I loved Amy and Alicia’s work because it is something everyone can understand and enjoy. They took a poetic approach to documentary making which suited Fed Square’s celebrations, and their concept very well. Their work is easy and exciting to interact with because of its colourful imagery, bright music and the audience can look for the filming locations as or after they have finished watching. Their work deeply considered the audience for which it was intended and would also be able to be enjoyed in other contexts—at private parties, in schools or an art gallery. This work in particular felt relevant and exciting for Fed Square because it primarily used visual media to convey its message, but was supplemented brilliantly with audio.

I also enjoyed Matt, Will Palmer, Bridget and Jack’s work because it was a more traditional documentary work. I think their series worked well with the other works because it juxtaposed the poetic pieces nicely. In particular, I liked that they interviewed Kev who had come from Sydney to visit because they had a more objective perspective of the square as an outsider. The series of work was brilliantly curated and shot, it felt cohesive but never dragged on. They used many people with different experiences of Fed Square which I think is a powerful way to engage community. It was important and enjoyable to hear the perspectives of people who use the square differently. The only improvement I would suggest is the use of subtitles but I understand that with the guidlines this would have been difficult.

The other studio I chose to was The Power of the Cut.

I enjoyed Molly Sutton’s work Molly Sutton – edit series because she showed the way different stories could, and perhaps should be told through the use of a commercial, narrative or documentary cut. I found her documentary cut to be most powerful because it was about a young woman, Eman, growing up as a woman of colour in Australia with parents who immigrated from Pakistan. She spoke about being subjected to body image and beauty standards of a majority white, European country and how this changed her view on herself. Her narrative cut felt nostalgic and relevant to me. I felt seen in her work about growing up, leaving childhood and your room behind. Molly’s commercial cut could totally be used in an ad, she killed it.

I also looked at Mikaela Giblin’s work The power of the cut – Mikaela Giblin. I liked her narrative cut the best because it felt like a personal and private get-ready-with-me combined with a music video. I felt seen as a young woman. There was a sense of fun and anticipation of what Molly would look like at the end of the story. Her commercial cut felt modern and was a great way to highlight a small clothing business. Mikaela’s work consistently feels gritty and relatable which is to me a modern approach to film making. The documentary edit made me laugh because of how honest it was without interviewing anyone.