I began teaching there last year, when they had a vacancy for the position of a MAYA instructor.  It was nerve-wracking for me, I remember, as that was the first time I had used MAYA on a Mac.  I was sure the interface was the same. But my worry was I had not touched Mac OS X before, and, having grown up very much in a Windows household, that naturally became an issue.

But, thankfully, It was not such a big issue, and today, while I am not a full-fledged Mac convert, I can safely navigate and perform simple tasks with Tiger, Macintosh’s latest Operating System

In this latest class, I had one student who was a Pakistani woman who took the class (and several others at PCCI) because she felt that cartoons nowadays are nothing but meaningless bits of entertainment.  Her hope is to one day come up with something more substantial of her own.

I also had a young girl from London, half Filipina and half German, who was in town visiting family.  She was fresh, Graphic Arts graduate of a prestigious London university and wanted to expand her horizons by dabbling in 3D a little bit.  She picked up the concepts very quickly.

Prior to that, I also had a student from Guam who came over only to take my class.  He had taken a short leave from his advertising work to expand his horizons as well.  My co-teacher as well, had two US marines from their base in Japan take his Final Cut Pro class.

I asked them why they chose to study in the Philippines, and the two answers common among all were that 1) we were cheap, and 2) We could communicate in English.

It was a bit later, when I was telling my Mother about my class that I realized the existence of a niche market the Philippines could capitalize on, and I mean aside from call-centers.

Educational Tourism.

We have the technical know-how as well as the artistic talent to make something of this small, but as the way I see it, growing market.  Let Singapore and Thailand have their Medical Tourism, where people go and stay at a grand hotel suite before going under the knife or the laser.  We can offer something definitely less painful.

Consider this:  Why did the two marines study here and not in Japan?  The language barrier.  We Filipinos, at one level or another can communicate in English, just by sheer exposure.  Many of us can communicate very effectively.

Why didn’t they study in the States?  Too expensive.  Their air-fare and stay, plus the tuition here was cheaper than what they would have spent to return to the US and take up a similar course there.

Why did my student from Guam come here?  Same reasons, exactly.  And, he and the two marines were satisfied with their educational experience.

Can you imagine the Philippines being a regional hub of technological education?  A sort of campus town for the Asia-Pacific region? Need to take a short course in print graphics?  Head for the Philippines.  Your favorite software came out with a newer version and you want to keep abreast of the zillion added features?  Head for the Philippines.

It may still be a dream for now, but its one vision for the country I’d definitely like to see come to pass.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Oscar nominees for best visual effects and animated film are out.  The pickings are slim this year, with the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong, and War of the Worlds comprising the three nominations for the Visual Effects category. 

Corpse Bride, Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit, and Howl’s Moving Castle make up the competitors for the Best Animated Feature.  It’s interesting to note that this ear there are no 3D movies nominated for best Animated Film this year, perhaps fueling the fire for the argument that more traditional forms of animation aren’t ready to keel over and let 3D reign supreme just yet.

Final Fantasy fans will be insulted, I’m sure, as yet again, a Final Fantasy CG film was snubbed by the Oscar committee.  First with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within a few years ago, and now, with Final Fantasy: Advent children.  Though Personally, while I find Advent Children an amazing piece of work visually, it falls far short in the story department, and therefore in the emotional attachment department as well.  If I hadn’t played the game and loved it (I remember being shocked and angry when Aeris died.  Admit it you were close to tears too, we all were.  It was like I was a kid again watching Bambi for the first time and that tragic scene came on… ), I might not have given Advent Children my attention.

So what movie do YOU think will win Best Visual Effects?  Drop me a line and tell me what you think.  Lets get a poll going.  Personally, I’m with Narnia. 

Narnia: 1 
King Kong :0 
War of the Worlds: 0