A few days ago, as I was unmindfully going through my bookshelf in the office, trying to clean up and to rearrange my books and collection of what before I thought were important papers that I should preserve, I happened to pull out an old booklet with faded cartolina cover. It turned out to be the final script of a multimedia presentation on June 14, 1984 about the history of UPCA, which turned 75 years old in that year.
I was then a young PhD looking for additional assignments on the side, even one that was remotely related to my PhD specialization (instructional systems technology), when then UPLBCA Dean Cled Perez asked me in mid-April 1984 (graduation month) to organize a presentation for the 75th Anniversary of the College of Agriculture. Armed with enthusiasm, I designated myself as the over-all coordinator of the project (focusing on conceptualizing the presentation, directing the research, producing the script, and putting together the entire production including casting), and coopting young faculty members of the then Department of Development Communication (in the person of Maricel Cadiz, Sandy Flor and Ning Matulac) to assist me. I asked Cel Cadiz to help me out in some parts of the script, while Sandy and Ning assisted in putting together the entire production.
My concept of the presentation was based on the knowledge that in previous years all presentations were invariably photo-exhibits depicting important events in the life of the UPCA. I thought a stage presentation was appropriate, but I never knew anything about theatre productions. So I decided that a multimedia presentation might be a novel idea (mixture of stage acting or pantomine and use of projected visuals on the upper portion of screen that also serves as stage backdrop). This called for an intricate lighting system because what were to be projected on the screen needed to be visible together with performers on the stage.
To get more people from the College of Agriculture involved, I requested Dean Perez to issue an Administrative Order assigning roles to selected people from various departments of the CA. Between the time we completed the script and casting for the presentation, and June 14, 1984, the Anniversary Day of the CA, we had four weeks to get prepared for a once-in-a-lifetime presentation. Indeed, that was the first and only multimedia presentation about the history of the UPLBCA until today.
The production was staged at the Umali Auditorium, and we used fabricated stage props. In those times, our most advanced visual effects system comprised of an old slide projector. The stage presentation, therefore, was a mixture of pantomines, projected artworks and color slides, manually but creatively prepared sound effects, including lively narration. Lighting effects (timing, especially) were crucial in the appreciation of the stage presentation, so I took control of the lighting system. As it was a stage presentation designed to inform, educate, and entertain the audience, we selected our scenes and lines carefully.
The presentation was not perfect. In fact, there were a lot of miscues and mistakes, but all these were essentially considered by the audience as “intentional errors” and were widely appreciated and applaused.
I knew we needed to be symbolic and creative in our production because certain episodes in the history of the UPCA were difficult to dramatize quickly. For example, to start the presentation we used a series of six color slides showing the UP Seal becoming bigger and bigger on the screen then dissolved to an artwork showing the date “March 6, 1909” which was the date of the legal document creating UP, then dissolved to what looked like a legal document transcription, and with the following narration: “Through the consensus of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines, I hereby proclaim the establishment of the College of Agriculture as the third unit of this university. Dr. Edwin Bingham Copeland, the American botanist, shall be responsible for finding the appropriate location for the College of Agriculture.” This was the start of everything that transpired in the UPCA.
The presentation, the first and only multimedia presentation about the history of UPCA, was an intricate flow of events woven in a story which I referred to as the “Story Behind the History.” Reliving the first 75 years of UPCA through this script is melancholic for us who experienced that part of the College’s history. This production was really amateurish (we were) but it turned out to be entertaining, even educational. What set the mood of the audience during the presentation was the disclaimer which was projected on the large screen at the beginning: “THIS IS A TRUE STORY. THE NAMES OF THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT DISGUISED. ANY SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS PRESENTATION AND EVENTS THAT REALLY HAPPENED IS INTENDED.”
In general, this was how our story flowed: we related the story of how the UPCA got established and how the first faculty members and students lived in those times, tracing the flow of events through the years, including during the Second World War, and the rise of student activism, until the 1980s when academic programs were being re-strengthened. What got me interested at the end of the script was how I focused on what the UPCA could become after 25 more years, so here is the scene depicting the year 2009 at the College of Agriculture of UPLB (remember, this was conceived in 1984).
Seen on stage: Lights on. Three students (one male, two female) enter from right. They wear nationalistic type clothes, simple and practical. One (female) listening to a walkman, male with computer printouts and conferring to the other woman student.
Heard (narration): Ah, eto na siguro ang mga estubyante, Mukhang bigatin! Computer exercises na raw and kanilang ginagawa sa animal breeding courses. Yung isa, mukhang nakikinig sa pop music. Pero sa totoo, ang pinakikinggan niya ay yung listening assignment sa horticulture. Hindi lamang mga aklat ang ginagamit ngayon, multimedia presentation na ngayon ang uso. Kasama rito ang computers, video recordings, at iba pang makabagong pamamaraan ng pagtuturo.
Fast forward to (what’s seen): Dissolve to extension scene. Farmer in clean polo shirt, with shoes. Extensionist in barong. Farmer shows his farm journal, they talk. Lights out.
The accompanying sound (male voice, “voice” of the Dean in 2009): One thing remains certain. The College of Agriculture exerts its best to remain sensitive and responsive to the needs, problems and aspirations of our people.
Visiting the script again, I see very extensive use of symbolism. For example, in the end scene where the script refers to a group of students (1 male and 2 female) was symbolic of the larger proportion of female students at UPLB not only in 2009 but until today. There’s a lot of this symbolism in the entire script.
Unfortunately, a similar production wasn’t prepared in 2009. In fact, I think this idea which was supposed to have been established in 1984 was completely forgotten. Well, even those involved in the production in 1984 apparently forgot to recall that another multimedia presentation was due in 2009 (25 years after). That production could’ve been fantastic given new ways of doing multimedia productions then.
Got an idea, though! How about a devcom student or group of devcom students doing a sequel for the UPLB College of Agriculture? Or perhaps do a similar production for the College of Development Communication! Should be a good project for the student organizations of devcom, part of their cultural projects for presentation during the anniversary of the CDC.
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