As RMIT Media students are seemingly unable to take advantage of the ‘flexible studios’ in building 9, I will have to produce my final M5 short film somewhere else.
Due to the cinematic viciousness of certain sequences of my piece, it demands an isolated studio where people in the near vicinity have an understanding that this is just staged action. By extension, it is also important that I have a controlled audio space sans residual noise.
I’ve been ruminating on the shoot location for ages;
- if it were to be at my unit, it would give neighbours the impression that there is a domestic disturbance
- if I were to take the shoot out of Melbourne, the talent would be less likely to commit as it is unpaid for them
- If I were to use a rehearsal studio such as Bakehouse Richmond, I would run the risk of having a metal band whitewash my audio from adjacent studios
- if it were in the uni… well, I would again be competing with noise and naff architecture
- And most other shoot location ideas just don’t compliment my world.
I wrestled with this idea of approaching Docklands Studios to see if they had any spaces that were vacant which I could perhaps use for my own project.
I shot them an email to which they addressed with a phone call the following day. They asked me typical questions like when we were looking to shoot, and for how long. Those could easily be answered though the question on Public Liability stumped me.
My application will need to be passed by their CEO, they will have to justify my minuscule budget and they will then have to check on the studio’s availability but all up, I got the sense that this is a real possibility.
I would be so excited to shoot in such a colossal space! It would put me through my paces as a producer and allow me to experience my own work on a busy international stage.
Whether it happens or not, I will always be reminded of the studio’s benevolent ethos… that they have not declared that they are too big for the budding artists of this state. I should hope that this attitude reflects the broader industry.
Time will tell.