KRIS Ulrich Cazin’s first love was the arts, particularly music. This was until he held a camera, saw things through its lens, and realized the magic his vision could create. 

Now, Cazin is a young music video director who is starting to make a name for himself. 

It all began during his college years when he had to do a documentary about a school event as a community service punishment for a violation. 

“Noong ginawa ko siya, along the process nung pag shoot noon plus editing it, parang there’s storytelling eh, parang nagkwento ako ng mga chunks and pieces of individual frames tapos nagkaroon siya ng narrative,” the 26-year-old Cazin said. 

He found this fulfilling. 

“It brings me to another satisfaction, it brings stories through that camera,” he said. 

As his interest in filmmaking grew, he got inspired by how award-winning movies played with elements like cinematography, sound, directing, script and the actors’ performances. The movie that particularly inspired him was the award-winning film On The Job. 

Friends in the right places

Through the right connections, Cazin was able to make his dream of making videos come true. This is because one of his good friends is actress Bela Padilla.

One time, while inside Padilla’s car, he asked the actress to introduce him to OPM icon Kean Cipriano.

Cipirano, after parting ways with his former band Callalily, put up his own music label called O/C Records. 

Cazin said he wanted to make music videos for Cipriano’s roster of talents, and Padilla gave him a hand.  

“Malaking pasasalamat ko talaga kay Bela, like hindi alam ng tao kung gaano kalaki ‘yung binigay na opportunity doors ni Bela sa akin and even kay Sir Kean up to this point,” he said.  

He was able to direct a music video for Cipriano, Callalily’s version of the Rivermaya original 241. 

Later, he started  directing music videos for other O/C Records talents like MRLD, Adie and many others. He has so far done over 25 music videos. 

“Nag-enjoy ako kasi nag-merge yung dalawang hilig, ko which are music and film making. So doon ako nagkaroon ng satisfaction, plus nagagawa ko kasi yung gusto ko, like I have control of the concept and the creative side,” he said. 

Usually, it takes him about two to three days to finish shooting a video. But the entire process, from pre-production to post production, would last about a month. 

Staying faithful to the song 

Unlike some music videos that show unrelated concepts, Cazin said he makes sure his works interpret the message of the song and the emotions of the writer. 

“I always ask the artist kung ano ‘yung nararamdaman nila while writing the song, kung ano ‘yung gusto nilang nakikita,” he said. 

This was the process he followed when he shot the music video for Adie’s Tahanan. He asked Adie what scenes he envisioned when he was playing the song. 

And since he wants to pursue making full-length movies in the future, his music videos actually look like short films.

“There’s a lot of music video directors that’s on the aesthetic side, non-linear narrative, hindi sila sumusunod sa structure ng narrative,” he noted.

“It’s fine, that’s basically music video, so pwede kang maging baliw sa music video. Pero my cup of tea kasi, since I want to prepare myself for the future na paggawa ng films, yung ginagawa ko ngayon na lahat ng music videos ko ay narrative, very movie-like,” he added. 

In the future, Cazin dreams of collaborating creatively with singers such as SOS and Unique Salonga.