ROOM WITH A VIEW: Y3: S1: WK3: Fleshed-Out Interview Proposals

The following content for this entry consists of the fleshed-out interview ideas and song choices we are proposing for our first live to air show at Triple R on Room With A View, Monday the 10th April 12pm – 1pm, ENJOY!

Olivia McDonald’s idea:
Title: The Climatarian Diet
Aim: To educate and inform listeners about the “climatarian diet”, or sustainable eating of meats that produce a large carbon footprint
Interviewee: Volunteer or Manager of “Less Meat Less Heat”.
Info: From the website- Less Meat Less Heat (LMLH) is a grassroots, non-profit organisation dedicated to reducing the consumption of the kinds of meat products that are most damaging to the climate. Our work encompasses two central steps. The first is educating the public about the massive carbon footprint of beef and lamb. The second is providing people with a way in which to monitor and eventually diversify their diets so as to reduce their levels of meat consumption.”

This “climatarian” diet is a fresh, relatively unheard of approach to healthy eating (healthy for you and the environment). This non-profit organisation aims to educate the public about the large impact beef and lamb have on our environment, and has created a free app that helps people transition to a diet with less meat. The app is presented as a challenge, in which the user gets “points” that are used when meat is eaten, with the ultimate goal being to have as many points left as possible at the end of the month. The app also provides recipes and tips to help the user.

Potential questions:

  • What is the Climatarian diet?
  • How big of an impact does livestock production have on our environment?
  • What would happen if a large portion of the population decreased their meat consumption?
  • Tell us about your app, the Climatarian Challenge.
  • Why did you choose an app as your platform on which to raise awareness?


Sammy Beniac-Brooks’ idea:
Title:
Anti-duck/bird shooting
Aim: To make audiences aware of the grave problem, something Simon sees within his own work quite often.
Interviewee: Simon Starr: landscape designer turned bird-watcher (he prefers birds over his 9-5 job and has sort of made bird watching his 9-5 where he regularly holds tours).
Info: Simon is the owner of Birding Victoria. He has run the business for many years and has hosted many bird watching events including day trips and camping trips to different parts of Australia. He has a deep passion for birds and would do anything to help them.
Recently in the media, I’ve noticed some advertisements where famous Olympians promote the anti-duck shooting cause, saying that it is not a sport like regular shooting.
It would be great to talk to Simon about his work as well as why he feels so passionately about this cause.

Potential Questions:

  • Why the love for bird-watching and what does it involve?
  • What are the threats birds/ducks face?
  • Do you have any bird tours that raise awareness for the problem of duck and bird shooting?
  • What exactly is the issue with the shooting? Why is it happening?
  • Have you seen any duck or bird shooting first hand?
  • What change would you like to see?
  • What more could be done to help these affected birds?
  • Is this the only thing affecting these birds/ducks?

Dusty Johnston’s idea (that’s me):
Title:
Swordcraft Enthusiast
Aim: To shed information to listeners about the theatrical, (quite probably categorised as, niche) hobby that is – Swordcraft! By the end of the interview, listeners will have gained knowledge on an interesting community-based topic.
Interviewee: Oliver Clark: International Student (fluent English speaker) at RMIT, partakes in medieval battle group.
Info: The Swordcraft group which Oliver roleplays in, practices every Tuesday in Royal Park. The group are split into teams/groups and sometimes pairs, to mimic battles that may have taken place in the middle ages!

Potential Questions:

  • (Quick briefing of Swordcraft itself)
  • Why role-playing medieval rather than the more common, virtual game play setting?
  • Do you have an affinity for medieval times? If so, how did it arise? If not, what is the reason you are involved in this group?
  • Is this a way of socialising with others who have similar interests and considered to be more of a social event?
  • How serious is the nature of the role-playing? Are the rules strict?
  • What are the consequences of (hopefully accidentally) injuring someone?
  • How does someone become involved in a group like this?
  • Where does one acquire the gear for this? Is it expensive to buy or hire?
  • Are there several different groups involved in Swordcraft? Are there rivaling groups?

Swordcraft game in Melbourne:

Rose Zwagerman’s idea:
Title:
Bluetooth Low Energy
Aim: To inform listeners about the technology, what it is currently used for and what the intended uses are for the future. To start a conversation about whether this technology will be a positive or a negative impact on the lives of Melbournians.
Interviewee: Dr Seng Loke – Professor at LaTrobe university specialising in computer science engineering.
Info: Bluetooth low energy technology uses beacons to track people’s movements using the bluetooth on their phone, working even when the phone’s bluetooth is turned off. The main uses for this kind of technology is advertising. Shops will have beacons places around their stores to track people and then send them location specific information, including specials, sales, ect. This technology is also used to influence the ads people see online, namely on their facebook feeds. This means that advertising is becoming more targeted and harder to avoid. Some people see this as a new and exciting technology, which allows them to see deals and ads that are more relevant to them, while also helping shops to sell more products. Others see it as an invasion of privacy and are strongly against stores introducing them.

Potential Questions:

  • What is Bluetooth Low Energy?
  • How long have you been researching Bluetooth beacons?
  • What are they currently used for?
  • How long have they been used for?
  • How do they work?
  • What are you/others currently working on?
  • What does he think about the impacts that this technology will have to everyday life? 

Jenna Angouragas’ idea:
Title:
AFL no longer a boys club
Aim: To discuss in depth the changing AFL landscape and how women’s involvement in this sport is doing that. Also why it is important for woman to get involved in what was once considered exclusively a male sport.
Interviewee: Jordyn Bethune, a team member of the first football team at SKOB Saints.
Info: Football for year has been predominantly a ‘boys sport’ with all of the major teams really only focusing on the male teams. However throughout the end of last year there was a major shift with many major teams creating or using already established female football teams and putting more focus on them. This lead to some of the first televised women’s AFL games broadcast on major network stations and sold out games played in major australian sporting arenas.This gained them the exposure which they had not received in  the past but also gained some major endorsements and sponsorships though some very influential companies This has inspired many young girls to start playing the sport and creating a discussion on the importance of giving both male and females equal sporting opportunities and exposure.

Potential Questions:

  • What are you thoughts on the media’s sudden interest and support in woman’s league AFL
  • What made you get involved with the sport
  • What are some of the challenges that still face women in AFL
  • In what ways do you think people’s attitudes to women playing AFL need to change
  • Is there any different rules when women play footy than to their male counterparts (eg. game time)
  • Why do you think there is a stigma around women playing AFL?
  • What were your thoughts on people’s reactions and thoughts to the televised and sold out AFL matches that occurred recently
  • How can you inspire the next generation to get involved in the sport
  • Has there been an increase in female football teams?
  • How can the general public support women’s AFL

MUSIC OPTIONS

INFO COUNTRY GENRE LINK
Two piece band
Artist: Earth TongueTitle: Portable Shrine
Album: Portable Shrine EP
Release date: 29th September 2016
NZ Witch rock https://soundcloud.com/user-594904990/portable-shrine
Four piece band
Artist: Dom KellyTitle: Shame
Release date: about June 2016
AUS Alternative rock https://soundcloud.com/dominic_kelly/shame
Artist: Run DMT since renamed to Salvia Plath

Title: Romantic
Album: Dreams

Release date: 22 October 2011

NZ Acid pop https://salviaplathband.bandcamp.com/track/romantic
Four/five piece
Artist: China Beach fka CL PleasureTitle: Jump On It!
Album: China Beach EP
Release date: 1st March 2017
AUS
(AU & NZ musicians)
Garage, guitar pop discobeat https://soundcloud.com/chinabeachmusic/jump-on-it
Two piece
Artist: Fortunes.Title: Focus
Album: forthcoming – Undress EP
Release date: 28th April 2017
AUS Alternative / electro hip-hop https://soundcloud.com/futureclassic/fortunes-focus

 

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Y3: S1: WK3: Fleshed-Out Interview Ideas & Running Sheets

Recently we’ve been working on our running sheet this week for our demo and have been working on deciding which interviews will be appropriate for our first Room With A View show on Triple R. As I have mentioned before, my ideas were more about people and their hobbies or skills. However, the others had more organisation-based interview ideas. I think a little mixture will be ideal though, so it works out. We’ll need to pitch our interview ideas to Elizabeth McCarthy from Triple R before we go ahead with our interviews (she’s one of the head-honcho Talks producers and we must be granted a special email detailing we can go forth with thy sacred ideas).

We’re going to each pitch an idea, so we’re all putting in the same amount of effort. I think I’ve decided to go with the Swordcraft interview, as I’m genuinely really interested in discovering what it’s all about (note my somewhat medieval ending to that last paragraph) and think listeners will find it fascinating too.

Next post will delve into the fleshed-out interview ideas we send!

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Y3: S1: WK2: The First Visit to Triple R

Soon after we arrived at Triple R (for the very first time as a class), our tutors, Bruce and Sam gave us all a sheet which had every member sorted into groups based on the radio knowledge we did or did not have. Just to assure we were mixed up a bit. Also to make sure friends weren’t lumped together… which I’m sure most of us (myself included) would automatically have done. Because even though we’re grown adults, sometimes we can’t help but revert to our primary school-esque mind-frame and we feel like we need a familiar pal or the world will absolutely end.

I have been grouped with four other lovely women, RoseJennaSammy and Olivia. I recognised Sammy from other classes in years one and two of our degrees and I’ve always seen her as a fun person, but we’ve never worked together before – so I suppose there was still a hint of familiarity for me. After a brief re-introduction to break the ice (because none of us could remember the names of anyone, classic) I found that they’re all really friendly and interesting. Which was a relief!

We had to discuss interview ideas which we had within our group and I think we all found that it was really good we all had quite differing ideas of interview topics. Mine were more about people and their social engagements or skills, the others had either specific characters who specialise in certain areas or ideas about interviewing people who are involved in social or technological changes. I won’t divulge in them all, as someone could sneak away with our ideas, also we’re not sure which interviews we’re going to focus on yet!

Once we’d grouped up, we got to explore the Triple R station headquarters and were shown the basics working with the panel board by Archie Cutherbertson! I must admit, the panel seemed really confusing and I don’t think that I’ve really come away remembering much of it. But, that just means I’ll need some hands-on practice – which we will definitely be getting in this studio I’m sure.

It was really great to see inside the Triple R station as I often go past it on my way to my mother’s house and was curious to see inside. It’s really exciting to be doing a radio class, rather than something film-based this semester. I’m glad I ended up in this studio.

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Y3: S1: WK1: Interview Ideas

After a few days of racking my brain and a fairly extensive stalk through my list of Facebook friends and posting a status to check if anyone out there would be an exciting soul interested in partaking in an interview with me for this class, I hit some grand ideas of who I could speak to! I’m quite keen to be conducting interviews with these characters as I’ve always really enjoyed finding out information about hobbies, jobs, collectables etc. which I don’t have a wealth of knowledge of/in. Such as when I interviewed a taxidermist for a short documentary in first year and got to be so up close and personal with these intricate and delicately crafted (dead, but re-assembled) creatures. It became something tangible for me, rather than seeing it in a museum and not being able to appreciate the detail. Discovering these new crafts etc. will open your mind and inspire different views about a realm of topics.

I work in a second-hand / vintage clothing and goods store in Brunswick and absolutely love it there. If you know anything about Sydney Road in Brunswick, you should be able to gather that the store would definitely have it’s quirks as well as it’s fair share of excessively outlandish, enthusiastic, eccentric and/or extroverted customers! Which is exactly what it has. There are several people who come into the store who I find really interesting and they’re great conversationalists. There’s a few people who collect certain objects and will always check for them. There’s several hoarders who buy up big. Then there’s also the cheeky shoppers who haggle an already cheap price, down and proceed to whip out a huge wad of cash, give you a 50 or 100 note for their $5 item… Ridiculous. Not so much the hagglers (that was just a rant because I can’t stand the cheek of it), but the hoarders and the collectors I would love to stop and plan an interview with them about what their lives are like, how they began what they do and why they do what they do. As well as the customers, the bosses there are also interesting subjects because they’ve been in the business for about 10 years and have seen it all!

A university friend who I met recently, alerted me to the fact that he’s involved in Swordcraft which is where people dress in medieval attire and (pretend) fight each other in Royal Park once a week. Here’s a little taster of what that’s like…

The closest thing to this I have ever involved myself in, is performing in Shakespeare plays in high school… and I’ve watched Lord of the Rings about… once? So you can get an idea of how far removed I am from the nature of this hobby. However, in saying that, it has not stopped me being wildly intrigued.

Talking to people who are internet / Instagram famous would be interesting and focus the interview on combatting keyboard warriors! I have a few friends in mind that are within that bracket. A friend said he’s really good at the kazoo, which would actually be rather entertaining (if he’s actually being serious). Another friend of mine taught himself how to throat sing. Another collects CDs, something which not many people seem to do anymore in this internet age. A friend’s father collects a number of collectable cards as well as has many records. Another collects rare currency and she claims some would be worth around $2k!

There are a few taboo-type subjects I’d be interested in exploring through interview, to help inform others. I have connections to people who work in the ‘CamGirl’ and ‘CamBoy’ industry… basically like sex work / online pornography but they get paid to stay by themselves in front of a camera for another person to view. I also know some people who are into graffiti / street art – to discuss the ideas someone has, who actually takes part in this form of expression could possibly open eyes of people who really don’t like it, but are looking from an outside perspective.

I have several other interview ideas, but these are a few for the minute, my discussion in our next class will contain the rest!

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Y3: S1: WK1: Introductory Class

Firstly, I’d like to express how thrilled I am to be back at uni (note: this is not sarcasm). My mind was not being exercised enough over my break, and I was beginning to feel like I was going a little bit crazy. I did begin working on an experimental film project with a few friends from my hometown (one who was visiting, and some who have moved here, but intends on moving here in the near future). It was good to get the ball rolling with this, we began brainstorming about a month back and actually managed to get around 2/3 of the proposed shoots done. In doing that, I felt like I was able to ease myself back into my media-mind again! Now here I am, back at RMIT for my final year and lunging into a studio focused on something other than film this time round, a studio all about radio!

Radio had been something I had veered away from while practicing media because I have always thought about how anxious I’d be on air! However, after being selected for this studio, and listening to radio more while at work and over the holidays I realised it would actually be really fun to get involved. As well as understanding the enjoyable aspect in hosting, today I also factored in how there were other roles in this Triple R based radio studio – such as producing! I want to attempt to get a feel of as many aspects in radio during this studio, that’s an ideal situation.

Knowing that this is not the first time that this studio has run and seeing our tutor, Bruce Berryman, is exuberant in nature, passionate about radio and has been in the industry for several years – all of these aspects combined have piled up to cause me to have… a BRILLIANT feeling about this class. I’m really excited and I’ve also had a few friends who have done the studio who came out of it really pleased with what they’d learnt and produced.

For next week’s class we’re required to come up with a few interview ideas for a demo tape we’d make with a group of around 5. We’ve been asked to think of some interesting subjects we may know and try to stray from bands, as they’re often interviewed on Triple R. We’ve got to mix it up some more and create content people will be keen to tune in to! I’m yet to brainstorm, but you’ll see a brainstorming post in the next few days!

CAPTURING CREATIVITY: Y2: S2: FINAL REFLECTION

Over the course of this semester I feel that I have picked up many new skills, and improved the ones which I had already gained from my previous classes during this degree. I learnt how to use the Sony X200 which I must say, was a lot easier to navigate than the Sony camera I used last semester. Perhaps I found it easier due to the fact that I had already been taught the ins and outs of using that Sony from last semester. Even though I didn’t use the Sony X200 for my artist profile, I was able to trial using it when we created our street art videos which was good hands-on experience, albeit, brief. I only ended up not using this camera due to the weight of it as I was already lugging a lot of heavy gear around with me to the shoots I conducted with Spencer Lai. Using the Canon 6D and Canon 5D MKII I found really easy and I’m really pleased with how the footage came out – aesthetically pleasing, crisp visuals.

I want to rewind to the first week of this course for a moment and recap on the goals which I set myself for this semester. I am extremely glad to, safely and proudly, say that I definitely achieved all three to some degree.

  1. Consider appropriate aesthetics when filmmaking and editing
    In my previous video works I have completed during this degree so far, I have mainly had a “using what’s there” attitude when filmmaking. However, this time around was different. When researching my artist, Spencer Lai, I noticed particular colour themes and a fashion-responsive aesthetic within their work. Once I first met Spencer I knew that I definitely both wanted to, and felt it necessary, to create something which rang true to their art. Where I would consider certain textures and colours to incorporate which were reflexive of the works involved. I ended up focusing on some of the clothes which Spencer wears and made a montage type sequence as well as capturing the detailings of some of these favourite clothes. I did this because the clothes Spencer wears are too, expressed within their work. I used a pink velvet backdrop which we hung in their living room for the interview. I chose pink because it correlates with the colours on Spencer’s website Initially, I had Spencer sitting on a big pink chair which was already at their house. After recognising that this interview footage was not what I wanted and knew I needed to add more in order to achieve this goal I had set, I re-shot with Spencer and put a lot more concentration on getting my ‘imagined aesthetic’ perfect – using the textured backdrop to make for a more captivating visual which flowed with the nature of Spencer’s work. I found this aspect was especially important as Spencer works from his bedroom with smaller pieces and then brings them into studios or other gallery spaces, so we didn’t have the option of a classic studio-backdrop.
  2. Gain better editing skills by spending time in the edit suites trialling Premiere Pro’s tools and effects etc.
    I cannot express how pleased I am to have taught myself more in the editing realm. This semester I decided to retire from editing on my small, slow laptop; which resulted in feeling much less frustrated while doing so. I had never compiled an entire film project in the suites before, but I am really happy that I did. The computers are so much bigger and it is so much easier to perfect finer details. I learnt about elements such as colour keying (creating interesting title overlays), fixing audio and colour adjustments.
  3. Get out of my comfort zone more in consideration of the entire filmmaking process (networking, researching through physical exploration / gallery visits, testing my technical abilities etc.)
    In this studio I have definitely taken a step out of my comfort zone. Asking random people off the street to be involved in vox-pops for our street art videos was the first push. I then had some serious troubles trying to meet with the initial artist I was assigned for our artist profile short documentaries. Extraordinarily last minute before the profile brief (#2) on him was due, he did not seem enthusiastic to be a part of the project so I had to cut my losses with trying to contact him. This was so disheartening for me and made it really difficult to consider having another artist assigned to me, where perhaps the same thing would happen again. Although I made it a goal to get out of my comfort zone, in this case I was very short on time and needed someone who was going to cooperate. I requested to seek another person independent from the assigned artist list which was granted, given my circumstances. My mother, an artist herself, was a very easy option to have made my video profile on. However, sticking true to aiming for this third goal, I instead requested she let me know if she knew any artists who would be willing to participate. Initially suggesting our family friend, I thought that would also be too inside my comfort zone. She then suggested someone she knew on a base-level whom I’d never met before, Spencer Lai. I looked them up, and loved their work so I decided to go with this. Even though there were closer ties to Spencer than there were with my initial artist, I still found myself really nervous as I lugged my gear over to their house for our first interview. Once we met, everything was easy. By the end of it all, I even feel like I’ve made a new friend to some degree, whose work is really interesting and inspiring. I definitely think I have managed to step out of my comfort zone, through many aspects, at some level which is so good! I feel more confident in my skills both networking and on the technical side of filmmaking.

    I also managed to do more physical research than I have usually done with projects. I made conscious efforts to get really involved this time around. I went to Healesville to see Spencer’s collaborative installation at TarraWarra Museum of Art, where I hadn’t been before. I also went to Fort Delta where Spencer is represented, this allowed me a better understanding of the way in which Spencer worked with the space in the show which they spoke about in the interviews. I’m pleased I managed to adventure to these places for research, I feel it made the entire process more interesting as well.


I have also learnt a lot about organisation, teamwork and collaboration. Although I didn’t manage to help with Fiona’s filming as I was busy when she organised to meet her artist, I was able to help with both Serena and Rob’s pieces. This was great as it made for interesting experiences seeing other artists’ work as well as meaning we got to work in a film crew fashion. The nature of both of these shoots meant for excursion and adventure too, which was refreshing and got us all out of our comfort zones. Helping others with their work meant that we could take the stress off the person conducting the interview which I think was massively appreciated by anyone who was helped in the class.

I feel like I really concentrated on getting my film to, visually, appear just as I imagined it to be; despite all the disheartening mess arounds with sourcing an artist and muck ups with my audio over the process. I’m not 100% happy with my final product, but I think that’s because I spent so much time solidly editing it, got tired of it and then time ran out and I had to submit it. I just always feel like my work is unfinished. Asides that minor issue, I consider this to be a project which I have been the most invested in during my degree so far and I’m sure I’ll look back on it in a few weeks time and be very proud of myself for what I’ve created! All in all, a successful and fun semester!

 

CAPTURING CREATIVITY: Y2: S2: WK12: FINAL CLASSES

MONDAY
10/10/2016

Today in class we had a competition to decide on the name for our website which will hold all of our Capturing Creativity class members’ short documentaries. We decided on ‘Exhibit A’ as it is simple. I was pretty set on ‘Art Swamp’, as was Louise, but alas – we were out numbered entirely. Our class spread into our two final groups to further discuss our aims for the social media or presentation tasks.

Initially Justin had these big plans for the presentation video, but he hasn’t been in class today and we haven’t been able to get in contact with him about it. I think all that the class really wants is to show snippets of their artist profiles at this stage, but if Justin chimes in any time soon then I’m willing to work with his ideas too. Right now I’m just sticking to the basics which everyone seems to be happy with.

WEDNESDAY
12/10/2016

Our final class was today, which seems bizarre. The year has gone so swiftly! Today was our final chance to team up with our group members for either presentation or social media. Justin was not in today’s class either so we figured we would continue to stick with the snippets of the artist profiles for the presentation video. As I am in the presentation group, I offered to help edit the video together as I’ve really gotten into a good routine of working in the edit suites and bettering my skills – so I feel I’ll be able to whip something up from the class’ work smoothly and efficiently. Many of the other group members are quite stressed about getting everything done. We all are really, but I feel like I can take the task on board as I am actually not too stressed at this point and I’ve been focusing a lot on having good time management with my work this semester. I feel like I have my work under control – let’s just hope that I don’t spend hours and hours nit-picking at my own artist profile and end up spending too much time on that, rather than dispersing my time and effort adequately into my other assessments I have at the moment as well.

The rest of the presentation group are going to focus on what will be said on the day. So they’ll be presenting and ending with the video which is made.

CAPTURING CREATIVITY: Y2: S2: WK11: EDITS AND BIRTHDAY ADVENTURES

MONDAY
3/10/2016

Today our class have been in the edit suites at uni, which is really good as it is crunch time with sorting out our footage and attempting to create our narrative for the final short documentary. I am really getting into the editing process and have been spending a lot of time in the edit suites this semester which is really good, considering I made it a goal at the beginning of the semester to better my skills in this department.

Louise’s friend from the media industry, Jenny, came in again today to give us feedback on our rough-cuts. I haven’t really got much of a rough-cut yet though. I’ve been focusing on getting my visual and audio synced and creating the introduction for the video. I think I’m just a little behind due to the mess around with my initial artist and having to switch at late notice. Jenny at least said that the intro I had made worked really well which was great. She also likes the aesthetic I created for the piece, as did Louise.

WEDNESDAY
5/10/2016

Today I have celebrated my 23rd birthday so I decided I would do something more adventurous than sticking to my uni timetable routine. Myself, Rob and our friend, James all went to TarraWarra museum of art where Spencer has a collaborative installation piece exhibited currently. I was able to take video footage (on the Canon 6D) of the work for my documentary which is great! I had never been to TarraWarra before, but I am so glad I went. Not only to see Spencer’s work, but to also see Healesville and the amazing scenery around the museum.

Louise has also emailed all of us today informing everyone of the final-leg group we will be in for this studio, between ‘social media’ and ‘presentation and video’. I have been selected to be part of the presentation day and video group. This is great, because I love getting sneak-peeks of people’s work as well as editing them together into a collaboration. I had a lot of fun with another student in semester 2 of year 1 editing our class footage together for an exhibition we held.

 

CAPTURING CREATIVITY: Y2: S2: WK10: RESEARCH EXCURSIONS

MONDAY
26/9/2016

Today was an extremely busy day! Had an early start, straight to uni in the morning to finish off the final touches on my street art video. The street art video really shouldn’t have taken this long, but the footage wouldn’t sync to Premiere Pro on my laptop so that meant I had to do it all at uni in the edit suites. Fortunately, the Premiere Pro we have at uni is really responsive and I don’t get frustrated with it, like I do with my version. So, I finally compiled the footage I wanted to use and I will make some time to run down to the edit suites and export everything tomorrow or Wednesday when I come in for my next classes. Lucky for me, Louise understands how stressful all of the other happenings and mess-arounds with my artist documentary process have been, so she has given me a little more time. Very simple task, but meant that it was lower on my list of priorities.

Once I finished off in the edit suites, I went to class to present my information on my artist,  Spencer Lai. I feel it went really well and that the class could definitely see the kind of vibe I would be aiming for within my work – playful, vibrant and (possibly) experimental. In my presentation, I explained to the class that I have two other subjects who I would be interested in filming to talk about Spencer’s work. A friend of his, Jake Swinson, who he works in collaboration with under the hood Monica’s Gallery. As well as him; photographer/stylist, Rose Ng, who has done a photoshoot with Spencer and is actually a friend of mine from a studio which I took part in, in Year 1 | Semester 2 of last year called ‘Specific to Site’ (with Robbie Rowlands). I was hoping that one of them would be available at least, but Jake is unfortunately working full-time and very soon will be moving to America! Rose is currently extremely busy with uni and photography projects – as well as travelling to different cities/countries for them. It would be really good to have them as part of the documentary to give it that little bit extra, but the actual video is not very long anyway.

An afterthought also; getting in touch with Spencer’s best friend and fashion designer, Jessie Kiely, would be amazing as they worked together for a piece in the exhibition showing currently at TarraWarra museum – Spencer has discussed this in the shoot today. However, I may have left this too late to arrange.

During the interview there were a lot of annoyances in terms of the audio recording. I changed the batteries about 3 times and every time the recorder still died on me! I didn’t even think to plug it in at the wall… that would have worked. But I was also in a spot which didn’t have a plug nearby. Thankfully this was toward the end of the interview section and I had collected almost all of the information I needed, bar one segment on Spencer’s recent work at Fort Delta.

When I got to the tech office to load my footage on to the server I was shocked to see that the Zoom read ‘no data’ on its screen… this gave me a minor heart attack to say the least. Turned out that there was still footage on the SD card and that was some kind of malfunction. However, my audio was cut off toward the end! So upsetting.

EDIT: THE AUDIO WAS ALL THERE! I FORGOT THAT I HAD CUT IT OFF AT THAT PARTICULAR POINT! YAY!

WEDNESDAY
28/9/2016

Today I could not make it to class as I had a job interview in the morning. However, once I had completed my interview, I went to the Abbotsford convent to check out Robbie Rowlands’ exhibit for the Fringe Furniture Festival. I went to have a look at this exhibition because on Friday, Rob is filming an interview with him for his documentary. I figured it would be a good idea to see his current work as I am going to be helping with the filming process on Friday. Robbie Rowlands is both an artist, and tutored Rob and I in semester 2 of last year. I loved that class and therefore, I am very interested in seeing his artwork as well as helping out on Rob’s documentary. Unfortunately, neither Serena or Fiona can make the shoot on Friday as we will be filming all day in Ballarat, looking at an old house which Robbie has been asked to create an installation piece in.

Once I had finished exploring the artworks which the convent had to offer, I journeyed to the edit suites to put final touches on my street art video component of brief #3 and export and upload it accordingly. It’s definitely not my best work and was very rushed as I have been prioritising more pressing tasks which uni has been demanding. After finishing up on my street art video, I managed to begin editing my documentary footage of Spencer Lai. Finally! I’ve decided it’s a lot easier for me if I use the edit suites at uni rather than putting myself through so much pain and suffering using my slow laptop in an attempt to create a satisfying end product. Just not worth the frustration of trying so hard to get the cuts perfect and failing miserably because of the lag.

FRIDAY
30/9/2016

Today Rob, Robbie (his artist) and myself went on an adventure to Ballarat to film for Rob’s documentary. We did this because Robbie has a site out there which he will be working in as it will be renovated/demolished. Once we got to the house, we explored it and found an space near the venetian blinds to interview Robbie. This stylistic choice worked really well with his artistic aesthetic of making a series of parallel cuts into objects, moving and reshaping them into another form. The light shone through the blinds and casted lovely lines of light across his face. It’s not a traditional aesthetic, but it looked really nice in my opinion.

When Rob and I had gotten the camera positioning and lighting correct, we got Robbie to sit in the space we had made. I talked Rob through the Zoom settings he needed for the interview, as I had gained a bit of experience with them after my previous disasters with them! Got to be really careful with sound. Definitely learnt that the hard way!

Robbie’s work is mainly site responsive work and after we had interviewed him, packed up and began heading home, we stopped by a big abandoned TAFE building and decided to explore it. The waterlogged building held many smashed windows, graffiti, rubbish and broken features. It was actually a little bit scary being in there, particularly when I lost the others occasionally after getting lost in my own exploration. Leaving that site, we went to an abandoned heritage house. This was really beautiful. It actually reminded me a lot of the house I lived in for the first 12 or so years of my life – obviously a much older and deteriorating version, but similar features. The hessian we could see under the peeling wallpaper layers were nostalgic, as were the fireplaces in all of the bedrooms.

Made for a long, but fun day of travelling, exploring and filming (9am – 6pm) for Rob’s documentary!

Here’s this week’s update:

CAPTURING CREATIVITY: Y2: S2: WK9: HELPING CREW

MONDAY
19/9/2016

Today, instead of attending our usual class; Rob, Fiona and I helped Serena on her first documentary shoot with her artist, Megan Evans.

The shoot took place (mainly) in her studio at her beautiful home in Werribee and it went really smoothly – despite Serena having forgotten to book out a Zoom recorder and us only realising just as we got there! We solved that problem by recording the interview on Rob’s iPhone 6 plus which actually came out with decent audio. Hopefully it doesn’t pick up too much background noise and it can be used for the documentary – we haven’t managed to check the whole recording yet.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that we work well as a team! We used two DSLRs to film (mine and Rob’s) and one light facing Evans, as well as the back lit by the window she was sitting by. The lighting wasn’t exactly the way we’ve been learning to make it in class, but I think it looked really lovely in a way that it “matched the vibe” of her artwork. Was vibrant, yet had some kind of dark undertone. For the shoot; Serena was interviewing, Rob was recording from his camera on a tripod and I was capturing handheld shots from my camera. Fiona helped with the light and camera set ups and stood by for assistance when we needed it. Very pleased that we make such a well-rounded team and seem to be teaching each other a lot as we work together.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to Fiona’s first shoot with her artist at 5pm on Wednesday in Caulfield, as I have a photoshoot at 4:30pm in Coburg. It’s a shame, because I’m finding that getting to know about these new artists is really inspiring and shows product of creative minds which were otherwise unseen by me until filming for this studio.