An area which has changed at RMIT is Bowen Street. I remember when I was at RMIT in 2016 there was no food stalls on Bowens Street, in fact there was just a basketball net. If I was hungry at RMIT I would usually go to the back of building 80 where they used to have a hot noodle store. Other than that there was the main cafes but there was no food on Bowen Street apart from the occasional coffee stand and on Thursdays when they had a free sausage sizzle. RMIT was pretty well, studies one basketball net based on Bowen Street.
Fast forward to 2018 and not only am I back at University but Bowen Street is back with a whole new makeover. Of course it wouldn’t be an RMIT makeover without some splodges of a really obnoxious colour in contrast to the rest of the brown scenery. This year they chose yellow, and there are yellow tables and chairs placed on Bowen Street now marking what is basically a food court. Here we have pretty much everything. So far I have seen hot food such as chips hot dogs and pies, pizzas, gourmet food, sushi, noodles, Mexican food, wraps, sandwiches, and lots and lots of coffee and lattes.
To shoot a documentary about the change of scenery here on Bowen Street I would start with a piece to camera with me sitting down cross legged, explaining how Bowens Street used to be. As I began explaining how it is today the camera would zoom out revealing the large display of yellow chairs and food stores on Bowen Street today. I would then camera following casually walk up to the pizza and gourmet food store (planned with store owner earlier) and ask if they had any tea. The store owner would as scripted reply ‘Absolutely what kind are you after?’ The conversation would continue until the order was put through and I would continue speaking facing the camera as it follows me walking past the food stored Bowen Street has to offer today. By the end of my explanation on Bowen Street’s new food saga I will lead a few lines into an interview I will have with one of the organisers for the Bowen Street makeover. In these few lines I will explain a reminiscent memory of mine in 2016 and incorporate a scene from Inception where the main characters are communicating with one another as they check out the dream scenery from the ‘first level’ of dreaming a character will be put in…
‘I distinctly remember all the way back in 2016, I must have been eating a sandwich looing aloof when I literally saw this..’
‘I saw someone with a builders hat on, someone in a suit that looked like he knew all about the site, someone in a more slouchy suit who looked like the Tom Hardy of the gang, not knowing much about maths but part of the planning of the street and probably someone else but I can’t remember. It looked to me like they had some grand vision with their hand gestures and the way they paced around. It literally seemed like the cast of inception, and who would of known the fruition they had in mind.’
I would then begin my interview with one of the organisers for the Bowen Street Makeover. This would be a voiceover with the organiser explaining how they wanted the street to look and why. I would use a voiceover so I could show some still images of the whole landscape of the Bowens Street makeover with the organiser explaining it at the same time.
I would then have actual footage of an interview with me and the organiser in a neat dim lit cosy room. I would ask questions to make the organiser elaborate on the whole vibe they were going for with the Bowen Street makeover before remarking ‘Well, let’s see what the students have to say about it’ which I’m guessing will prompt the organiser to reply yes we’ll have to see.’
I would then perform some vox pops of students on Bowen Street and get their opinions on what their favourite food store is here, do they feel much need to leave Bowen Street for food anymore, or are they comfortable eating close to their classrooms, and is there anything they dislike about the makeover.
I would end the documentary starting with a remark such as ‘There you have it’ and summarise all I found out about the Bowen Street makeover. I think the basketball net might still actually be there amongst all the café and food stores on Bowen Street so if so I would end with the remark that despite all the cafes and food stores on Bowen Street today they still left the hoop up for those who still like their casual lay up’ before doing a layup with a basketball with hopefully not too many takes..
I will be uploading the footage of my exploration of Bowen Street in a post to come as I am yet to present my plan to class.
