Photographer-turned-filmmaker and video creator MV Isip talks about mixed media, wrestling, and how all things DIY drive her work forward
If you’re like me and have known filmmaker and all-around creative MV Isip since your university days, then you probably know that she’s always been her own effortless brand of cool. At our scheduled photoshoot, she sports heavily accessorized black Crocs, distressed denim shorts, and an oversized jersey from Drop Dead.
“Do you guys know Bring Me the Horizon?” she asks me as she steps out in her outfit for the next layout. She points to her top. “This is from their vocalist’s clothing brand. You could say that the brand actually came before the band.”
Regardless of all the piercings and the heavy rock music, Isip has always exuded a bubbly and lighthearted persona, describing herself as a “total nerd” first and foremost. Her bright blue room exhibits the signs—a countless amount of board games, books, and graphic novels as well as an iconic portrait of Squidward that she recreated herself.
“[I was a] mathlete, Scrabble varsity, the works. I was the furthest you can get from creative, but I’ve always been very curious, and the internet and computers were the things the geeky kids were figuring out then,” MV Isip shares
“[I was a] mathlete, Scrabble varsity, the works. I was the furthest you can get from creative, but I’ve always been very curious, and the internet and computers were the things the geeky kids were figuring out then,” she shares.
At just 10 years old, Isip was tasked by her parents to figure out how to work the family digicam, an old Olympus model that sparked her love for cameras. “Around that time also, I was following tutorials on DeviantArt, trying out HTML/CSS for my blogs, downloading Photoshop recipes from LiveJournal, like everyone else! I never thought anything of it, but now I realize that freedom of the early internet, the wealth of information, and the DIY spirit was really the start of my creative life.”
Though Isip had studied video production at Ateneo de Manila University, she made a conscious decision to not pursue it after graduating. The work was intimidating to her at the time—major roles to fill, the hectic deadlines, and the need for a giant team. Isip was perfectly happy as a photographer until she chanced upon a gig to do a behind-the-scenes video for a local fashion magazine. This opportunity led to more editorial shoots, events coverage, brand promotions, and even music videos.
Now a decade into her career in film and video, Isip has transitioned to being one of the most sought-after creatives in the local industry, having worked with countless magazines (including a short IV of Spades video for Scout), brands, artists, and household name celebrities such as Vice Ganda and Raymond Gutierrez. Isip is currently represented by the agency Artists & Company Manila, the very same one for celebrated creatives like Shaira Luna, Mark Nicdao, Gee Jocson, Anthea Bueno, and more.
Isip’s edge as a videographer is her love and talent for mixed media. Her work truly shines when practical effects and crafts are involved, and the whole process could get pretty gnarly—fans and other fellow creatives can take a peek for themselves through various BTS posts on her Instagram. In a reel for how she edited Psycho Silver’s “Invidia” music video, Isip documents how she manually printed, handpainted, cut, and stitched various stills to create the final animation.
“[Experimentation] is really my driving force! I just wanna try things. What if we use a 360° action cam for fashion? What if we film a wedding in Super 8?”
In another, she narrates how she shot pop star Sabrina Carpenter on the day of her 2023 Manila concert leg. To make the video look more nostalgic and “Tumblr-esque,” she whipped out a discontinued Barbie Video Girl doll that she bought off Carousell for P800—she knew she had to have it after seeing it on Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”
To Isip, the possibilities for video are endless.
“[Experimentation] is really my driving force! I just wanna try things. What if we use a 360° action cam for fashion? What if we film a wedding in Super 8? What if we do a match cut montage in ‘Animal Crossing?’ It’s like scratching an itch,” she muses.
“I think this stemmed from having subpar equipment when I was still a photographer. I had to come up with cheap DIY hacks to make my photos stand out. I would stitch multiple photos manually to get a wide shot, put a kaleidoscope toy in front of my lens, and heavily rely on photo manipulation and adjustment layers. Maybe that’s why I still feel drawn to the manual, practical effects versus the high-end equipment that always felt so intimidating to me.”
Isip’s source of creativity comes from her many hobbies, like listening to pop punk and hardcore music, reading graphic memoirs, watching wrestling, and playing tabletop and video games with friends. But really, she’s able to draw inspiration from anything that piques her interests.
“Cheesy answer, but I get video ideas from stuff I’ve watched, artwork in a museum, our house’s CCTV footage, a metallic texture that caught my eye in a Chinese restaurant… when you’re present and you live life and you feel things, I think your brain just locks into those things which you can dig up for later.”
Ten years of shooting, editing, and directing videos could take a toll on someone. Isip admits to being a workaholic, having to hesitantly turn down a magazine shoot abroad to make time for this feature (“It’s okay. Maybe the universe is telling me to slow down,” she tells me via text message after I apologize).
“I love that [my job] is never the same, and that it pushes me to keep learning, keep exploring, keep innovating. To add to that, video is such a unique medium because it’s the one medium where you can mix all art form”
On her birthday a year ago, Isip was tasked to shoot a luxury fashion event in Seoul. The program was a secret and the team had to chase down VIP celebrities around a dark venue. Isip shot both photo and video in heels—for next day delivery, to beat.
“It was crazy,” she says. “I would do it again.”
Tenacious and always up for a challenge, Isip is optimistic about her career and the evolution of the video as a medium in the future. Having just wrapped up her first ever TV commercial, she dreams of working internationally and possibly directing an entrance for a wrestling show one day.
“I love that [my job] is never the same, and that it pushes me to keep learning, keep exploring, keep innovating. To add to that, video is such a unique medium because it’s the one medium where you can mix all art forms: music, performance, photography, traditional art, fashion, what-have-you!” Isip mentions. “I’m excited to explore other formats beyond what we see on our phones or TVs. Where there’s a screen, there could be video. It’s only going to evolve, and I would love to be there for whatever iteration it’ll have.”
However that looks like some 10, 20 years later, at the rate Isip is going, I’m sure she’ll be there for it—right there, at the top.