I was only able to attend one class in the first two weeks of Uni due to getting a very severe flu that doesn’t seem to want to go away. In the class I did attend Robin laid out the basic objectives and sent out feelers to the class to gauge their interest on how they would feel if we didn’t create a full fledged web series. This did not go over well as many of us, people like me, have done three to four studios by now and are sick of the basic camera and sound lessons/experiments/exercises we are always tasked and want to make something. We want a project to work on as a team, it’s feedback I continually get from other students – they want collaboration and something more film/TV making focused. It feels as if we aren’t really progressing into second year if all we’re doing is the same exercises in different studios. It part of the reason I chose this studio, because Jeremy got that desire to create something and work as a group so it is a little upsetting to be unable to change classes now that we probably won’t be doing that and the studio feels like it doesn’t really have direction. This may sound harsh, but it’s how I feel and others in the class feel, and if they’re unable to voice this, then I will.

It was interesting to observe how the class was assembled during this lesson, as the people who were second year and some acquaintances of eachother were sitting on one table and the first years on the other. The reaction to the filming exercise was very different, with the first years excited to be filming something and the second years groaning a little at having done this before.

Having said that, I don’t know if what we created was much better than the other group as we rushed through filming ours and I edited my version the next day extremely quickly. I know that I felt a little disheartened so I didn’t put the effort I usually would into creating something or working in a production environment, which was, quite frankly, stupid.

Below is my edited cut of what we shot.

https://drive.google.com/a/rmit.edu.au/file/d/0BygIkgGOp0AFc3hNNElYYW5pYVE/view?usp=sharing

I think there are many things we could improve in the future, as as improve lighting or perhaps experiment with the camera settings to improve exposure. I think our onset behaviour from camera setup to role negotiation could definitely use improvement and perhaps that’s why going through these basic exercises might be a good idea after all. I can see an argument for both sides of the equation.

Besides what I’ve just said, I am excited to work with Robin, I’ve heard create things from other students and I know he has a wealth of experience. Stayci is also fantastic at what she does so I’m happy to work with her again. I think I’m just being harsh out of accumulated frustration at the course as a whole, rather than this studio. I also need to leave comparisons to the comedy web series studio behind.