a film by Sidney Scott
One of the biggest questions in my life right now is about perception. How do other people perceive and experience the world on both a sensory and ideological level? This film is an offering of my point of view, in the hopes of receiving the insights of other in return.
My film has not been screened yet, nor is it really complete outside of this studio, but I hope one day to get a response that helps me further my understanding of the world and people around me.
a film by maddi emery
classic is an essay film about life’s oldest treasures, an exploration of the idea that the elderly are simply forgotten in our society and how we may be so envious of the past and treasure and preserve old artefacts like cars, but why not people.
i have always had the highest view of my grandparents and i always considered myself so lucky to have all my grandparents alive and well, i wanted to explore this idea surrounding the mistreatment of older people and how quickly people shut down the potential of the elderly and disregard their stories. i have been hearing car stories my entire life and figured that was an interesting way to explore this idea – cars are conserved and treasured, so why is this not happening to the elderly.
throughout the filming process, i had a few hiccups with COVID infections and delays because of weather however i was very happy with the interviews i did get and b-roll footage. the filming and editing timeline was quite close because of the delays in filming, so i didn’t have a lot of pondering time, i also think for future shoots i will be bringing a journal to write down snapshots of the interviewees’ answers so when i am going through and reviewing the footage i will know the best parts and specific quotes to work with. i loved meeting my gramps’ friends and speaking with them about their love of cars, it really ignited the respect i have for older people and the passion i have to share their stories.
Why Are We Haunted?
Shot in Williamstown, this was filmed on the traditional Lands of the Boon Wurrung and Woi Wurrung language groups of the Eastern Kulin Nations. I would like to pay my respects to elders; past, present and emerging, as well as extend that respect to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people who may be watching. This always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.
A short essay film exploring the prevalence of ghost stories, and examining why we enjoy telling spooky tales in the dark. From ancient times, to the romantic period and spiritualism movement, ghosts have been a common trope of humanity’s creativity. Why are these stories so prevalent? Why is humanity so intrigued with the concept of the paranormal? This film discusses my personal views on ghost stories and why I think we continue to tell them.
I wrote this film as an essay, and then went around iconic locations of Williamstown, most of which are deemed haunted. These locations provided a naturally spooky atmosphere to the piece and the experience of filming in these locations helped me connect with the subject matter further. This film was a lot of fun to shoot and edit, allowing me to play around with horror elements such as lighting, music and sound effects. I learnt a lot about shooting in scenes with diverse lighting and acoustic, as well as gaining experience in ADR (due to issues with the sound recording equipment used, all scenes had to be voiced over).
A film by Dillon Mcguinness
Butcher Bird is an animated essay film, exploring issues related to South-Asian identity and artistry in Melbourne through music and narration.
The film initially began as a live-action project, but due to uncooperative weather conditions, the entire film had to be animated based off of the original storyboards.
This created a filmmaking experience that was quite meditative, as the creation consisted of long periods of time paying close attention to the assembly of visuals and sound, considering what thoughts they were attempting to express.
By Cassie Nikoloska
Split up into four chapters, you are guided down my own trajectory as past memories reveal how the natural world remains a significant force in my life, and how I think its beauty is often overlooked by others.
‘Nothing is Everything’ conveys my love of nature, and how I favour it above all else.
While creating this essay film, I reconnected with my mind, body, and spirit by confronting past memories and re-living them through the process of assembling collage and video footage. I realised that I had fallen victim to losing touch with myself in a society that typically praises materialism. This film allowed me to truly stop and smell the roses, and I hope it can transpire for others to do the same.
21 year old RMIT student Matthew Webb struggles to cope with his writers block whilst developing his new short film for #4 Assignment.
Follow Matthew as he discusses his dissatisfaction with his upcoming short film Why Jam? and critique his writing technique with friends and family.
Throughout the film Matthew will rediscover his creativity, have a beer, venture into his past films and watch Adaptation (2002).
#4 Assignment is a documentation of creativity.
Another Moment in the Sun seeks to find meaning in the aimlessness of life.
Throughout the creation of this film, my goal was to contrast the bleakest existentialism with the most optimistic form of nihilism I could muster.
I wrote and recorded the narrative prose before anything. While I had an idea of the sorts of imagery that I would be using, I didn’t even touch the visuals until I’d finished adjusting the audio soundscape, including music, narration and even some sound effects.
I then did my best to conform the visuals to the sort of story I was aiming to tell.
“When a fledgling filmmaker succumbs to an all-consuming case of creative burnout, a new world of endless distraction emerges.”
Burn Out follows a fictionalised version of myself over the five days leading up to the submission of my film.
The film pays tribute to the programming that has come before, paying homage to the media that continues creatively inspires me, through a series of intertextual elements.
Ultimately, Burn Out is exactly as it sounds, the leftovers of a creatively fried mind.
Prior to the filming of Burn Out, I was afraid that the film would further contribute to the spell of creative fatigue that I was burdened by, however, the more I worked on the film the less I found this to be the case.
In actuality, I found that through the filming and ultimate construction of Burn Out, I was able to reclaim some of the creativity I once so cherished.
Although, Burn Out contains a less than original outcome, I truly cannot wait for what’s to come in the future… all thanks to this little film.
LACHLAN M. CAMPBELL
What happens to the in-between places? This essay film by Brandan Lapeyre explores the effect gentrification is having on the local area, and looks at the changes that are out of our control.
Taking a stroll through the streets with the narrator, Bend in the Tracks takes a look at what used to be in order to better understand what might be about to come – giving words to the way I feel about seeing home become unrecognisable
By Savannah Selimi
This film is a pondering on the romantic mundanity of the present moment. It’s a poetic analysis into documentation in the Digital Age, and how in capturing the present, aren’t we losing it all the same?
Mostly, this film is a love letter to friendship and a gratitude note to my cameras and journals, that preserve moments sweeter than my heart can handle.
The process of making this film included analysing the conflict between living in the moment and documenting the moment. Through collecting images, writing my essay script and editing the film together, I got an experience in sharing vulnerability for screen.