CokskiBlue’s Camera Evideolution, Part 2 of 2

Part 1 Here.

GE E840s (August 2008 – September 2008)

“Buhay Coke, Buksan Mo!” – I’ll never forget these 4 words as my video on the Buhay Coke Contest won me this great 8-megapixel, face detectin’ new Coy toy (lulz). The optical zoom is teh love and I pretty much got addicted with the panoramic feature. Audio’s a bit week though and I really don’t work well with .mov video formats but other than that, this camera is slammin’ hot! I only got to use the E840s for a little more than a month but this baby already has SMART, The Hilt, and my first-placer Nokia video entry under its uhm, lens.

Here’s a video I made for Kringy of FunnySexy from one of this year’s big blogger events, Wordcamp 2008:

CokskiBlue’s Camera Evideolution, Part 1 of 2

It’s now two years since I’ve had my first and very own digital camera. Back in October 2006, it was only $99 and it was given to me as an early birthday gift from my Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Phil in Florida. From then on, I’ve used a total of 5 different cameras in shooting my video blogs. Now let me show you how my videos evolved technically using these different tools – this is CokskiBlue’s Camera Evideolution:

Aiptek DV5900 (October 2006 – August 2007)

This has got to be the cutest digital camera I’ve used. The cam has this small LCD display and with it folded in, the DV5900 would look like a little coin purse. Its minimum functions are bearable when you’re just the casual I-post-my-pictures-on-Friendster type of guy but the weak flash and poor video quality will make you irk once you see the results. No wonder its present market prize is now down to $39.99.

Despite the limitations, this camera witnessed the birth of CokskiBlue and I’ve used it for almost a year for many of my favorite episodes including this vlog on my very first bloggers meet-up:

CokskiBlue’s Must-Watch Episodes of 2007!

The year 2007 is indeed a very special time for pinoy video blogging. A lot of Filipinos has become aware of it especially with the rise of YouTube Superstar, Christine Gambito of HappySlip. I was one of those fortunate people who got inspired because of her work and discovered this wonderful art of expressing different stories and experiences through moving images crafted with awesome music. April 18, 2007 – that was the day I published my first vlog. And I could not stop ever since.

Now, here are the Top 10 Must-Watch Episodes of CokskiBlue of 2007 according to number of views (from Youtube and Revver), comments and general feedback:

The Funniest Filipina Vloggers

Filipinas don’t just melt our hearts because of their regal beauty and sparkling charisma; they also have these smart wit and outstanding humor that are so unique to them that we can’t help but laugh our melted hearts out. Sometimes, they could even be a lot funnier than most men; and for me, women who knows how to make a guy laugh and doesn’t care to make fun of herself every once in a while is one of the sexiest traits a Filipina could have.

Now put her in front of the camera, make her say and do a bunch of crazy hulabaloos(?) and she still pulls it off? Now that’s gold. That’s why I’m so amazed by these three wonderful Filipina vloggers that is on the top of their game when it comes to humor and vlogging. Let’s all see them in action, shall we?

Episode 20: The Gold Mine

Each and every one of us is a gold mine; but like any other of its kind, you have to dig out the good substance.The Gold Mine Theory – this is what stuck to me upon finishing last Saturday’s PETA Tour. This principle states that every person has this infinite potential to excel on any activity as long as they get the proper education and have the very determination to do so.

The blogging group included Arpee, Martin, Kai, Jun, Diego, Melissa, Carla, Benj, Cielo, Jeff , Joe, Coy, Chris, Faith, Karla, and Gibbs.

With this thought I just realized, I can be whoever I want to be. Just like playing a character in a play, you can be anyone if you just put your mind to it. You can be Juliet, Plato, or even Rizal if you only internalize that character – which requires not only knowledge of the material but also the passion to believe that you can be.

So just like what Mrs. Cecille Garrucho explained, anybody can do theater. And from a similar point of view of Pepe, from PETA’s “Batang Rizal”, anybody can be a hero too.

“Kung walang pinagbago ang panahon mo sa panahon ko, bakit kailangan ko pang mamatay?” A daunting question made by our young national hero. I almost teared up that moment when he left the stage leaving everybody wondering the same thing. Did he indeed die for nothing? Does our present condition reflect what he was fighting against?

Silence waved through the place as Pepe’s question kept lingering in my mind. Honestly, as I was sitting there, dumbfounded by the query, I didn’t really know the answer. And I was scared to believe that it was, in reality, all for nothing.

But as the play neared its end, I got to realize that it was not really about what he died for, but how he lived his life. And if one boy had this one great vision for our country and brought it to realization, then what stops today’s youth of achieving the same greatness? With enough will and persistence, you and I can be a hero in our own right. And with that in mind, we can be our nation’s gold mine.

“…Sino ka sa kanila, sino ka?
Kahit bata ka pa dapat alam mo na.
Piliin ang landas hangga’t maaga
Tayong kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan
Ika’y Pilipino ‘wag kalilimutan
Talino at lakas ialay mo sa bayan.”

Photos by: Gibbs Cadiz, Arpee Lazaro

Music by: Bamboo

Special Thanks to: Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), PinoyCentric, and Gibbs Cadiz

Episode 16: High School Musical

The movie sucked. Yep, it did. And even with all the buzz, the songs weren’t that good either.

Until this happened.

Yeah, the movie still blows. But there’s something about High School Musical On Stage that saved Disney’s sorry excuse for a movie. This even got me to download (illegally) the whole damn soundtrack album! What has got into me? Or maybe the question is, what mojo has Stages and Trumpets Playshop conjured that’s making all this noise(LSS in my head)?

Oh, it was just pure talent then. That works.

Photos from: Click The City, Super Bong, Gibbs Cadiz, Coy, Pinoy Centric

Music from: High School Music OST