Welcome to Xiaochen’s Online Portfolio Page!

Xiaochen Zhang|316 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000|0447252308|zxcdotwo@gmail.com

Welcome to Xiaochen Zhang’s page of online profolio. Here you can find my CV and relevant working experience as a media graduate, as well as a portfolio of some of my previous works.

My major is Communication media, specifically about film and TV production. I’m especially interested in pre-production, post-production and also graphics. You can see my relevant works below

CV and Cover Letter

Including a cover letter and professional resume.

Editing and Shooting

Including various works such as creative videos, studio exercise and works done for interns

Live-streaming Talk Show Program

A two-episode live talk show which was done with my brilliant teammates

 Graphics Design

Including motion and still graphics design for different programs

Thanks so much for your time and considerations! I will keep updating this page if I have anything new to show.

Cheers!

Xiaochen’s graphic designs

 

 

 

The motion graphics above are examples of my graphic works which were created for assignments, studios and internships. All of them are create by After Effects (AE) and I still keep learning and practicing my AE skills as a important part of my post-production knowledge.

Xiaochen’s live show program

The two episodes above are from a non-profit, student-organized live program by It’s Alive Studio in RMIT. This is a fantastic program and we managed to broadcast it on Livesteam and received thousands of views in total. I was working as camera operator in episode one and graphics (subtitles, graphics at the bottom and the rolling credits at the end) in episode two. It is different from all the previous works I have done since it was all live and we must be very careful with the right time of showing up right things and coordinating different groups. In sum, I have learnt lots of valuable experience with the amazing crew!

Xiaochen’s editing and shooting works

This is a short  documentary of Melbourne local food that I created during my media study in RMIT with my teammates as credited at the end. I was responsible for part of shooting and as well as editing in this show.

 

This is a short radio program about the freegan culture in Melbourne and I was responsible for recording and editing the footage. In order to offer a better understanding on freegan culture, we invited a girl doing freegan in the city of Melbourne and did a short interview with her.

 

This is a creative short video I create for Shots VS Cuts studio in RMIT. It is quite experimental, and the purpose is to examine the power of parallel editing as a film technique on manipulate time.

 

This is a short exercise of using color grading. I used the footage from the previous short video project and aimed to practice my post-production skills.

Xiaochen’s cover letter

Dear Manager:

 

As a final year media student in RMIT, I’m very interested in making various media products on multiple media platforms. As a student will graduate in November this year, I’m glad to introduce myself to you and a detailed resume and show reel link are also provided with this letter.

 

I am currently studying bachelor of communication (media) degree in RMIT and will graduate in this year. Before that I was studying in Australian National University as arts student until transferred in 2013, in order to focus on my favorite media studies. I have strong interest on multiple media platforms like TV, films, and online video. It is always my goal to work in media industry as a media worker after graduation.

 

I have recent experience of working with my teammates to successfully broadcast the first RMIT live show ‘Rock Bottom’ on the Livestream. In that show, I worked as both camera operator and graphics. Besides, I also have post-production skills of using Adobe series (PR, AE) to create motion and still graphics, animations and do post-production works like editing and special effects for films, TVs and short videos. Few sounds montage, short videos and motion graphics have been made by myself for school and another studio. You can see some of them through the attached show reel link. Now I’m also working on a documentary about Chinese students studying VCE program and their experience of living in Australia. In that program I have worked with StudySuccess© studio as camera operator, producer and likely to be the editor as well in latter this year. There are more details about my personal experience as media worker in my CV.

 

Film, TV and video production are always attractive for me. Now I wish to develop my professional skills and gain real experience from the industry. It will be a great honor for me to work with those skilled and passionate people.

 

Please contact me anytime if you have any questions or require an interview.

 

Thanks for your time and consideration

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Xiaochen Zhang

Xiaochen’s CV

XIAOCHEN ZHANG

||Phone number: +61447252308||

||Address: 316 La Trobe St, 3000||Email: zxcdotwo@gmail.com||

 

 

Objective: To further practice and develop my professional skills. Gain valuable experience from the media industry.

 

 

Education history:

2010 – 2012: Luoyang No.1 Senior High School (China)

High School Certificate(Overall:80+)

2012 – 2013: Australian National University College

Foundation program, majored in Arts(Distinction)

2014 – Current (2016.11.11): RMIT University

Bachelor of Communication (Media)

 

 

Relevant Skills:

Team work

  • Effective communication
  • Problem solving
  • Creative passion

Postproduction

  • Adobe Premiere CS6 or CC
  • Adobe After Effects CS6 or CC
  • Adobe Audition CC
  • Inscribe TitleOne

Video shooting and sound recording

  • Zoom H2, H3 sound recorder
  • Panasonic AG-HMC41E
  • JVC Pro HD
  • Sony NEX-5N
  • Sony EX-3

Language

  • English
  • Chinese Mandarin (first language)

 

 

Relevant Experience:

  • Worked as a volunteer in the Torch Relay of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
  • Worked as graphic designer and animator in ProductWise© in 2015.
  • Worked as camera operator and graphics in the ‘Rock Bottom’ of the RMIT ‘It’s Alive’ program, which is the first live project created by RMIT students on Livestream in 2015.
  • Short film projects completed for RMIT Media Studios from 2014 to 2016.
  • Logos and graphics designs for RMIT University and Whats Up Aus studio in 2015.
  • Working as camera operator and producer in StudySuccess© in a documentary series about VCE program in Australia and China (international education) from 2015 to now.

 

 

Achievements and rewards

  • Rewarded as Merit Student during high school.
  • Graduated from high school with six Grade A (Totally nine subjects and A is the highest grade).
  • Graduated from ANUC with a 75 (Distinction) average.

 

 

Interests:

  • Creative writing
  • storyboard drawing
  • live programs
  • E-sport
  • Filmmaking and documentaries

 

 

Show reel:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7nUFjLDFKt5g_RoQNucZM9ZqGg4GKTWm

reading log week 6

The reading of this week basically introduces the five minds, which are: Disciplined Mind, Creative Mind, Respectful Mind, Ethical Mind and Synthesizing Mind. These are, according to the author, very helpful and essential minds that we should have in order to improve our working efficiency especially in the future.

Synthesizing Mind is considered important in 21st century, as the ability to “survey a wide range of sources; decide what is important and worth paying attention to; and then put this information together in ways that make sense to oneself and, ultimately, to other persons as well” (pp.13). Respectful minds basically means welcome different and diverse ideas and show respect and trust to other people. The ethical mind requires people act strictly according to their ethical values and even when “such behaviors clash with self-interest” (pp.21) which seems quiet hard to do. The other two, Disciplined Mind and  Creative Mind, are usually easily understandable according to their literature meanings.  It is equally important to have discipline and at the same time not forget about creativity.

These minds are usually seen in our working places. For media industry, creative, respectful and ethical are more obvious due to its nature. To be creative on works, to be respectful for others and most importantly, if you are a journalist or writer or even filmmaker who have the power and bigger voice to speak to the public, to be ethical.

reading log 5

Judy Wajcman, 2015, ‘Finding Time in a Digital Age’ in Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism, ch.7.

This chapter introduces the concept of saving time in digital age. The author tries to explain the idea of how to effectively manage limited time from daily works and make them more flexible for people. She also emphasizes the machines takes up most of our time should have been, however, liberating more time for us through the improvement of productivity. Therefore, finding time in digital age can also be considered how to deal the machines which we have to face every day effectively.
There are lots of things we can learn in terms of managing time effectively. Media works usually require people to have certain level of flexibility of working time because of the nature of this industry. It can be a very busy month of shooting and editing, and then after it you are suddenly released from the heavy works. The irregular timetable requires us to have the ability mentioned in the chapter, which will be eventually useful when our careers reach a certain level.

Week four reading log

Cal Newport, 2012, ‘The Clarity of the Craftsman’ in So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work, NY Business Plus, ch.4.

In the Chapter four, the author introduces the concept of craftsmen mindset and its opposite passion mindset through telling the story of Jordon Tice. It is basically a guide for people to find their suitable jobs and improve their chance to be employed.

Personally, I’m most interested in the concept of craftsmen mindset. I think this idea is what the filmmakers and people doing any other creative arts need to develop. A craftsman always persuades the best quality of his work, no longer how much efforts it will cost and how long it will be done. Through focusing on details, the skills of the creator can also be improved and as well as his patience.  Just as the title suggests, be so good they can’t ignore you. When you have a portfolio including your most polished and careful works, you are not easily got ignored in an interview for employment. When you have proven that on a same topic your work is always exquisite, you are not easily got ignored as a craftsman.

Reading log week 3

Ramon Lobato and Julian Thomas, 2015, ‘Work’ in The Informal Media Economy,Polity Press, Cambridge UK, ch.3.

In this chapter, the author tries to explore the work situation nowadays in media industry. According to him, there are formal and informal media, and people who are doing these two work models have significantly different work experiences. Even though the informal work always refers to low payment, exploitation and bottom of the food chain, but there are also good things compared with those formal ones: more flexible and leisured. However, for those most in-demand elites, the boundary between the formal and informal is becoming blurred: they have creative positions which are crucial, and at the same time also pursue the flexible and less routinized work style to make life more enjoyable.

Referring to myself, it is worth discussing which way I will go after graduation. As I know, media graduates in Australia may start doing freelance and other kinds of informal works and this is common here. But if go back to China, there are less freelance opportunities for graduates. Most of them will go to local TV station or film studio which offer them a very busy life but not relatively high salary. It is a kind of tradition in China that the most capable person should do the most works. As the article indicates, the creative jobs are still growing overall and those creative workers are better educated, and thus have more options (pp.78). The options here in Australia seems allow them to choose which work model they prefer, but as I know in developing country like China, it is a matter of salary, which means they will be better paid for their creativity, but still the timetable is usually fixed since the companies want to see progress every day to ensure profits.