Sunday, November 11, 2012

The day I missed Bruno Mars and "working"

Late March of 2011, I had my internship on ABS-CBN Foundation. I was assigned to the PSG department with my classmate Bianca and this is the time when we almost met Bruno Mars, but let's get to that later.

Brief description of our tasks for OJT:
Write scripts for Bantay Bata 163. Transcribe and code interviews. Do voice-overs to be aired on ANC. Dubbing. Inventory of video tapes. Ingesting videos to be aired. Join and assist on shoot, etc.

I've learned a lot from those tasks plus I got to meet a lot of people who were able to teach me. I also made friends with them and the other trainees. I feel like even for a short stay I got the taste of how working on Television industry works. It was an unforgettable learning experience.

Here's a view of our workplace with the people behind the camera:


(Dubbing room)


(Rosette at the office doing VOs, writing and dubbing)

(When we joined a shoot with Ms. Tina Monzon-Palma, no less)


(Keep track)

Now let's get to the Bruno Mars, part of the story. Colleagues were exchanging jokes about Bruno Mars visiting the office. I took it seriously. I don't know, maybe I got a hint that it may be true. Woman's instinct maybe? It is.

It was supposed to be our last week when we saw AF's calendar of activities. Right before our eyes was a reminder that Bruno Mars will visit AF. Was it really a big deal though? For a music junkie like me who's a sucker for celebrities, it is. Who will want to miss it when it's an opportunity coming closer to you? So we've decided (Bianca and I) to go to AF even if we have a clearance to attend to in school. We promised to ourselves that we should make it to this day.

April 8. We hurried our lunch and went straight to the office. Once we arrived, securities were all over the place we were ecstatic, there was even a red carpet at the ground floor of the office. It is really happening. In a few minutes we'll get to see  Bruno Mars. I was all ready. I prepared my camera and phone in case of a paparazzi tendency at the spur of the moment. We're all ears to the doors, if there would  be screams or camera snaps (which they said aren't allowed by the securities.) Eyes on the windows to see if his car has arrived until we were asked to transcribe some videos on a closed room. I thought we weren't allowed to go out so we just waited if they'd call us in case he was there, but no. It didn't happen. We just  continued our work. Then we heard some squealing. Right, they've already seen them, too late for us. He's already upstairs, about to perform to the children from Children's village.

Few minutes later, someone entered the room and told us they saw Bruno. How giddy they were. They were even showing videos and photos of him. I tell you it was heartbreaking in hyperbole because we were just there. They should have called us. However, they told us that we could have another chance to see him after he perform for he'll pass by our floor again. They said we should just wait. So we waited again, but later on I was asked to deliver some tapes at the Sagip Kapamilya office. I hurried to the elevator so that I could still have the chance. Inside the elevator was a middle-aged woman with a seemingly Press ID/ Bruno Mars pass ID. I smiled at her. Left the elevator ran to the office and went back to the elevator.

When I came back to our department, everyone was giddy again. Apparently, Bruno Mars already passed again. Had I not hurried I would have seen him inside that elevator. Oh chances, sometimes they're just too elusive. Turns out, the woman on the elevator was one of the organizers/ handler of Bruno Mars. I didn't know. Or maybe, seeing Bruno Mars wasn't just meant to be. Well, at least I'm almost there. Only,I didn't get there. Almost but not quite.

Later on, we were asked to return the technical equipment used during Bruno Mars' performance. I got the chance to hold on his microphone. It was a privilege like I was holding a sacred object. It may be overacting but when you're always there but not quite, you just feel happy and disappointed at the same time. Still thankful there were a lot of "at leasts" and "almosts".

Maybe there will be a next time. Let's wait and see.
(Memoirs of what-could-have-been)