Photographer-turned-filmmaker and video creator MV Isip talks about blended media, wrestling, and the way all issues DIY drive her work ahead
For those who’re like me and have identified filmmaker and all-around inventive MV Isip since your college days, you then most likely know that she’s at all times been her personal easy model of cool. At our scheduled photoshoot, she sports activities closely accessorized black Crocs, distressed denim shorts, and an outsized jersey from Drop Useless.
“Do you guys know Convey Me the Horizon?” she asks me as she steps out in her outfit for the subsequent structure. She factors to her high. “That is from their vocalist’s clothes model. You possibly can say that the model truly got here earlier than the band.”
No matter all of the piercings and the heavy rock music, Isip has at all times exuded a bubbly and lighthearted persona, describing herself as a “whole nerd” initially. Her vivid blue room displays the indicators—a numerous quantity of board video games, books, and graphic novels in addition to an iconic portrait of Squidward that she recreated herself.
“[I was a] mathlete, Scrabble varsity, the works. I used to be the furthest you will get from inventive, however I’ve at all times been very curious, and the web and computer systems have been the issues the geeky youngsters have been determining then,” MV Isip shares
“[I was a] mathlete, Scrabble varsity, the works. I used to be the furthest you will get from inventive, however I’ve at all times been very curious, and the web and computer systems have been the issues the geeky youngsters have been determining then,” she shares.
At simply 10 years previous, Isip was tasked by her dad and mom to determine methods to work the household digicam, an previous Olympus mannequin that sparked her love for cameras. “Round that point additionally, I used to be following tutorials on DeviantArt, attempting out HTML/CSS for my blogs, downloading Photoshop recipes from LiveJournal, like everybody else! I by no means thought something of it, however now I notice that freedom of the early web, the wealth of knowledge, and the DIY spirit was actually the beginning of my inventive life.”
Although Isip had studied video manufacturing at Ateneo de Manila College, she made a acutely aware determination to not pursue it after graduating. The work was intimidating to her on the time—main roles to fill, the hectic deadlines, and the necessity for a large staff. Isip was completely blissful as a photographer till she chanced upon a gig to do a behind-the-scenes video for an area style journal. This chance led to extra editorial shoots, occasions protection, model promotions, and even music movies.
Now a decade into her profession in movie and video, Isip has transitioned to being one of the crucial sought-after creatives within the native trade, having labored with numerous magazines (together with a brief IV of Spades video for Scout), manufacturers, artists, and family identify celebrities resembling Vice Ganda and Raymond Gutierrez. Isip is at present represented by the company Artists & Firm Manila, the exact same one for celebrated creatives like Shaira Luna, Mark Nicdao, Gee Jocson, Anthea Bueno, and extra.
Isip’s edge as a videographer is her love and expertise for blended media. Her work actually shines when sensible results and crafts are concerned, and the entire course of might get fairly gnarly—followers and different fellow creatives can take a peek for themselves by numerous BTS posts on her Instagram. In a reel for a way she edited Psycho Silver’s “Invidia” music video, Isip paperwork how she manually printed, handpainted, minimize, and stitched numerous stills to create the ultimate animation.
“[Experimentation] is admittedly my driving drive! I simply wanna strive issues. What if we use a 360° motion cam for style? What if we movie a marriage in Tremendous 8?”
In one other, she narrates how she shot pop star Sabrina Carpenter on the day of her 2023 Manila live performance leg. To make the video look extra nostalgic and “Tumblr-esque,” she whipped out a discontinued Barbie Video Lady doll that she purchased off Carousell for P800—she knew she needed to have it after seeing it on Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”
To Isip, the chances for video are countless.
“[Experimentation] is admittedly my driving drive! I simply wanna strive issues. What if we use a 360° motion cam for style? What if we movie a wedding ceremony in Tremendous 8? What if we do a match minimize montage in ‘Animal Crossing?’ It’s like scratching an itch,” she muses.
“I feel this stemmed from having subpar gear once I was nonetheless a photographer. I needed to provide you with low cost DIY hacks to make my images stand out. I might sew a number of images manually to get a large shot, put a kaleidoscope toy in entrance of my lens, and closely depend on picture manipulation and adjustment layers. Perhaps that’s why I nonetheless really feel drawn to the handbook, sensible results versus the high-end gear that at all times felt so intimidating to me.”
Isip’s supply of creativity comes from her many hobbies, like listening to pop punk and hardcore music, studying graphic memoirs, watching wrestling, and taking part in tabletop and video video games with mates. However actually, she’s ready to attract inspiration from something that piques her pursuits.
“Tacky reply, however I get video concepts from stuff I’ve watched, paintings in a museum, our home’s CCTV footage, a metallic texture that caught my eye in a Chinese language restaurant… whenever you’re current and you reside life and you are feeling issues, I feel your mind simply locks into these issues which you’ll be able to dig up for later.”
Ten years of taking pictures, enhancing, and directing movies might take a toll on somebody. Isip admits to being a workaholic, having to hesitantly flip down {a magazine} shoot overseas to find time for this characteristic (“It’s okay. Perhaps the universe is telling me to decelerate,” she tells me by way of textual content message after I apologize).
“I like that [my job] is rarely the identical, and that it pushes me to continue to learn, preserve exploring, preserve innovating. So as to add to that, video is such a singular medium as a result of it’s the one medium the place you possibly can combine all artwork type”
On her birthday a yr in the past, Isip was tasked to shoot a luxurious style occasion in Seoul. This system was a secret and the staff needed to chase down VIP celebrities round a darkish venue. Isip shot each picture and video in heels—for subsequent day supply, to beat.
“It was loopy,” she says. “I might do it once more.”
Tenacious and at all times up for a problem, Isip is optimistic about her profession and the evolution of the video as a medium sooner or later. Having simply wrapped up her first ever TV industrial, she goals of working internationally and presumably directing an entrance for a wrestling present someday.
“I like that [my job] is rarely the identical, and that it pushes me to continue to learn, preserve exploring, preserve innovating. So as to add to that, video is such a singular medium as a result of it’s the one medium the place you possibly can combine all artwork varieties: music, efficiency, images, conventional artwork, style, what-have-you!” Isip mentions. “I’m excited to discover different codecs past what we see on our telephones or TVs. The place there’s a display, there may very well be video. It’s solely going to evolve, and I might like to be there for no matter iteration it’ll have.”
Nonetheless that appears like some 10, 20 years later, on the charge Isip goes, I’m positive she’ll be there for it—proper there, on the high.