Questions we’ve asked

  • How do we make documentary that is both political and poetic?
  • What happens when things in the world, not us, is made a cause and the centre of telling stories?
  • Using a diverse range of media forms in what ways can the history and uniqueness of specific places and spaces be most affectively represented?
  • What does live media offer as an experience that sets it apart from other media content and, from a production point of view, what are the creative possibilities and challenges involved with live media production?
  • How can video, computers and the network be used to redefine online video practices?
  • How does radio change across multiple platforms in a period of media divergence?
  • How can we re-think the idea of camera coverage and the construction of a scene?
  • Story is no longer a single-platform, linear phenomenon. Does a change within a medium – or a switch to multiple media – necessitate a change in the story itself?
  • What is the significance of character within/for narrative?
  • How can we find new ways to make films, by considering the methodological differences and similarities between documentary and drama?
  • What are the challenges and creative possibilities in communicating complex ideas, scientific processes or philosophical concepts to television/video audiences?
  • How can design methodologies be used to produce an interactive online documentary?
  • How can the affordances of the cinematic frame — meaning both a singular fragment of time, and the composing of elements before the lens — expand our thinking around what film is and what it can achieve?
  • What is your practice- based contribution to radio’s ‘New Wave’, a term encompassing a broad range of approaches to the “use of sound to tell true stories artfully?”
  • How might we use media to investigate the everyday meanings, identity and functions of urban (non-)places?
  • How might the academic study of film be reinvigorated through the adaptation of popular practices such as the remix and the supercut?
  • What is lost and found if we disassemble the conventional relationship between screenwriting and filmmaking?
  • How can tomorrow’s directors take advantage of new possibilities in digital technologies and the online space to deliver top quality productions to audiences?
  • How do documentarians create meaningful stories from the dynamic intersection of character, event, and source materials?
  • What is the relationship between shooting and editing? How can we practically test or explode film school truisms like the 180-degree rule or the Kuleshov effect?
  • How might your filmmaking practice be driven by the core materials and creative concept rather than relying on conventional industrial models and processes?
  • How can we develop dramatic, engaging stories from a single source of inspiration and use this process to explore the creative possibilities of short film narrative?
  • How can Communication Design and Media practices be used to co-author the creation of nonfiction artefacts with the not-for-profit sector?
  • How can the contemporary documentary filmmaker capture and represent the artist’s creative process?
  • How might film genres be practically encoded/inscribed?
  • What is a comedy web series, and what are the affordances of producing content within this form?
  • How can we use participatory, collaborative and co- operative strategies to reinvigorate documentary as a tool for social relationships?
  • What do stories of transgression tell us about our society and ourselves?
  • How can personal observation and experience be translated to the screen in ways not strictly reliant on conventional fiction or documentary approaches?
  • Is fake news the real news? How can we make some?
  • How are story worlds created, and how can these be employed to develop rich and satisfying screen narratives?
  • How do we make work that addresses the density of a thing?
  • How is fashion represented in the contemporary media landscape?
  • How can the principles of old media help us become better new media producers?
  • How might your filmmaking practice, be truthful to: form, the way you work and; content, whom or what you work with?
  • How do practical and conceptual ‘uses of photography’ matter to contemporary media practitioners?
  • How will exploring the different natures of the audio and video podcast forms influence a work you will create?
  • With so much competition for audience attention, how can we work collaboratively to tell compelling stories through web series?
  • What is the role of the critic in contemporary culture?
  • How can media artefacts emerge through practices of attuned noticing?
  • How can the act of documenting be used for social, political and relational purposes?
  • How​ ​should​ ​we​ ​think​ ​about​ ​light​ ​in​ ​order​ ​to​ ​use​ ​it​ ​as​ ​an​ ​expressive​ ​element​ ​in​ ​film production?
  • How​ ​are​ ​the​ ​words​ ​on​ ​the​ ​page​ ​translated​ ​to​ ​screen​ ​image,​ ​and​ ​what​ ​skills​ ​might​ ​a screenwriter​ ​employ​ ​so​ ​as​ ​to​ ​write​ ​as​ ​if​ ​looking​ ​through​ ​the​ ​lens?
  • Why​ ​is​ ​it​ ​important​ ​to​ ​be​ ​a​ ​good​ ​observer,​ ​to​ ​collect​ ​images​ ​of​ ​the​ ​world,​ ​to​ ​make​ ​our​ ​own maps,​ ​and​ ​communicate​ ​the​ ​physical​ ​contexts​ ​that​ ​help​ ​define​ ​us?
  • How​ ​can​ ​media​ ​explore​ ​the​ ​notion​ ​of​ ​sacredness​ ​in​ ​connection​ ​to​ ​place?
  • How​ ​do​ ​we​ ​make​ ​short​ ​documentaries​ ​that​ ​are​ ​political​ ​and​ ​poetic,​ ​and​ ​which​ ​explore​ ​the overlap​ ​of​ ​radical​ ​content​ ​and​ ​radical​ ​form?
  • What​ ​types​ ​of​ ​ethical​ ​issues​ ​arise​ ​when​ ​we​ ​turn​ ​the​ ​camera​ ​on​ ​documentary​ ​participants, and,​ ​from​ ​a​ ​production​ ​standpoint,​ ​what​ ​creative​ ​and​ ​technical​ ​challenges​ ​arise​ ​whilst​ ​filming and​ ​editing​ ​interviews?
  • How​ ​is​ ​the​ ​thinking​ ​around​ ​and​ ​making​ ​of​ ​screen​ ​media​ ​changed​ ​by​ ​online​ ​spaces?
  • Could a different approach to the learning of filmmaking – working through a series of projects inspired by prompts and guided by constraints that investigate all of the main facets of film production – elicit better outcomes?
  • How might we craft stories that weave in various modalities — sound, vision, text — to see connections in new ways? How might entangled media storytelling help us tell new kinds of stories in the face of massive changes like the Anthropocene?
  • What is criticism and how does it differ from other kinds of writing?
    What is the role of the critic in contemporary culture?
  • What experiences can we create when we invite the audience to affect the things we make in real time? 
  • What is the role of the audience in making the meaning of what they see and hear; in both traditional, static forms, and using responsive technologies? 
  • How do we create work for unpredictable results?
  • What does it mean to think and make materially with language, sound and moving image?
  • How do the materialities of the body, the camera and language choreograph one another?
  • How do we translate our motivations and inspiration into exciting and engaging screen experiences?
  • How can media artefacts emerge through practices of attuned noticing?
  • How and why do we stratify and symbolise ‘meaningful’ and ‘interfering’ sounds? 
  • How can we creatively engage with technology, transduction and spatiality to construct affective audio works for media?
  • What are the possibilities that comedy news programs offer in terms of public pedagogy, political discourse, and television satire?
  • How is a drama scene constructed; and what are the traditions, functional imperatives, and expressive possibilities associated with the terms, “coverage” and “decoupage”?
  • What stories are untold, obscured or forgotten? How can we make documentary media that challenges, disrupts and re-energises local sites, people and experiences as important parallels to dominant histories? How can archival material be repurposed to create relationships with the present to communicate ideas and experiences that are polyvocal, immersive and necessary?
  • How do we mediate place, historical events and our own memories as we bear witness to the changing conditions of the world?