Studio Reflection

As the semester comes to an end, we produced an impact documentary film, called “Roofless Realities” in the studio class. The film conveys the critical housing issues faced by international students in Melbourne, and the subsequent mental health crisis. The goal was to resonate with the international students in Melbourne, providing a mirror to their struggles, validating their experiences, and giving them a platform to be heard. For universities administrators and policymakers, the documentary serves as a reminder of the pressing need for change in rental, urging them to take effective actions to address this issue.

The film was screened in week 13 at capitol, I’m expecting the screening could engage some certain target audience, including international students and universities administrators. Before the film is played, we could do a little speech to the audience about what the film is about and why we made this film. After the film, we can do a post-screening discussions and Q&A sessions to facilitate direct dialogue between the audience and us. This effective interaction heightens the awareness while encouraging a collaborative brainstorming of potential solutions. The ultimate goal of making this film is to provoke concrete actions, I hope the film could inspire university administrators and policy makers to implement practical solutions, such as providing available housing to international students with affordable pricing or reducing the rental price for international students. In conclusion, we hope our documentary could make a huge impact by raising the awareness and provoking actions for the international students’ community.

To keep further developing on the film, I would improve the skills of storytelling in the film since our interview with Manu, the international student, didn’t go well, his response was not continuous, resulting the lack of narrative structure in the film. Thus, the film doesn’t have much tension and impact on the audience as his clips feel fragmented. If I were to further work on the film, aiming to make a bigger impact on the audience, I would rearrange another interview, eyeing on coaching the interviewee to provide responses with a clear narrative structure that fosters emotional connection with the audience. To expand the documentary, I would explore the housing issues faced by international students worldwide. The increasing number of students studying abroad has led to a shortage of housing resources in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and throughout Europe. This housing crisis has become a global problem affecting many international students. I hope the film can raise awareness and inspire action to address this issue.

I watched the short documentary, “Rewilding”, from our studio, and I like they are trying to spread the main message, protecting the ocean environment from plastic pollution. In my opinion, they have done a great job of conveying their message by incorporating lots of b-roll footage of plastic pollution in the ocean, also putting the statistics and facts and the website link into the film. This allows the audience to grasp the urgency of improving the marine environment, achieving the goal of making an impact on the viewers. Another documentary I watched is “Where Are All the Queers?”. The film successfully illustrates the interviewee’s story with a clear narrative structure, enabling viewers to understand the perspectives and experiences of LGBTIQ+ people. Consequently, the film can inspire people to open more lesbian bars, expanding lesbian communities in Melbourne. In conclusion, every impact documentary film from our studio has reflected the key idea, making impact and provoking practical actions on viewers.

I watched the film, “Izabella’s editing series”, which there are three different genres of film. I think the studio is exploring different editing skillsets when filming different genres of film. For example, the first video is a documentary called “Second Home”, conveying a performing arts student experiencing the change of home lifestyle while living away from her home. The editing has simple cuts between interview shots and b-roll footage, while playing background music. This editing style could simply convey the interviewee’s story. On the other hand, the second commercial video, “The Cookie Cart Melbourne”, features extensive motion graphics, animation, and numerous transitions in the editing. This dynamic editing style can effectively capture the viewer’s attention and encourage them to purchase the product. The last narrative film, “To Every You,” presents the essence of love across different universes. The editing style focuses on the rhythm to switch between clips from different universes, especially building to a climax that incorporates a match cut at the end of the pinky promise. This technique effectively conveys the film’s main message: love exists indefinitely, even across different universes. The key idea of this studio draws my attention as I’m interested in the potential of editing, same footage, but with different editing style could result in completely different meaning to the viewers. Thus, I would like to participate in the studio class in the future.