Joan of Arts Seminar Week!

During the week of and leading up to our seminar, I was posting videos and images to Instagram and three separate Facebook pages (RMIT Adventure page, Joan of Arts page, seminar page). Other than just posting videos/photos I carefully composed captions and tags for each post.

Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 7.37.26 pm

 

An example of one of my FB posts.Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 7.45.49 pmStarting from the most recent, the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th posts in these screengrabs of the Instagram were posted by me. 
Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 7.33.04 pm
On the day of the seminar I helped to set up by getting equipment from Building 9 and transporting it with Sarah and Maree to the seminar room in Building 80. There I helped to set up, specifically by getting the cameras working, getting tripods and stands for lighting/audio stuff up and running, carrying things, pinning black fabric to the chairs, finding people and making phone calls to find people. Here’s a pic of me when we were getting the seminar room ready:

Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 7.49.24 pm

 

During the seminar I took photos and videos of our speakers and audience. After the seminar I helped to pack down everything, by carrying a blue chair and pot plant at once to Building 5, the lift wasn’t working so we had to carry them up the stairs, putting the seminar photo and video data onto a computer, taking down and packing equipment, doing a check to ensure everything was there, doing a quick rubbish check and eating left over cookies.

A day after the seminar I made a final post to the Instagram.

Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 8.01.25 pm

And I will be helping with the editing of photos and videos in the week after the seminar.

Women in Media, what’s new this week (5)

As I am in the video group, along with Sarah and Matt and our group leader Mollie, we have come up with the concept for our promotional video and have set up a time and roles for the day. As I am a videographer in my work outside of uni, I will be DoP for the film, and I’ll also be bringing in a camera, tripod and recording equipment for the day. We’ve planned the structure of the film and decided that as our MC, Prani will star in it. We will shoot the film on the Friday of week 6, and Sarah and I will edit the film. I have also contributed to the social media page, where we are discussing content. This week has mostly been contributing ideas for discussion and making decisions with the group, but with the video and with social media, the two aspects of promotion that I will be helping with, we have had a productive week.

Women in Media, Week 5

This week I contributed by:

  • Suggesting that we divide our to-do list into sections and a group to each one

We were getting dogged down in the decision making process as it was so hard for everyone to meet regularly to discuss our option and the Facebook page often left people out. I suggested this move so that the different groups could make proposals to the whole group, to be approved, to get things moving a bit quicker as we have only three weeks to go.

  • Signed up to be a part of the social media group

The social media group will be in charge of the Facebook and Twitter pages, and Instagram content. We are currently doing research to find information on our guests that we can use to promote the event and have started throwing out ideas for content so that we can get those pages started straight away.

  • Volunteered to be in the video group with one other person

As a videographer with professional equipment it makes sense for me to volunteer for this position, where along with Sarah we will be in charge of creating the vide promo, intro to the seminar (if the group decides we need one) and recording the seminar.

  • Began brainstorming for the video promo

Women in Media (Week 4)

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the meeting this week as I was sick with the flu that everyone has been coming down with. However, I continued to discuss with our group members and our team leader via the Facebook group and volunteered for the role of managing the Facebook page, as well as contributing ideas for publicity content of the Instagram.

I created a mock up image based on our discussions as a temporary profile image for the Instagram and Facebook while we wait for the proper logo and background images to be designed:

Square for instagram etc Square for instagram etc2

 

Women in Media, Week 3

I attended the group meeting this week and we voted on three definite speakers who we would contact and a back up speaker if one was not able to attend. We also discussed poster design and the over all aesthetic of our seminar publicity. We’ve decided to have a Facebook and an Instagram, as well as physical posters, to advertise the event.

We got dogged down in the speakers and the aesthetic a bit too much and didn’t have much time to discuss anything else in the meeting. However, on Facebook we have mentioned the other things that we need to discuss very soon:

– Actual design of the poster

– Video promo

– Stage design

– Format of the event

– MC

– Catering

Women in Media, Week 2 (The first week)

Well, I’ve chosen to become a part of a group, and our topic, women in the media industry, is something that I’m very interested in and something that is obviously very relevant to me as a woman going into the media industry.

Our group has created a Facebook page and people are proposing names for potential speakers. I proposed Jannine Barnes, Producer of the Australian feature film, Downriver, who over saw my internship. I’ve also supported the proposals of other people in my group and made suggestions as to which speakers would be most relevant to our topic.

At the moment that’s about all that is happening. When we meet we will discuss more about the other things that need to be done.

How it all worked out.

Ah fuck. Well those first and last paragraphs are depressing. Here’s what I wanted out of this semester:

I’d like to come out of the course with a polished, semi-professional looking creative film piece that would improve my portfolio. I’d like to learn how to collaborate with other people well, I think this definitely could have been improved last semester in Broadcast.

I want to be able to talk about film, and understand what makes films good or bad, critically. I want to better understand my taste in other people’s work and to better understand my own style in my own work. I’d also like to improve my technical skills with Premiere and camera handling.

More than anything I’d like to do my best work. As in, to the best of my potential. I let lots of little things slide all the time, things that I know could be improved, out of laziness, or not wanting to say anything, and I want to stop doing it and start producing my best work.

So, didn’t come out of the course with a polished creative film piece. Didn’t collaborate well and if anything my enthusiasm for working in a team sunk even further. I did learn a lot from the experience though. I learned that I need to voice my opinions early on, before it’s too late.

I also learned that even morons (not saying any people that I worked with were morons) have something to offer to a creative project. I can definitely see that working in a team is a much better way to do things, not only because there are more hands on deck but because there are multiple minds working on one project and different people create in different ways. You can take the best of everyone’s ideas and collaborate to make something better than any thing that one person might have thought up on their own, even if that person was a genius. Our group didn’t manage that unfortunately, but I can see how important it is to seek out and be open to different ideas and perspectives. Even just talking to other people about an idea is really beneficial. Other people can see what you can’t, and have ideas that you won’t have that might work better than your own.

I do think that I’m better at talking about film, and I notice cuts and choreography and lighting etc much more than I used to now that I know how  they are created. I now find films more inspiring, because I notice different elements and how those pieces contribute to the whole thing. It’s awesome to know how much effort goes into producing a piece of film, but also how achievable it all is.

Another important lesson was the importance of the story. As film makers learning to use equipment I guess a lot of our focus went into being technically good. Mostly, getting great shots. But when it came to post production and the first screening in class, it was easy to see that the story is the most important. If the story is great, and the footage tells the story well, it’s a great film. A well shot film with no story, or a story that you can’t follow, is a good-looking, shit film. Kind of like an attractive guy with a shit personality, who is terrible in bed. Someone is going to like him, but that person is going to be incredibly boring and probably not very smart.

My skills with the camera and with Premiere were definitely improved, a lot. Ta.

With that last paragraph I really failed myself though. I feel like I really should have just said, ‘nah, let’s not go with that script’, or, ‘I know it’s a pain in the ass to have to do auditions but let’s just do it anyway’, or, ‘for fuck’s sakes it’s only one fucking night let’s just do the movie night thing,’ or, ‘please don’t bring your shitty DSLR’.  If I had have I think things would have gone a lot better. It was laziness and it was being too nervous to speak up, just as I predicted at the start of the semester. And because of it I didn’t do my best work, just like I predicted at the start of the semester.

But all in all, it was worth it and an absolute pleasure, most of the time.

Film and TV 1 Reviews

The Chase

Extremely well shot, loved the colour grading, sound, actors and range of shots and choreography of actors was all really well done. The tension was built really well but the story lacked. It ended before anything had happened. Also I feel like the decisions that the girl made in that situation were unrealistic. I highly doubt many young women would run into a secluded alley if they felt they were being followed. It would have been more powerful if it was shot at night, and then that might have made more sense. I liked the suspense, but I think the ending would have been better with closure. It felt like the entire thing was leading up to something big, and then it just ended. Really well shot and cut together though. This team worked really well with moving shots, angles and perspective.

 

Budgerigar

Budgerigar was really funny. I liked it. The colours were fantastic and the way that tension was built and the fast cuts were used was fantastic. I particularly loved the brave use of dramatic lighting, it came out really well and wasn’t unnecessary or showy, it just fit the scene. Didn’t like the twist of him being in love with the brother that was like himself.

 

Sliced

Cutting the scene with the girlfriend was a really good decision. I loved the symmetry of your shots. It was really well shot. The script could have used some tightening on the details, and some tiny improvements, but so could most films. It was really good, it was genuinely funny, the story was clear and well told, the shots in the supermarket (despite the unfortunate placement of the bread haha) and the dramatic outdoor shot of him taking the bread out of a baggie were superb. I do think ‘White Bread’ was a better title though, kinda emulates ‘White Powder’.

 

Shelter

I liked it, but the story was a little cliché, and seemed more like a small scene from a feature film rather than a short film, that wasn’t really an issue I’m just not sure if that was the intent.  I thought it was well shot and the space was used really well. The sliding door thing was really cool, and the use of light was great, whether done in post or during the shoot. I didn’t get the vacuum nozzle gun and the calculator wall thing though. The film didn’t seem like a comedy so to have those rather novel props in there was just confusing rather than humorous. It detracted from the storyline, distracted the viewers and killed the tone of the piece a little.

 

Milk

I really loved Milk. It was relatable and funny. It had a shaky start though, that first scene didn’t really flow well. The cuts of the second housemate were a little confusing; something didn’t fit together well there. However, from the moment that the non-empathetic-pickle-eating-housemate says there is no milk, the piece flows. Some of those moving shots are insanely good, but one was a little too shaky. That one shot might have been better with a stationary camera. The ending was great though and loved the “ethnic kid stole my scooter” thing. I love comedy that picks on racism itself and how stupid it sounds rather than any particular race or person. The story was perfect for a five minute short. The film was built up really well and there’s nothing like an ironic ending. I can’t really remember that well but I think the audio could have used a little fine tuning.

 

On directing

I couldn’t make it to the lecture on directing so I discussed it with Arthur outside of class.

He explained that the directors’ specific role on the day of the shoot is to get the actors in the right frame of mind. I thought this was interesting because honestly in the past I had assumed it was solely the actors’ responsibility to be in the right frame of mind and create a convincing performance. The fact that the director is more responsible for this is surprising but makes sense. I’m not sure if that’s the right role for me but some ideas I had for getting people in character would be to create inspiration or mood boards, with media and pictures and words that suited the character that the actor is trying to portray.

Arthur also said the director was responsible for making sure the scenes were done in order of priority so that the most important scenes were completed first. This was something I tried to put into practice when we were filming our project and it is harder than it sounds with practicality of locations and the logic of the orders getting in the way as well.