Screening of Films: UPNVY Communication Science Students Present Three Narrative Frames Highlighting Masculinity Issues

Suara Sikap - Meeting the assessment requirements of the Cinematography course, students from the Department of Communication Science at the Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta (UPNVY) held a screening event of their film works at the Public Relations Laboratory, Campus II Babarsari on Monday (12/06). Starting at 16.00 WIB, the event showcased three works from each group, addressing the issue of masculinity.

The first work titled "Hina Tak Terhina" (Insulted but Not Humiliated) raises a conflict involving sibling relations. The message conveyed refers to the fact that men can also be victims of sexual violence. Depicted in the film, when they experience such incidents, they feel the same as others who are treated badly until they feel restless, beaten, and humiliated. This short film was made by group 2 under the direction of Ammar Muhammad Arieb or commonly called Ammar.

He explained that in fact, men can speak up when experiencing sexual violence, instead of withdrawing and feeling weak. "We have built a set-up about how the male character lives alone with his sister, without parents, so as to provide some insight into why he feels that men should be seen as strong men, because he has a sister who sees him as a role model," explained Ammar.

Although the film screening was internal, Meike Lusye Karolus, as the lecturer of the Cinematography Course, invited several lecturers from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) UPNVY to appreciate and discuss the three films.

One of them is Virginia Ayu Sahita, a lecturer in the Public Relations Study Program who has experience in producing films and advertisements. She commented on Ammar's group in terms of the content and technical aspects of their film production. Virginia conveyed that the content of the film "Hina Tak Terhina" lacks softness and there is still a lot of shaking in the camera technique, thus reducing the comfort in enjoying the film scenes.

The second work titled "Asa" (Hope) tells the story of a minority living in a neighborhood. Asa is interpreted as the hope of the character when he wants to continue his education but is hindered by costs, so he looks for a job to pay for the Single Tuition Fee (UKT) and finance his life while away from home.

This twenty-minute film was successfully made by group 3 directed by Iqbal Maulana or familiarly called Iqbal. He shared the story behind raising the issue of racism in his film. "Why take up this issue because these things actually often happen in the surrounding environment, especially in Yogyakarta, but no one notices, so we try to raise it by making a film," said Iqbal.

This was then commented on by Meike, their supervising lecturer. She considered that when watching the film "Asa," she did not find any racist elements. What was raised were just daily issues. Not only experienced by Papua people, students from Ambon, Aceh, Jakarta, Bandung also experience it when paying UKT.

"Racism is discrimination based on specific racial ethnicities. There are many spaces in the film "Asa" that could be filled with racism issues. For example, there is one scene in a restaurant and then one person of a different race comes and looks disgusted at them, that's the form of racism. But unfortunately, it didn't appear so it's incomplete," explained Meike.

Then moving on to the last film, Ibnu Banu Suyatna or familiarly called Banu as the director of group 1 chose the issue of mental health as the topic in the ten-minute film. It tells the story of a man who has mental health problems and is decided by his girlfriend.

Banu said that the adoption of this issue stems from the phenomenon that occurred some time ago in Yogyakarta. "Seeing a phenomenon of students jumping from hotels, so we titled it 'Lihat Dengar Rasakan' (See, Hear, Feel), because we want to care about those around us and see our friends, listen to them, and feel what they are feeling," explained Banu.

Yuseptia Angretnowati, a lecturer in the Communication Science Study Program with a concentration in Broadcasting, also commented on the film by group 1, "This is a valuable moment when knowledge meets the heart, so that the message received becomes emotional. Hopefully, friends can continue to learn and appreciate for Mrs. Meike and all of you."

A film ultimately is a product that will be commercialized. Therefore, not only technical and artistic matters in each scene need more attention. Aesthetics elements in the film's packaging design can also increase public interest in watching it.

"In business, there's packaging, here there's design. It must meet the unique value proposition that comes out and be catchy to the eye," commented Keny Rahmawati, a lecturer in the Business Administration Study Program.

According to her, the first thing seen in terms of product in marketing is how producers can meet consumer needs. Starting from discovering trending issues in society, perhaps that's what the market is looking for and interested in. Then after knowing the issue to be raised, the thought is how to visualize it. Keny expressed that the entire group has done well and maximized their efforts.

The purpose of the Cinematography course is to teach students how to produce, appreciate, and understand films. The process begins with pre-production, starting with giving concepts, then providing basic understanding of films and the divisions within the film production team.

"Last time, the midterm assignment was to gather film proposals, then after that, the pre, production, and post-production materials were given, then they executed the production. So today is their appreciation part," explained Meike, the lecturer of the Cinematography course.

She also explained that this course is project-based, and the final output is a project. The assessment indicators include participation, attendance, assignments, and the alignment of theory and practice of each student. Meike explained that at the beginning of the assignment, the selection of concepts and themes is free. However, what's interesting is that these three film works are actually connected by one common thread, which is related to the issue of masculinity. She hopes that students will continue to learn because the works produced have the potential to be submitted and included in film festivals, not just stopping at this stage.

Although the event was delayed by an hour due to constraints, the enthusiasm of the students to conduct the film screening was evident with their punctual attendance. Arika Bagus Perdana, a lecturer in the Communication Science Study Program with a concentration in Broadcasting, expressed her appreciation to all groups. She thanked those who were serious about completing the assignments up to the film screening. Arika felt fortunate to see the original works of students in the Cinematography class and hoped that they would provide improvements to be more challenged and optimistic about doing their best for themselves and the program.

"We have been criticized that our campus's performance is declining, but from here we can see many friends who are serious about developing communication as a learning platform together, so I am actually optimistic that you have the opportunity to develop better in the future," said Arika.

Finally, Meike stated that making mistakes and imperfection is normal so that in the future, they can learn to become better. "Actually, being human is a process, not creating a good and perfect work at once." (Dias Nurul Fajriani)

Editor: Latri Rastha Dhanastri