I thought the exhibition was great! Much of the work that was presented was excellent and it was a great insight into much of the work the other students had achieved in the past semester. I think it would be a fantastic thing to show new students to help them realise what each subject is about and what you can achieve. It would need to be a much shorter presentation and just the videos however I think it could be really great. I’m not sure how useful it is for already existing students since they can’t go back and change subjects but definitely a great presentation!

last sunday I assisted Daina in her film. I was the soundguy and well after much deliberation we finally figured out how to set it all up again. The basic concept and getting the sound right i found challenging, and didn’t want to be the reason it all messed up since it was a great script. Unfortunately I only really got the hang of it after quite a number of takes so the audio isn’t up to scratch by any means and borderline un-useable for many of the first takes.

This only illustrates the importance of double checking the sound twice before the first take!!

Fabiana

Film 3 has been a really thorough and enjoyable hands on exploration of project developments and industrial production methods of drama and documentary filmmaking. With a practical approach from the outset, “do it to learn it”, our studio with Paul Ritchard has evolved from class exercises and activities based around developing our individual and collaborative filmmaking skills to the production of our own short film projects. It has been highly beneficial to have a creative and ongoing discourse throughout this process that has revolved around questions such as; what makes something a documentary or drama? What methods do we adopt when agreeing to one form or the other? What constitutes narrative? How do we investigate and develop form and aesthetic? How will we approach our own production of a fiction or nonfiction project? This focus to our work has allowed a broad area of filmmaking to suit each and every one of us in some way or another, allowing us to explore our own creative interests supervised closely with a tutor. Paul has also provided many one on one tutorials to develop our skills in post production, an area that I myself was completely unfamiliar with before this studio.

Accompanying this practical study has been ongoing individual reflection focused on the relationship between theory and practice. Our experience and response to the process through the blog has been a productive way to strengthen our critiquing and evaluating skills.

As we have been encouraged to focus on the discovery process rather than the ‘final piece’ or ‘result’, our clips are indicative of our individual explorations and therefore reflect some aspect of the filmmaking process that is of personal interest to us.

Ed
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
I’m here today to present to you our teams work this year in Film three.
Robin, our enthusiastic and experienced tutor, has managed to guide and mentor us through the course work where we learned an awful lot, and for that and your patience, we thank you.

We were able to learn the distinction between film & documentary and more importantly, why sometimes there doesn’t need to be any distinction at all.
In Film three the practical coursework is unlike most of the subjects you would have experienced before. Instead of being told to go out and bring back a specific shot or sound, Film 3 really allows you to roll up your sleeves and take the creative reigns of all your projects. It is through this engaging and hands on mentality for the coursework that everyday we are encouraged and convinced to grab a camera, a few friends, and go out and make something you believe in. From here we all learned the technical nuances, production techniques, and appropriate equipment required to create our own film. We were asked to reflect on everything we had learned or experienced in our blogs and eventually many of us here today were able to see at least some of our ideas and passion for film come to life.

We have a reel of short works from both Paul’s and Robin’s studios Some documentary, some fiction, some drawing from both. The diversity of ideas and creativity is a testament to the quality of individuals in these two studios. Each piece is roughly 30 seconds long, so please save your applause until the end.

Thank you, and enjoy.

Fabiana at end

And a special thanks to Sam and Brydan for putting together the Screener and the exhibition Reels
Aidan for designing the poster
Kiralee for designing the postcard
and Mimo and Mitch for designing and putting together the website
And extra special thanks to the Techs

I always find it interesting editing other peoples’s work. You always have to be very particular when editing someone else’s work as people usually have a certain attachment to their ideas and will sometimes be seeing a very different project to you.

This is also the same reason why getting someone else to look over your work is so important. Last week I was helping Mitchel go over most of his videos and all the really interesting concepts he has managed to execute. It is in the editing process that these ideas have to be refined and possibly new meanings or originally unintended ideas emerge. During this session I just tried to assist Mitchel into finding the best cuts to make to ensure the best viewing experience for the audience.

Here we just made sure that in one of his films he achieved the intended plot or concept without having too much video and really throwing the idea in the audiences face so in this case, less is more, as is often the case during the editing process.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

I’m here today to present to you our teams work this year in Film three.
Throughout RMIT’s history I don’t believe there has ever been quite such a bunch of enthusiastic, creative but ragtag misfits to all decide to endure the same elective at the same time.

It must have felt as if our collective understanding of the coursework was minimal at times, however under the careful, enthusiastic and experienced guidance of our tutor Robin Plunkett, Robin has managed to guide and mentor us through the course work where we learned an awful lot.

We learned the distinction between film & documentary and more importantly, why sometimes there doesn’t need to be any distinction at all. Through practical coursework we learned all the technical nuances, production techniques, and appropriate equipment required to create our own film.

For guiding us through this semester, and I know at times it must have felt as if it was all falling on deaf ears, or rather emails, I on behalf of the rest of our class would like to thank Robin very much for being so understanding and patient, while teaching us so much.

Presenting today we have some short clips from several members of the class, and I will let the work speak for itself, however the diversity in ideas and creativity are a testament to the high quality of individuals we have here in this room today, all of which I have no doubt will be successful in whatever path they choose to endeavour.

Thank you and enjoy!

Here is a documentary that Keanu Reeves has a created where he interviews different film makers about their opinions on film vs. digital.

Aside from the very interesting topic I watched this film with a keen interest on Keanu’s interview style, and noticed how it was much easier for the film makers to be comfortable and give in-depth answers since he was from the industry. Keanu had probably worked with a few of these directors before but they all at least knew they were talking to ‘one of their own.’ The directors didn’t have to explain any of the techniques or have to feel hostile towards Keanu since they knew he lived and loved film and would do the interviewee’s justice.

I highly recommend viewing the documentary regardless as it is a really interesting discussion, regardless of your level of understanding on film. Here is the trailer.

This week we also learnt about the different types of camera’s and camera lenses. We learned how the size of the sensor can affect the focal point i.e in a DSLR there is a larger sensor so the focal point will usually be further away. In a enthusiast to semi-pro or even professional cameras the sensor is much smaller so the focal point can be much closer.

We also learned about how ISO/gain and aperture/f.stops have to work with each other to ensure the best focal point possible. By understanding the relationship between the lens, its ISO and aperture capabilities we can have a greater understanding of where and how in depth we would like our focal point to be.

Would we like the subject and its background to be in focus? if so then you would require a higher f.stop which would mean you are allowing less light into through the sensor, and thus may require a higher ISO or greater gain.

If you want the subject to be in focus and the background blurry then it is essentially the opposite with a lower f.stop but since you are letting in more light to the sensor you may need a lower ISO/less gain as well to avoid over exposure.

The relationship between these two is essentially a balancing act since having toomuch ISO or gain can create too much noise within a shot or maybe having everything in focus can distract the audience from the subject.

This week I assisted in another film as an actor of sorts. I suppose it wasn’t really acting as I was told to give honest and in-depth answers to question prompts, so really I was just playing myself.

The setting was that I had a plain black background and a single camera focused on my face. There was no one else in the room to give the illusion that I was confiding in a single person, but in reality it’s for a film so of course more than one person is going to see it.

The questions asked me about my insecurities and certain behaviours that might change given those insecurities. It was safe to say that it was a very strange experience. By having the illusion of the single camera it allowed me to I guess have a easier uninterrupted train of thought about some very personal issues.

I quite enjoyed it and I don’t entirely remember my response but the entire process I guess felt like a bit of a therapy sessions, as its not often you are given universal insecurities as prompts, and its not often that people actually sit there and say what they think about it.

I look forward to seeing the final product.

Unfortunately, it turns out that finding the casting for my project proposal would take a much much longer time than expected. The idea essentially would require me to find 2 different guys and 2 different girls around 10 years apart, where the extra 10 years can be aged with make-up. Unfortunately I don’t know many aspiring 10 year old actors and wouldn’t have the funds to pay either so instead I will be looking forward to trying to help out as many people as possible within my class.

I have however saved the idea for the project, and will be proposing it towards some of my other film maker friends outside of RMIT if they want to continue the pursuit with me in the future.

For my second project proposal I wanted to try and cover a topic I was passionate about outside of film and media. I have chosen to try and incorporate my love for the game of basketball into my project and I think I’ve found a convenient but also interesting way to do so. I want to follow or document the career of an ageing NBA great such as Tim Duncan or Kobe Bryant (I haven’t decided which yet as I’m uncertain if Kobe is playing this year) through the eyes of a father-daughter relationship.

I would like to explore their relationship with each other and how it is centred around a sport or more importantly, an icon of the sport. With every milestone in Duncan or Bryant’s career such as getting drafted, first major injury/setback, first championship, second, etc. I would like to simultaneously have certain milestones be reached in the relationship of the father and daughter e.g When Duncan gets drafted maybe the father is having breakfast with the daughter for her first day of school.

I would like for this to be followed chronologically so a brief possible overview could be something that goes like this
1997 – Tim Duncan is drafted
Father and Daughter prepare for first day of High-school with the draft on in the background.
1999 – Duncan’s first Championship
Father and daughter go watch the first game together at home establishing that the daughter cares for the team/player as well.
2001 – Duncan’s First major injury
Daughter hurts herself and dad stops watching the newscast on the injury and go takes care of her injury.
2003 – Duncans first major championship.
Daughter is graduating and the father is listening in on a radio while at the ceremony. post graduation the daughter asks for the score line or maybe dad celebrates a bit to hard during the ceremony.

The intention here is to illustrate that they both share a clear obsession and bond through a sport and icon that not everyone will relate to. A lot of times people say that it’s just a sport and sometimes there are things that are bigger than that. However, for this Father-Daughter relationship and their special bond is based on this sport and this Icon.

It will continue to have peaks and troughs in detailing more Milestones of Duncan or Bryant’s careers that will simultaneously have significant events happen in their relationships, culminating in the fathers passing as Duncan retires at the end of the 2015/16 season.

I want to document the career of a player I admire while also providing and interesting relationship to which people can relate to, regardless of their interest in the sport.