MANILA, PHILIPPINES — On the second day of Graphika Manila weekend, one of the biggest names to grace the stage was wedding photographer and filmmaker Jason Magbanua, who was also supported as one of event partner ASUS‘ featured artists.
Jason has made a name for himself in the Philippine creative community by pioneering the creation of stunning same day edit wedding videos, an industry trend that has turned into a lasting service many photographers and videographers have added to their catalogues after Jason turned it into a staple and key element in any wedding event.
In his Graphika talk, Jason discussed how he sold his craft to the Filipino audience at a time where wedding videos were typically consumed through lengthy documentations mailed weeks after the ceremony. This was one of the biggest obstacles in his early career, he shared, where he had to change people’s perspective on how a wedding video could and should look like. He achieved this by making his product stand out and making customers understand that he wasn’t selling merely a video, but a complete service of immortalizing one of the most important days in a couple’s relationship. Jason continually pursued this by maintaining an open mindset to learning, and seizing every opportunity he can to educate himself on new techniques, technologies, and trends.
In fact, if there was one thing he hoped the Graphika audience would take away from his session, it would be just that: Never stop learning.
“Grab every opportunity to attend these kind of learning experiences for growth, whether it’s at school, at SMX, or your local barangay. If you have an opportunity to learn, take it,” Jason emphasized on stage and during an interview with adobo Magazine.
Another main point in his talk was the importance of storytelling. He underlined the value of understanding one’s subjects, especially for wedding videos, to be able to successfully and effectively capture the couple’s personalities, and the specific magic of their wedding. He shared that it’s an integral part of his process to have multiple conversations with the couple – find out their hobbies, the music they listen to, their stories, etc. – and really get to know them as people and as a couple to do their wedding story justice.
He shared that this is key to having each wedding video unique to the couple, despite it being Jason’s nth shoot in this popular church, or that sought-after reception venue. He also noted some important elements to capture: “There are really key elements in a wedding day that we really have to lazer focus on. Number one is the personal vows, and number two is the first time the groom meets the bride in her wedding gown, walking down the aisle. It’s just magical, that moment.”
Lastly, Jason reminded all the aspiring and young creatives in the room that sometimes, your passion doesn’t have to be your job. There’s also value in being a creative just for yourself: “The money doesn’t always come [in this field], and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re a creator, in whatever field, it’s fine if you just create for the sake of creating – for personal pleasure, for personal growth, for other people, and not necessarily to make money. That’s one point I’m really driving right now.”
Grapika Manila 2023.
