When reading the list of upcoming studios, I was immediately drawn to the one called ‘Film Light’. This was because, one: thus far in my studies at RMIT there had not been a studio focused solely on lighting; and two: because I really felt like this was an area in my own technical repertoire that needed improvement, especially as it would be my final studio before starting Media 6.

Having had Robin previously as a studio teacher I knew that he was very knowledgeable in lighting, so I was happy when it was announced that he would be the teacher of the studio. This assessment proved to be correct, as throughout the studio myself and others have often said that this studio has been the best thus far, that they have learnt a lot from Robin and that he was a patient and thorough teacher.

The studio consisted of many forms of learning and it really was quite an iterative process of learning, as each lesson involved and was shaped by knowledge learnt from the one before. In some classes we would watch clips with compelling lighting setups, then Robin would explain the theory behind the lighting, ensuring that we understood the technical information. This allowed us to build up an understanding into both the practical application of lighting and the correct lighting terminology like “hard” and “soft” light. Ensuring we never dared call it “harsh” light, as some were inclined to do at the beginning of the semester. In other classes we would do lighting exercises where Robin would run us through attempting to achieve certain lighting scenarios, we would all be given roles and work collaboratively to achieve the desired lighting effect. These were my favourite classes as it allowed us to all work together and get the full weight of Robin’s knowledge. The lighting effects we pursued shifted from the beginning where we focused mostly on harnessing natural light, to the end where we were incorporating more artificial lights and filming more complete scenes as opposed to just one shot. In other classes Robin would divide us into groups, give us scripts and an area of RMIT to shoot in and task us to shoot and light the scenes appropriately. We would then review what we shot together in class and discuss how it could be improved and what we did well.

Besides all the knowledge I gained about lighting from this studio, I think one of the most illuminating things that came out of it for me was how interconnected the relationship between lighting and camera are. I knew this before, but I think it really sank in this semester. Not only did I learn just how much a cinematographer needs to know, in terms of camera and lighting, but I learnt how much that is influenced by the creative vision of the production designer as well. This came, partly, from my own study for the cinematographer profile we wrote as an assignment for the studio, but also from the people Robin invited to speak to the class. He invited a professional gaffer and production designer to give us some insight into their work and that really set ‘Film Light’ apart from other studios. Because it gave us a sense of what is happening in filmmaking in Australia. This has been a great semester and I think more studios like this, that are practical and cover necessary production areas, will only benefit Media students of the future.