The key learning we did in this week’s workshop was inclusive of recapping the past three weeks of content (three-act-structures, five-act-structures) before moving on to discussing short-form cinema, and the evolving position of short and episodic film/video content in today’s media landscape.

The main conceptual elements of short-form cinema we discussed were how online platforms have lowered the bar, in terms of entry level/ability of producing and distributing media, as it’s developed has allowed for platforms (for example Youtube), that give budding media-makers the opportunity to display their work. The other main conceptual element we discussed was how making a short film allows the filmmaker to dive into a subject or story cinematically without investing a lot of time and energy into the project – with room to expand it later, giving filmmakers the opportunity to tell a compelling story in a short amount of time.

The main media making elements I experienced and completed this week are in relation to my own short film. I spent this week consulting with Cat, and discussing different ways to fine-tune my work – as well as applying all the practical media making elements that we have discussed in the tutorials, such as video effects, audio effects and colour correction within the Adobe Premiere Pro editing programme.

In this week’s workshop, the key learning we did was exploring pre-production tips, as well as production tips and post-production tips. Pre-production tips was inclusive of scriptwriting, storyboarding, shot-listing; Production tips were inclusive of composition tips, technical camera tips, lighting tips; and Post-Production tips were inclusive of brief Adobe program walkthroughs, covering colour correction, placement on the timeline etc.

The main conceptual elements of this studio that I learnt was definitely the expansion of the three-act structure model, while we were discussing Pre-production. I wasn’t aware, yet, that it was able to be expanded up to a five-act-structure, being:

• STRONG STORYLINE / STORYTELLING
• CONFLICT
• HOOK – HIGH CONCEPT IDEA
• GOAL & THEN;
• RESOLUTION

This is something that will assist me in future productions, as I personally feel these models help me with the scriptwriting/storyboarding process. I find it’s easier to write a script if I have a step-by-step guide of sorts.

While there were a lot of main media making elements that I have already experienced and covered in previous classes at RMIT, TAFE and High School; I found that there was a deeper explanation of colour correction on Adobe Premiere Pro, then what I have had before, learning about the LUT colouring system on the program. We went through video tutorials, as well as had Cat share screens with us walk us through this method of colour correction, step by step. This made it easier for me to digest the information, leaving me with a better understanding of colour correction than I had before. This means I will be able to take these media making element tips, from this workshop, and apply it to all future productions, both personal and professional.

This week in Screen Lab, we were introduced to our Studio Teacher, Cat Lew – who spent the first class with us breaking down the course and what is expected of us over the next semester. Our second class of the week we continued to discuss our assignment coming up as well as had a guest speaker from ACMI – Videographer Field Carr. Carr gave us an overview of ACMI, as well as discussed the exhibition we will be apart of with our video contributions at the end of the semester.

Some key learning we did this week in the studio in terms of conceptual elements was the covering of the elements of film form (i.e. Literary Design (Story ideas/script), Visual Design (What we see in the frame), Performance, Blocking, Cinematography (Choices made for the camera), Editing and Sound Design) as well as the idea of the Three-Act-Structure; which is a model used in narrative fiction that divides the story into three parts or acts (Open/Set-Up, Conflict, Resolution).

The main media making elements I experienced and completed in the studio this week was beginning pre-production for Assignment One, where we began to brainstorm ideas for our short directors cut film, using softwares such as CELTX and Storyboarder.