.
“I connected my phone to my camera and I was handling the actual stop motion set. My mom was just clicking whenever I’d be ready for the next shot,” Ylagan explained.
“It took around 600 shots for the entire film and it was only thirty seconds,” she added.
