UNRAVELLING THE REAL

The Journey Home

By Megan Nicholson

The Journey Home is a first-person documentary that explores my own experiences moving houses when I was nine years old. The film opens at my first home, revealing the joyful memories I shared with friends and family. This perfect world of mine is soon turned upside down when I discover that I will be moving, leaving behind the friends and life I knew. This piece focuses on the ideas of connection, belonging, family, friendship, loneliness, and isolation, which are themes I think many viewers can connect with and relate to. I hope my documentary encourages audiences to reflect on both the negative and positive experiences from their childhoods and how they helped shaped them into the person they are today.

For this assignment, I knew I wanted to focus on a story from my life. It took some time to decide what narrative would work best for the documentary format. However, I soon realised that I could structure the story of me moving houses in an interesting way. I chose to incorporate personal archives, such as home videos and photographs. This is because I wanted to give viewers an insight into what I was like as a child. This was a long process as I aimed to pick the videos that best communicated the positive emotions of that time, especially in the Christmas, Easter, and birthday footage. There were several hurdles throughout the production and post-production process that I had to overcome. For instance, I had trouble figuring out what footage and sound effects would best communicate my ideas. However, I made sure to take the time to experiment with the ways I could approach each scene in a unique way. I incorporated some of the concepts we have explored throughout this semester, such as poetic documentary, first-person documentary, sound, music, and personal archives. Each of these techniques helped give me a better understanding of how to structure the narrative. It also encouraged me to think more creatively when it came to each stage of the production process.

When making this documentary, I was required to reflect on my childhood and the effects moving houses had on me. It was interesting to explore this time of my life in greater depth as it made me consider the connections I had with others and how they had a significant impact on me. I feel as though I have developed a lot as a filmmaker and have learned more about the different filmmaking techniques that can elevate my work both narratively, sonically, and visually.

rmitmediastudent • June 1, 2021


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