Bee(a) buzzing through film school

[beatroot]

18/09/18 - 21/09/18

This week has been very interesting. It was our last week of Character & Performance (directing) for the year! Kinda sad because despite not liking directing at first, I really love my tutor (she's my favourite tutor for this semester). I realise that directing isn't too bad after all and it's a discipline I would like to try out one day in the future.

We had the best lecture this week. It was called 'auditions and casting away stereotypes' which was absolutely AMAZING. Not once did I lose attention, it was just that brilliant. It was about diversity when casting actors and doing colour blind casting.

For our workshops this week, we worked with acting students from an acting school (which I will not mention here for the sake of their privacy). In our Tuesday workshop, we did mock auditions where each acting student had to audition and we took turns doing different roles (casting director, log, director, camera operator and casting assistant). In our Wednesday workshop, we split into groups of three and worked with an assigned actor. The actor that we had, had the same exact vision for the script that we were all working on so that made it easier. We had rehearsals and experimented the script with different genres ranging from drama to comedy to surrealism. Then we filmed the scene with our actor. At the end of the day, we gathered in our class again and watched all the tapes.

It was definitely more interesting working with an actor when filming a scene rather than grabbing a random person in your class to act infront of the camera for the sake of capturing something on tape. The actors put in so much insight and ideas, in addition to our vision, and it's obvious that they have a passion for it- making it easier for the cast and crew to work harmoniously on set.

On Friday, I am glad that I attended the screening because my god I haven’t laughed at a film in a very long time. We watched a Danish rom com film called ‘Italian for Beginners’ (2000) and it was made during the Dogme 95 movement. This movement was a vow of chastity for filmmakers as they strip away all the fancy camera work and props and whatnot and instead focus on the characters and story. The handheld camera and jump cuts made me giggle so much in the lecture hall. So everyone please when you have time please watch Italian for Beginners and immerse yourself in its amazingness.

My mood reel and director’s vision statement is due tomorrow!! I’m hoping this actually encourages me to get my bloody script produced into a film during the summer holidays.

Nearly forgot to mention but I'm holding auditions this Thursday for a film I'm producing which is both exciting and nerve wracking at the same time!!

Spoiler

PS: I find it absolutely hilarious and annoying at the same time that the assignments I put more effort into only got credits and the one I literally did at the last minute [most half assed assignment I've done in my life] got a bloody distinction. I don't deserve this distinction I got my sound assessment. I don't pay attention in my workshops. I don't understand. I thought my tutor didn't like me aha. And I really hate the fact that I got a credit for my editing assignment because that makes me question if I'm still capable of becoming an editor in the future smh.

[Bri MT]

Relateable with effort not being proportional to results. My bio quiz results have been roughly inversely proportional to the effort I've put in.

I'd try not to read into it too much,  there's too many different things can can impact your grade and aptitude is only one of them

Hope your mood reel and vision statement went well!

[beatroot]

Hi all! I'm typing this now before I head off to sleep and wake up at 5am tomorrow to get onto set by 7am.

So the past few weeks have been quite stressful since we had more waves of assessments come through.

We're finally heading off into production again since it is nearing the end of semester and I'm both excited and scared at the same time. Excited in the sense that we get to be back on set. I feel that I learn more on set than I do in my lectures aha. But also scared in the sense that- what if something goes wrong. What if my vision isn't matching up with the director's? Will I be able to get to location on time? It really doesn't help that I'm still on my L's and have to take public transport (my mother is working same time I have production so she can't supervise me)

The shoot I have tomorrow and Wednesday is a good 1 hour away from my place (via train and bus) and the crew call time is at 7am! While the estimated wrap time is around 5:45pm which adds up to a 10 hour shoot + 45 minutes lunch. I get to be script supervisor on set because this is meant to help with logging my favourite takes since I'm also editor for this film (and I'm getting assessed as editor so there's a lot of pressure !!!) Once this film is done shooting, I would still have to carry on this project during post production period which there will only be me, myself and I supporting myself- and hoping my vision matches with the director's.

My second shoot will take place this weekend where I will be acting as producer and cinematographer. The location isn't too bad- I get to take my favourite train line because it passes many nice houses and areas!!

Lastly, my third shoot goes from next Wednesday til next Friday where I will be first assistant director on set mwahaha. I get to be in charge of time, all the crew members and everyone's safety.

I'll see how I go in the next two weeks and I'm hoping I don't get sick like I did last production period. The end of Year 1 is so close...

[beatroot]

Hey all! I've gotten 2/3 film shoots done, the last one being this Wednesday to Friday. I was script supervisor for one film and cinematographer for the other. I'm still in the post production process for the film I'm editing for the end of semester screening and I'm meeting up with the director tomorrow for the picture lock.

Also I got my marks for my editing assignments and I'm just gonna rant because I'm so disappointed.

warning: dramatic bea rants !!

I got a mark of 54/100 for the dramatic dialogue and a 74/100 for the peer review. Like I am genuinely so disappointed in myself. I've always thought editing was my thing. It's my trademark logo ffs (@editedbybea hmu). But the fact that I got a pass and a credit for my editing assignments puts me in a place of doubt because I went into film school this year with the goal of becoming a TV editor in the future. Then my marks hit me like this and that really pulls my self esteem down. I'm known as the editor at uni and my marks don't reflect my reputation.

I know it's not the end of the world and I know that first year doesn't count towards my final GPA/WAM at the end of my degree and I know my marks don't define me. But I just really set myself high for editing class and this shit happens. I must learn to move on. I'm gonna practice heaps more during the holidays and I'll try to talk to the head of editing (even tho she's been lowkey avoiding my emails lol). Hopefully, second year editing class will be much better.

If you're still reading this- thank you for listening me rant and being dramatic and I owe you a subway cookie if I ever see you in the future!

[beatroot]

Hey what's up you guys, yes.

The end of my first year at AFTRS is so so so close (this Friday!!). I have the next days off since production has finished and I finished all my post-production stuff today so I am free! The last two weeks have been the busiest and most stressful weeks of my life. Though, they've also become super valuable because I was able to learn things on set/post- that I didn't learn during my lectures and workshops.

script supervisor

I realise now the significance of a script supervisor. They're in charge in continuity in between takes and listing them down in a continuity sheet. This sheet also contains the matching take and their sound file (as audio and visuals are recorded separately, who knew!). A script sup is an editor's best friend since their continuity log sheets are what help the editor during the post production process.

cinematography stuff

Being cinematographer scared me the most since I had zero knowledge when it came to manual settings so I heavily relied on the production designer to help me out with this role. I've learnt that setting up the camera and lights are what eat most of production time.

producing stuff

As producer, it was important for me to ensure that my cast and crew were taken care of. I am extremely proud as a producer that my crew were able to communicate with one another during all pre/prod/post production. Giving my crew members tasks ensured for an efficient shoot as well as a united vision. I noticed that other films- the producers who weren't putting effort into their own film, there was beef and tension. I'm glad that didn't happen with my film.

editing stuff

As editor (my nominated assessable role)- I've learnt that I should probably stick to what I edit best (drama films). Even though I'm proud of myself of managing to edit a stylistic, comedy film- I don't think I'll ever edit a comedy film again (well in film school anyways- I would like to edit a mockumentary in the future). I've learnt that there needs to be direct communication between the director and editor- I can't just assume what their vision is and the director can't just assume what my editing style will be like either. I'm still yet to get picture lock for the film- but the director has taken over my editing duties so I guess I'm done then.

the life of a first assistant director

Definition of first assistant director (from Wikipedia): The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of the health and safety of the crew.

Lastly, my role as first assistant director has taught me the most about on set protocols and communication. It's known that first day will always go to shit because everyone's still getting used to being on set together for the first time. I was expecting that we would be one hour behind max- ended up being three hours behind. I grabbed someone else to help out and they managed to put us back onto schedule. Second day of the shoot went by so smoothly, despite it being the one with the most scenes and costume changes.

Comparing day one to day two- I've learnt I need to be more assertive with my crew members. It's my set- not theirs. I'm the first fucking assistant director. It will always be my set.

Some general things I've learnt during production period:
* probably don't work with your super close friends next time- things that you/they may do on set maybe taken personally and I don't want to ruin any good friendships
* have better communication with other key departments to ensure a smooth production
* don't rush when trying to set up the tripod because I did end up rushing and somewhat ended up cutting my finger on the least risky film ever (hilarious)
* be confident and that will set the overall mood of the set and crew
* it's okay to make mistakes because it's only first year
* just stick to roles you are super confident with and don't overcommit (in that case- i'm possibly going to stick to producing for sure. not sure about editing and first AD- despite them being my favourite roles, I am forever traumatised from this semester's production block)
* safety is so important !! people keep forgetting that and i don't know why

I'll be back soon during the weekend to discuss the screenings of everyone's films on Friday and just my general review of my first year at uni !!

Hope everyone is going well with their exams

[beatroot]

As Christmas slowly approaches us, I realised that I have not done a first year film school reflection post. Here’s one now. This also happens to be my 1,000th post (totally didn't plan that on purpose )

This year has got to be the best year of my life. Why? It was the year I broke out of my comfort zone, took on many responsibilities, tackled challenges and learnt more about myself. It’s so funny looking back on my earlier entries in my journal because I really was doubting pursuing a film degree. Would I be able to fit in? Would other people like me? Will my art be good enough? And to that- after a rollercoaster of a year, I’m glad to say that I survived everything. I survived all the confusing assignments, powering through production block and rising up from my problems.

Here’s an overview of my subjects:

Screen Business:

Spoiler

I found an interest in Screen Business class. I hadn’t thought about becoming a producer before going to film school. Fast forward to now, I would love to be one in the future. Wished that I paid a bit more attention in lectures and workshop as important producer related matters such paper agreements, festivals and copyrights are significant. It would’ve helped with production as well since I wasn’t too sure about Chain of Title documents and distribution forms. I look forward to Year 2 Screen Business and what else is in store.

Final mark: 76 (Distinction)

Story (Screenwriting):

Spoiler

I found my passion in Story class. Screenwriting is an art and allows me to express stories. This had to be my favourite subject of all since each lecture and workshop was engaging. It helps that my tutor was absolutely brilliant and had superb connections and just knew her shit. I was inspired by her to really push myself and write the best script that I could. And I did. My first ever fully written script got me my first high distinction (and only HD hehe) and really helped boost my confidence. I learned how to pitch my ideas to a group of people, how to improve my creative writing and how to make good creative decisions.

Final mark: 79 (Distinction)

Image (Cinematography):

Spoiler

I found home in Image. This was a class that felt like I was back in Visual Arts class and I found a sense of familiarity. In this class, we observe all the different planes of cinematography (ie; symmetry, rule of thirds, production design etc.) I enjoyed learning all the theoretical aspects of this class though I really wished I had paid attention to the technical parts of it (ie; aperture, lighting, noise, etc.) At first I was a bit intimidated by the people in my class because there were so little females (it was like a 3:1 male to female ratio I swear). However, I could never forget the workshop when our tutor (who also happened to be the head of Image) only let the females direct and operate the camera. I owe it all to my tutor who is so encouraging and so helpful and so kind and inspired me to really build upon my ideas in this class.

Final mark: 78 (Distinction)

Character & Performance (Directing):

Spoiler

I found clarification in Character & Performance. It was the subject that I was worried about the most because I knew directing was never my thing and I thought that directing was just bossing people around on set. I could never forget what our lecturer said- and that was ‘directing is a discipline that places actors within a space and a time’. It made so much sense. The whole point of the director was to bridge the gap between the actor and your vision of their character on screen. You have to give them a goal and a motivation in order to reach that vision. My tutor for this subject was an absolute gem and was so precious- bless her beautiful soul. She started every workshop with a warm up game and she would always take time to listen to our class rant and answer every single one of our burning questions. I really wished I had worked a bit harder on my assignments for this subject though.

Final mark: 72 (Credit)

Rhythm & Juxtaposition (Editing):

Spoiler

I found disappointment in Rhythm & Juxtaposition. I still remember the last day of Orientation Week where I had told my orientation tutor (who also happened to be the head of Rhythm & Juxtaposition and also ended up becoming my tutor for the subject) ‘I’m so excited for Rhythm & Juxtaposition!’. Though I found myself a bit disappointed with it when we finally got taught the subject in Semester two. All we did was edit in class (wow what a surprise) and that was it. I expected more. I expected how to colour grade. I expected to learn more about the theoretical side of editing. I really expected big things. The class felt very basic- to me anyways. I have to keep remembering that everyone has different experience levels when it came to editing. I already knew how to cut stuff and how to pick the right shots- so I’m hoping that Year 2 R&J would be a lot more interesting and challenging. Because of this, this really put me off the subject and it bit me in the ass because Rhythm & Juxtaposition became my poorest performing subject ever. It really didn’t help much since I came into film school with the intentions of wanting to become an editor in the future. I had let my ego and my reputation get in the way. I need to learn to really get into the grit of things rather than putting things off. I need to make goals for myself beyond the classroom context.

Final mark: 66 (Credit)

Sound:

Spoiler

I found … honestly not sure if I really found anything in Sound. It was such a boring class that it put me off big time and I started to skip out on lectures, workshops and screenings because of it. It got too technical at times (sound frequencies, waves and whatnot) and I was like helll to the nooo. Though I must say that I do regret not going to some of my lectures and workshops because I realise that sound is so important in film. Like my close friend had once said ‘so I’m basically 50% of your film?’. That’s what he said after I had hired him to be in a film I’m directing soon (will discuss more about this below). And I was like ‘what do you mean 50% of my film? You’re just sound’. He then said ‘sound makes up for 50% of the film. Without me, your story will not look good on the screen’. And he was right. I remember watching our end of semester two films during our screenings and some of the films had terrible sound quality and it really draws you out of the film. The plot, the production design, the cinematography etc. can be good, but if the sound is shit- you’ll just be brought back into the real world. Sound allows you to immerse within the world of the content you’re watching. Despite not attending most of my Sound lectures and workshops, I am honestly so gobsmacked to say that Sound ended up being my best performing subject for Semester 2 (what in tarnation). I’m gonna try and add in more effort next year since Sound correlates with Editing so much.

Final mark: 78 (Distinction) (I still think that I don’t deserve this mark)

Production:

Spoiler

I found valuable life lessons and experiences on set during production. I have seriously learnt more in the month of production combined than I have in my six months of lectures and workshops altogether. Makes sense though because we’re actually putting what we’ve learnt in class into practice. Production blocks are reflective of what’s the industry is like and what’s to come in the future. Being on set allows you to grow as a filmmaker. Semester 1’s production allowed us to experience all significant crew roles. While semester 2 production gave us the freedom to pick whatever role we wanted. I’ve learnt not to over commit to a lot of film projects or else I will suffer. For example, I had signed myself up to work and act in films in semester one that I got so so so physically sick that I couldn’t leave my house for a week. While in semester two, I worked on a lot of films and spread myself too thin that the quality of my work for each work that I had worked on wasn’t up to par. Friendships were tested and my work ethic was questioned by many. I had lost motivation in semester two’s production due to bad experiences with certain people in all pre, production and post. I really wished I hadn’t overcommitted because that burnt me out and I feel bad that I had done a shit job on all the films I worked on- especially the one I was editing. I’ve learnt not to work on films for the sake of helping out your friends. Yes I do want to help my friends but I also have to make sure that I’m genuinely interested in the project. My friends’ approval shouldn’t be my motivation- rather the project itself needs to be my main motivation. I’ll stick to only two films max next production. Also I really need to learn how to be confident on set because that will set the mood

Final marks:
Visual Storytelling (Sem 1): 76 (Distinction)
Short Form (Sem 2): 72 (Credit)

So here’s a ranking of my subjects:

Spoiler

Story: 79 (D)
Image: 78 (D)
Sound: 78 (D)
Screen Business: 76 (D)
Visual Storytelling: 76 (D)
Short Form: 72 (C)
Character & Performance: 72 (C)
Rhythm & Juxtaposition: 66 (C)

Technically first year does not count towards our WAM/GPA (woohoo!) I know all our assessments had different weightings and whatnot- but I calculated that my WAM/GPA is 75 (technically it’s 74.6 but I wanted to round it up to the nearest number *coughs* to get a distinction). I know grades don’t really matter in the film industry but I still would like to improve on my marks and really challenge myself to be a better student.

Besides my subjects- I’m still proud to say that I’ve managed to step out of my shell a bit and believe in myself (cheesy I know but it’s true). I had so much fun learning about film this year and I really really can’t wait for Year 2. However, I don’t start until 2nd week of March which is so far away oh my god. But I do have plans for myself in the upcoming months that will keep me busy- such as...

* Directing a short film (see my updates in my other thread ‘Bea’s Films’)
* Editing my friend’s short film (which I got picture lock for! Just waiting for the sound edit and the screen music to be sent in before final submission)
* Volunteering at a film festival
* Some AN related things
* Working my butt off at Priceline aha
* Figuring out a documentary topic to direct for production in semester one.

Not only have I learnt to step out of my shell at film school, I’ve learnt to step out of my shell in the real world. I’ve made new friends and unfortunately had lost some as well. I’ve learnt to get in touch with my emotions and let my heart be vulnerable. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had the time of my life. I’ve tried new things. And I’ve created and embarked on opportunities that will help me grow. If there really is one thing I would like to do in the new year- that would be to simply, just be confident. I can’t even tell you how many times I have been told to be confident by a certain amount of people- all ranging from my tutors to my friends to my co-workers to my parents and even myself. I’m still working on it but I can’t wait to meet this confident version of myself soon. She’ll be fantastic.

I guess that's 1/3 of my degree done. Still figuring out where I would like to pursue my master's degree. I was originally leaning towards University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) due to their immense connections within the American screen industry. But they don't have a masters in editing. I'm trying to look for a British institution that offers a Masters in Editing since I would like work in the British screen industry in the future. I probably won't pursue my master's degree until I'm ~25 years old as I would like to gain some experience in the industry first before doing my master's.

See you guys in the new year

[beatroot]

So my countdown timer tells me I have 52 more days til I go back to film school. I am honestly and genuinely so keen to get back to film school. I miss learning, I miss the environment and I miss the people.

If you know me irl, you know that I've been keeping myself crazy busy this month to the point I don't have a proper day off til February 3. In my list of plenty commitments, one of them is volunteering at a film festival. It's actually my first time volunteering at one and it's super chill. The transportation takes ages imo, but once I'm there- I'm just so amazed.

Watching short films in a two hour session rather than watching one big feature length film is somewhat refreshing and different. I reckon people should at least attend a film festival or watch one short film- they're really different to mainstream films !! And also- I hope to submit my film to a festival one day and would love to get selected for one

[beatroot]

Lowkey jealous of all the unsw students going back to uni tomorrow!! My timer tells me i have 22 days left til i go back!! I am so BORED despite committing to so many projects.

I've mentioned in a previous entry that I wanted to figure out a documentary topic for production block in year two. The thing is, yes I do have a topic, but it's like I've lost the drive to direct a film ever since I directed my short film nearly a month ago! I truly do not have the passion to become a director. It's exhausting. Plus I don't see the rush to direct a film for production when I can easily do it during the holidays on my own terms, you know?

I've decided to undertake two roles for sem one's production block: producer and editor. I love being producer because I get to be in charge of all the logistics of a film. I also want to edit because I want to redeem myself from my poorly edited film last year. Plus it makes sense for me to edit for sem one because we have to make documentaries and it is a dream of mine to edit documentaries at the BBC.

There's just something about the BBC (or the British screen industry in general) that screams sophistication in my opinion.

[smamsmo22]

22 days? Wow! How come such a late start?
I skimmed through your past entries and they were really interesting; I'm excited to hear how you go this year - I wish you all the best I don't know if you've covered this in past posts (oops and sorry if so ) but I had a couple of random, general questions... keep in mind I know nothing about film school(s).
Are there any major differences between your film school and a 'standard' university? This could be in terms of anything.. timetables, cohort age/size, class/course structure.. I'm genuinely just curious as I've had such little exposure to film school etc (but have already been quite interested in editing as a hobby (:
Sorry if these questions are super basic and uninformed 

[beatroot]

22 days? Wow! How come such a late start?
I skimmed through your past entries and they were really interesting; I'm excited to hear how you go this year - I wish you all the best I don't know if you've covered this in past posts (oops and sorry if so ) but I had a couple of random, general questions... keep in mind I know nothing about film school(s).
Are there any major differences between your film school and a 'standard' university? This could be in terms of anything.. timetables, cohort age/size, class/course structure.. I'm genuinely just curious as I've had such little exposure to film school etc (but have already been quite interested in editing as a hobby (:
Sorry if these questions are super basic and uninformed 

Hello! Reason for late start is because I'm heading into my second year of film school this year and second years start late compared to first and third years. I think it's because we want to give first years time to settle in before 2nd and 3rd years start. 3rd years usually start a week after 1st year (still pretty early than 2nd year) because its the final year so they need more time to work on their graduation projects and whatnot. Even though we start late, we still finish the year pretty early around the second week of November!

Thank you for your lovely words <3

I will try my best to compare and contrast film school and university. I have only heard about university structures through my friends and AN of course and I really have no idea 100% what happens in an actual university.

timetables/subjects/class structure

I can only speak for my film school because I'm sure that other film schools operate differently. In my film school, we only offer one bachelor degree (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production) so we don't need to worry about making timetables. It's just made for us. We don't have to worry about choosing subjects. We do the same subjects each year which are Screen Business, Story (Screenwriting), Image (Cinematography, Lighting and Production Design), Character & Performance (Directing), Rhythm & Juxtaposition (Editing), Sound and Production (production blocks occur at the end of each semester and go on for 3-4 weeks) However, the focus of each subject depends on the theme of each semester. For example for this year, in semester one we'll be focusing on documentaries and all things non-fiction, while we do things related to web series and episodic forms in semester two.

As for class/course structure, it is a three year bachelor degree. We are still in semesters (thank god!) with four months per semester. Three months dedicated to in class lectures and workshops and one month dedicated to production at the end of each semester. We go to film school three times a week. We start off the week with a 1-1.5 hour lecture on the first day. We do one subject per week and do them in cycles until we hit production block. Last year in Year 1, we did Screen Business, Story and Image in Semester 1 (four times) and Character & Performance, Rhythm & Juxtaposition and Sound in Semester 2 (four times). However, things are different in Year 2 where we have all six subjects in one semester but we only do them twice as opposed to the four we did in Year 1, if that makes sense? After our lecture, we go into a 1.5 hour workshop then 1 hour lunch then another 3 hour workshop, continuing from our previous workshop. The activities differ in each workshop and subject. I find Story to be the most engaging subject that's when we get the freedom to write our own stories.

On the second day we either do the same thing we did on the first day or just go straight into our workshop, skipping the lecture altogether. This depends on the subject. Usually Story, Character & Performance, Rhythm & Juxtaposition and Sound like to skip out on the lecture on the second day.

On the third day, we have a 1 hour lecture for our screen studies and learn about film history and whatnot. We then proceed into a 1.5-2.5 hr screening and watch a film related to our lecture. At the end if we have time, we have a discussion about the film. We break into our 1 hr lunch then head into a 1 hr seminar. In this we get given a question about the film industry (sometimes these questions are controversial) and we have a debate. One time two guys were arguing about Blackface in Hollywood and even continued their argument after the seminar ended and it was super intense! People get so passionate about seminars. Lastly, we have our 1.5 hr reflection where we reflect back on the week.

We have something called SDL day (Student Directed Learning day). It occurs in between the 2nd and 3rd day of uni. So we usually get given a task to do on the second day and we have to complete it on SDL day. We could do SDL at home or on campus, we have a choice! Or we get asked to complete our assessment task that's due soon.

cohort

In terms of cohort age/size, it's a bit of mixed between all years. In my year, there's a huge batch of fresh out of high school graduates. But the range for my year is pretty much 17-25. We do have one outlier who's 33 years old I think. However, other years have a much older range of students. There are a lot more males than females in each year group. I would say there's a 2:1 male to female ratio. Predominantly Caucasian students though there are quite a couple of Asian and Indigenous students as well! I would say there's a 5:1 Caucasian to POC ratio. Our cohort size is currently sitting aorund ~80. Our selection process is based on portfolio not ATAR and only 1/3 of applicants get accepted each year. There are around 15-20 people per class

the part where i actually talk about universities

I realised I kept rambling on about my film school and didn't really discuss the difference between it and university. I suppose the major difference is definitely the environment and the culture. I definitely feel more 'artsy' when I'm at film school. I think it's because of the facilities are clearly targeted towards film. The classrooms aren't just classrooms. They are film classrooms. We have mini sets with production design and all in each classroom in case we want to film something there. With university, since every degree study there, all the classrooms are kinda generic? Also you do have the university atmosphere and culture so I suppose it's much more prominent than the atmosphere I experience at film school. We don't get societies or clubs at film school which is something I would love if we had them!

University definitely does feel like an institution where you really don't know people. There are so many people at uni so it is impossible to make friends at first (from what I've heard from my friends anyways). My friend describes my film school 'Youth Group' because there's so little of us and we are forced to be with each other and therefore we end up being friends or at least acquaintances with everyone.

Film school really feels like a safe space to do your hobby as a degree without getting judged for it.

Obviously we can't pick up a second degree and do a double degree since we are the only degree at film school. We don't have to worry about making timetables and getting the best times because they're done for us. We don't even have to worry about getting lost on campus because we only have one building and you can't even access half of the rooms because they're for staff, radio, masters and third years only. I get so lost when I'm at UTS or UNSW because it's so big!

Sorry for rambling but I hope my answers makes sense

[RuiAce]

Lowkey jealous of all the unsw students going back to uni tomorrow!! My timer tells me i have 22 days left til i go back!! I am so BORED despite committing to so many projects.

You're making me cry Bea.

[smamsmo22]

Thanks for your answers, they were really insightful and I'm really glad you're liking your school

[beatroot]

So I went back to film school briefly today to attend the Peer Support lunch.

I should mention that I am a Peer Support leader for 2019 ✨ I was a(n) (unofficial) peer support buddy back in high school and I missed it so that’s why I decided to be one this year.

I got assigned to two first years but one didn’t show up today. My peer support buddy is super nice! I’m hoping she sees me the same way too aha.

We played a game today with all the other peer support leader and their first years where a random number would be shouted and we had to get into groups of whatever the number was said. I didn’t expect to last until the last round.

There was only three of us left: me, my peer support kid and another first year. They said get into a group of two and my kid and I got together and we ended up winning the game ahahhaha.

I haven’t felt that much adrenaline in a long time.

I have 18 days left of my holidays...

[sweetiepi]

So I went back to film school briefly today to attend the Peer Support lunch.

I should mention that I am a Peer Support leader for 2019 ✨ I was a(n) (unofficial) peer support buddy back in high school and I missed it so that’s why I decided to be one this year.

I got assigned to two first years but one didn’t show up today. My peer support buddy is super nice! I’m hoping she sees me the same way too aha.

We played a game today with all the other peer support leader and their first years where a random number would be shouted and we had to get into groups of whatever the number was said. I didn’t expect to last until the last round.

There was only three of us left: me, my peer support kid and another first year. They said get into a group of two and my kid and I got together and we ended up winning the game ahahhaha.

I haven’t felt that much adrenaline in a long time.

I have 18 days left of my holidays...

Being a Peer Support leader/mentor is definitely really rewarding in the long run, which is why I'm doing it again this year! (Also because I like feeling old haha!)
That game sure did sound really fun!

Hopefully your buddy sees you as the lovely and supportive person that you are! <3

[beatroot]

what's up everybody, welcome back to my channel. hi, how are ya?

After a very long and eventful four month break, I am now finally back at film school for my second year woohoo! This semester we are now focusing on non-fiction content which I think is personally more interesting than fiction content. Non fiction includes all things documentary, lifestyle, current affairs, reality tv and more! We had Screen Business this week which I've been looking forward to ever since I decided producing is a path I would like to take in the future.

We started off the week with a lecture with non-fiction stuff and all the tutors talked about their specialities in non-fiction. Our lecturer was a producer for Better Homes & Garden so was cool to hear her experiences working on a lifestyle show. One tutor discussed documentary. My favourite talk from a tutor was the one who specialised in reality tv and actually used to be a producer for MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT!!! This is my favourite reality tv show ever so it was so cool hearing her talking about the behind the scenes stuff as well as confirming the rumours that have been spreading in the media lately.

We spent the rest of the week focusing on marketing, audience for non-fiction and our end of sem projects.

lil rant

Is it weird that I prefer female tutors? Because 4 out of 5 of the Screen Business tutors are female and I'm lowkey annoyed that I got the male tutor. This sounds so bad but I just have a preference for female tutors, especially at film school. The film industry is filled with so many males so having a female tutor just gives me hope that I do have a place somewhere in the industry in the future. It also doesn't help that my Screen Business class is 70% male. It's quite intimidating.

It be like that sometimes...