Student-organised Industry Seminars

Each year students in RMIT’s Media Program conceptualise, organise, run and document a series of public seminar events in which a diverse range of established media industry practitioners are invited to participate in panel discussions about the state of the industry and also offer invaluable advice to aspiring makers on how to break in, the current ‘lay of the land’, and career pathway opportunities. The students are in their final semester* before heading out in to the world and it is a useful time to rethink possibilities for where they go next (and how), and to further build their industry networks.

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2013 FreshMeat series
Check out the line-ups, guests, images for the past two years at these sites.

Many thanks to our special guests who have generously contributed their time and knowledge.

From Wanted: Breaking In (TV) 2014

(*Until 2014 these seminars were part of the work undertaken by students in the third-year course Media Industries 2. From 2015 they will be part of the second semester course, Media 6)

BOFA Short Film Award

Congratulations to recent BComm Media graduate (2014), Michael Johnston, whose short film To be a poet won the BOFA (Breath of Fresh Air) Film Festival Short Award in November 2014.

‘Clocking in at less than 3 minutes in duration, To Be A Poet is a simple but powerful short about Abraham Nouk. Nouk came to Australia from Sudan, unable to read, write or speak a word of English. Now, he is an award-winning spoken word artist and poet.’

The film was conceived and initially produced within the BComm Media second year course, Film-TV2 in the latter part of 2013.

Michael is currently in the process of turning the film into a longer-form documentary. He tells us that the short film will be released as part of a crowdfunding campaign to get the project off the ground.

Also, To Be a Poet was the only Australian film to be selected in the Sound & Image Challenge Worldwide, which recently took place in Macau, China.
Abraham Nouk & Michael Johnston winners of BOFA Short Film Award with Martin simpson (middle, judge)
Abraham Nouk and Michael Johnston (far right) receiving the award.

Something for Straya Day

It’s almost that time of year when Australia celebrates (and some protest) the officially designated national Australia Day holiday. One of the BComm Media program’s former students, Terry Mann, who graduated in 2008, has produced this contemporary alternative to the national anthem. He is getting lots of views of video on various social media as well as a bit of attention in conventional national and international media. Read this local ABC coverage here. Onya Terry!

Terry is currently a freelance digital producer after having worked at Clemenger BBDO as a Digital Producer. He also makes and plays music as Coach Bombay.
 
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Social shorts

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Support our graduating students

AFI | AACTA Social Shorts Powered by Genesis showcases short films as they go head-to-head to win in three categories — Drama, Comedy and Independent film. Voting is open for two weeks per category, with the category winner announced each fortnight.

Now is your chance to join the search for Australia’s top new filmmakers as they make their mark via Social Shorts. Vote for your favourites by liking and sharing on social media today.

A love of film and France

RMIT student Angeline Armstrong has combined her passions for film and French culture to win a prestigious award.

The French and media studies student was awarded the Francophonie Award from the Embassy of France and the Government of New Caledonia, in conjunction with Campus France Australia, for her video submission titled L’Hexagon.

The university video competition encouraged students to submit short clips regarding what “Made in France” meant to them in a globalised world, striving to subvert the stereotypes surrounding French culture.

Ms Armstrong’s two-minute entry explored the modern yet historically-grounded nature of the French landscape through sophisticated verses and black and white footage.

The video’s title originated from her affection for the nickname often given to the hexagonal-shaped country, and sought to move away from the inclination of “putting France in a box” when it is actually a complex, polygonal entity.

RMIT student Angeline Armstrong

Emerging screenwriter, director, producer and award-winning RMIT student, Angeline Armstrong. Photo: Amelia Stanwix.

With only two days to meet the deadline, the multi-talented screenwriter, director and producer worked with her own music, unused footage from an old trip to France and her knowledge of the language and culture.

A third year Bachelor of Communication (Media) student undertaking film/TV with a social contextual major in philosophy and electives inFrench studies, Ms Armstrong said the competition gave her the unique opportunity to pair her love for the French society with her professional skills in filmmaking and editing.

“I feel so encouraged and blessed; receiving financial rewards for my creative film work is a privilege that I didn’t really expect at this point in my life,” she said.

“Whether you’re working with a billion dollar Hollywood budget or a $1,000 Pozible campaign – it’s partly about raw inspiration, but largely about evaluating your available resources and drawing inspiration from that as well.”

Ms Armstrong was awarded a return airfare to New Caledonia and a 30-hour French immersion program at the Centre de Rencontres et d’Echanges Internationaux du Pacifique (CREIPAC), international centre of exchange in the Pacific region.

Dr Kerry Mullan, Coordinator of French Studies and Ms Armstrong’s French 4 teacher, said the RMIT Language Studies team were absolutely delighted with her well-deserved win.

“Her video is beautiful and is clearly the result of a lot of hard work,” Dr Mullan said.

“Her award is an inspiration to all our French students and colleagues – it shows what motivation and dedication can achieve.”

Ms Armstrong’s award will be presented this month at a ceremony held at Alliance Française in Melbourne.