Augmented Cinema studio showcase was a successful one that filled the cinema with lots of interested students and actors and their friends. With just five high-quality works from our classmates, we had delivered the key ideas of this studio in two ways.
Firstly, how important technology is to create immersion to a media within student budget. For example, in Input/Output, a film by Ewan Hicks, Nam Tran, Thomas Matijevic, Niall Heaphy, and Malachy Lewis, there was a scene where the VR box caught fire, which cannot be done in real life or in another scene where the falling of the VR world from the background, both took a good use of VFX, and it shows that they have a foundation to furthermore improve on this type of art. And although our film used a decent amount of VFX, I realized it is the sound design the takes the whole film to another level. My VFX does not look as cool without the glitching sound, and the flipping of the cards would not be as intense without our sound mixer (Karina Luk) forging and matching every foley sound.
And the most crucial message of this studio is the use of immersive media in real life. We have shown how AR or VR are used for a variety of purposes. It can go from simple ideas like Tantrum, a perfectly crafted VR gaming world used solely for entertainment to give human an escape from a dystopian world. It can be used for much greater purpose such as therapy in Bliss, a film by Philip Tran and Ahrin Tapat, or Dependency by Lachlan Campbell, Adrian Schiavello, Addison Law, Nathan Buttigieg, and Isaac Maddock. Both films are about how one copes with the pain of losing a loved one, Bliss used AI and Dependency used VR. Personally, I loved the beginning of Bliss that reminds me of the intro of Midsommar (2019) by Ari Aster. And that moment in Bliss where the AI personal voice assistant asked a very normal question of ‘what can I help you?’, and then it cuts to Jason being depressed and needing help the most. This is the moment that kicked Amy out of the illusion of Jason and marks the start of machine learning process of the device, was top-notch drama as they claimed and was a very emotional, heart-touching scene.
Overall, Augmented Cinema was a fun and dynamic studio. We learnt so much about not only VR, AR, or XR technology and their usage, but also how to make VFX, how to create 3D art via Blender, building a set in Unreal Engine, to name a few which unlocked tons of new skills and my passion do grow more in this career. Alongside with all those techniques, we also learnt of basic skills throughout the production stages such as blocking, editing, colour grading, which is so important and beneficial for our productions. Therefore, I am proud of the results, and I hope Cat feel the same!
People + Places is a nonfiction media production studio, which means they do documentaries. For me, documentaries rarely trigger any emotions in me, and I look for them when I solely need information. However, People + Places gives students choices of different documentary forms such as audio documentary or regular interview and gives them freedom in choosing their style and topic, so it was interesting to see them painting on this blank canvas with their colours.
Especially Ruby Edwards’ visibly queer. Visibly queer is a documentary about four young people leaving their so-called hometown to find themselves a place to live in freedom and safety, Melbourne. I love how it starts with black and white footages with a tint of colour, which portrays how such beautiful and colourful beings are being suppressed by their surroundings and then towards the end, the colours shine bright and dance freely on screen. The choice of not showing the interviewees faces also highlights that they are the colour themselves and heightens the intimacy of the conversations.
Another well-crafted one is Sarah ♥s Franga featuring Sarah Chapman by Cem Bilici. This is a typical documentary of a woman who is passionate about changing the reputation of Frankston. And as an international watching this, I enjoyed watching the local aspects, such as the group of women who go swimming at 8, the infamous eshays and the policemen, and the intimate relationship of the human and the nature. It was indeed a ‘light-hearted’, lovely documentary to watch.