March 18, 2018
Subject of the week: Image 1
If I were to summarise what happened this week, it'll just be 'HSC Visual Arts: the extended version'. Essentially, Image is just cinematography and we did a lot of activities this week to help our creative juices flowing.
Think I'll copy potatohater's use of the spoilers because it does seem a bit neater ;)
Tuesday
rotation and activities
We rotated in five different classrooms today to do different activities:
#1: VR Reality- this was my first time using a VR machine so it really did feel like I was actually in a different world. I remember standing up whilst watching the 'White House' tour one and I couldn't sit back down on my seat so my classmate had to drag me to my seat. There's a Stranger Things VR and holy shit it was so terrifying. The demogorgon came up behind me and that's was the moment I started swearing and crying during my workshop and my tutor wouldn't stop laughing at me. That's how he learnt my name.
#2: Circle drawing thingo- I don't know how to describe this activity but you can check out what we did in my instagram account @editedbybea
#3: We had to draw the person next to us and do blind drawing. By looking at my drawing, my tutor told me that I was the type of student who was very harsh to themselves during the creative process and I've never heard anything more accurate in my life.
#4: Taking photo in low light
#5: Pinhole photography- honestly the most confusing type of photography ever! I personally don't like the style.
Wednesday
lights and stuff
In our lecture, we learnt about the elements and principles of photography and composition which was interesting. Then for our workshop, our tutor gave us an induction on lights. We then had to do two lighting exercises; a) do three point lighting and b) create a photo with mood lighting. After uni, we had running club again.
Thursday
sdl day
Today was a SDL day (student directed learning day) where we basically have to do the task that our subject leader ask us to do and present during reflection the following day. The task was to research a work at any art gallery in Sydney and use it as inspiration for our upcoming short film for Image 1. I decided to choose Richard Long's 'Southern Gravity' work at the AGNSW just because I have a lot of memories of learning it during art class so I felt that I had this emotional connection with this work. I headed back to AFTRS just for a few hours to work on my group task for Screen Business.
Friday
silent films and reflection
We had a three hour screening analysis where we learnt about German Expressionism movement (does the film Metropolis (1927) sound familiar to you ;)) and watched a German silent horror film called 'Des Cabinet du Dr. Caligari'. I've never watched a silent film in my life so this was a completely new experience. Then we had an Image seminar where the question was 'Do you need to know film history in order to make a film?'. I was a bit 50/50 on this question. Then we had our reflection where our tutor checked up on where we got up to during SDL day. Not 100% sure if my tutor was happy with my analysis for Long's installation work (that was the moment I realised that Image was a much more intense version of HSC Visual Arts and that I need to step up my game a bit more)
I Have Friends?
pls click on the hyperlink above
YAY! I'm so glad I finally found a proper group of friends that I can sit with during breaks and hang out after uni hours. Around twenty four people from my degree went laser tagging after uni on Friday and it was fun just being in a completely different environment and just shooting people with lasers. Though in one round, there were a bunch of eight year old boys and it's actually shocking how the eight of them beat the fourteen of us? After laser tagging, I just chilled with my group and they wouldn't let me leave ahahah. It really feels great being settled in at uni. I wish the same for everyone else. I really do believe it takes time.
Just need to catch up on my assignments now after a very busy week and weekend :)
03/04/18 - 06/04/18
Subject of the week: Image 1
At first, I really wasn’t looking forward to this week because I started to dislike cinematography after its first week. I felt intimidated by everyone in the class and I was scared that I wouldn’t be good enough. Things changed this second week of Image 1.
Tuesday:
the tale of the six cinematographers
So the topic for our lecture was called ‘The Frame: The Window on our World’ where we learnt about composition, depth cue, focal element and more. I thought this lecture was really interesting because you never really think about what’s in a frame until you realise the intentions of the cinematographer and you go ‘ah, so that’s the effect they were going for’. Our lecturer mentioned that there’s a huge demand for female cinematographers in the industry which ties in perfectly with our workshop. My tutor is also the lecturer so we definitely get more out of the workshops compared to the other classes (and he’s also the head of cinematography at AFTRS so that’s a MASSIVE bonus). In the class of 19, there were only 6 girls and we were put in charged of doing the cinematography work for the rest of the day. For some reason, I felt a sense of power and dominance for once as this little group of females managed to create beautiful compositions. Plus it was funny seeing all the boys sitting on their seats, dying to work with the camera. And every time they would try and interrupt us, our tutor would tell them to stop. Our tutor asked who wanted to edit the rushes and I immediately volunteered because I love editing and we don’t learn Rhythm and Juxtaposition until Sem 2. My tutor was impressed that I was able to edit a scene in a matter of 10 minutes and that’s when my reputation started to build within my Image class. I was now known as ‘Bea the editor’; something I had always identified as and will always will. It felt good.
Wednesday:
i am not throwing away my shot!
For our lecture this time, we learnt about different lenses and perspective. Whilst in our workshop, we filmed yet again another scene. But this time, it was the same scene but one using a wide shot and one shot that is zoomed in. Afterwards we learnt about storyboarding and presented our storyboards in front of our class. I also invited a couple of my high school friends from UNSW to visit me at lunch. It was weird seeing my high school and university lives intermingling. It was something I didn't think would even remotely happen.
Thursday:
sdl day
For SDL day, I decided to head off to Cockatoo island to check out the 21st Biennale of Sydney but as well to get an original photo for my assessment task. I got some decent shots and I realised there was a common object in all my photos- STAIRS. This original photo is meant to be a reference for my film for Image.
Friday:
i really don't like riverdale :(
We started the day off with a lecture about animation and anime (yes I said anime). Then we had a screening analysis of the film ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ which was a beautiful film yet heart wrenching story about two siblings trying to survive WWII in Japan. We had a seminar about ‘high culture vs popular culture’, giving me the perfect opportunity to bag out Riverdale and making people in my class laugh :) We finished the day off with reflection.
So I finally got around to submitting part one of my Image assessment just a couple of hours ago. Now I just need to work on pre-production documents for all the films I’m involved in at the end of semester production block. I’m getting assessed on being writer/director for my own film but I also have to fill out documents for other films as its mandatory to partake in different roles such as cinematographer, first AD, producer and production designer.
Omg same! I hate Riverdale as well! Season 1 was ok but then it went downhill from there. Like, the plot got really messy and they just announced they're making SEASON THREE. I feel like I just hate any teen dramas because they're always using the same plot line of having a love triangle to extend the conflict, kinda like what they did in Riverdale between Veronica, Betty and Archie- to me, that's just lazy writing.
Anyways, it's really interesting to look at the 'behind-the-scenes' in what film students do. I love looking at the details in what film directors do and how it contributes to their story telling- Oscar season is when I usually get to fangirl more over Best Picture films lol.
Can't wait for your next update :)
MY RANT ABOUT RIVERDALE BECAUSE THIS SHOW ANNOYS ME so don't read if you're a huge riverdale fan thx
To be fair on Riverdale, they have beautiful cinematography and the lighting is nice but that's just about it. Main reason why I only watched Season 1 because I wanted to know who killed Jason (really pissed me off when I found out who did). Riverdale has all the elements to a teen drama show and it's too overwhelming. You've got your girl next door. The rich bad girl turned good turned bad turned good (... this goes on forever). The Troy Bolton wannabe who's head is in the game but his heart's actually in the song. The angsty kid who doesn't want to fit in. The whole "murder plot in a seemingly perfect small town that's actually really dark". The unnecessary musical numbers (what the hell was that Milkshake cover on the rooftop of the diner???) The really disgusting student-teacher relationship. I can literally go on. I feel that Riverdale is trying too hard with the show. Would the show be as popular if the CW didn't cast stereotypically hot actors? Who knows. Rant over. (I just remembered Dark Betty but I'm not even gonna go into that because I think that's enough for tonight)
It's actually amazing how much time and effort is done behind the scenes for films. I have a lot of respect for all the filmmakers out there. Even though most of the attention goes to the actors, they're still really proud of their work and that's the only thing that matters :)
The next month won't be as interesting (in my opinion anyways) because I don't have any assignments due til May 7. By the time May 16 strolls by, I would already have a 1000 Screen Business pitch, a 4-5 minute screenplay and a one minute film done. And of course, that doesn't include the end of semester production at the end of May ;) I'll definitely be ranting about the pre prod docs and production for the next two months aha
MY RANT ABOUT RIVERDALE BECAUSE THIS SHOW ANNOYS ME so don't read if you're a huge riverdale fan thx
To be fair on Riverdale, they have beautiful cinematography and the lighting is nice but that's just about it. Main reason why I only watched Season 1 because I wanted to know who killed Jason (really pissed me off when I found out who did). Riverdale has all the elements to a teen drama show and it's too overwhelming. You've got your girl next door. The rich bad girl turned good turned bad turned good (... this goes on forever). The Troy Bolton wannabe who's head is in the game but his heart's actually in the song. The angsty kid who doesn't want to fit in. The whole "murder plot in a seemingly perfect small town that's actually really dark". The unnecessary musical numbers (what the hell was that Milkshake cover on the rooftop of the diner???) The really disgusting student-teacher relationship. I can literally go on. I feel that Riverdale is trying too hard with the show. Would the show be as popular if the CW didn't cast stereotypically hot actors? Who knows. Rant over. (I just remembered Dark Betty but I'm not even gonna go into that because I think that's enough for tonight)
RIVERDALE RANT IN RESPONSE TO YOUR RIVERDALE RANT LOL
Tbh, the characters aren't likeable. Like, how is Archie okay with having an affair with a teacher? From my basic knowledge of the US legal system, it's considered pedophilia if someone over the age of 21 is dating with someone under 18. Archie is 16 for god sakes! And he's cool with that?? And it's not really showing a positive light on relationships either, like Miss Grundy is essentially manipulating him and then he partially lies about what happened on July 4th. And then what happens to Miss Grundy? She gets killed off in the end. Why would they introduce Miss Grundy if they're not gonna do anything with her? Like, she had a massive impact on Archie's life but then she gets killed off.
Don't get me started with Jughead. He tried so hard to be all 'emo' but THAT'S NOT WHAT BEING EMO IS. Being emo (as someone who's a casual listener of the emo sub-culture) is expressing your feelings, usually out of anger. You want people to know that you're angry, not get moody and bottle up everything. Oh, and don't get me started on his speech to Betty: "I don't know if you noticed this, but I'm weird." EVERY TEEN GOES THROUGH THIS! Just because you feel that way, doesn't mean other teens aren't self-conscious either. I feel like the screenwriters should have a really good look at how teens are in reality. All teens are self-conscious- that notion of that one kid being a special one because he's 'weird' is basically an old-fashioned stereotypical view on what teen life is about.
Oh, and Cheryl? She's so useless after Season 1. She was supposed to be bad rich girl turned good but then she continues to talk crap to the group. Like, wtf?? They literally helped her find out who killed Jason and even saved her from drowning, and she responds by treating them like crap again? And then she suddenly shows up in that racing scene? She wasn't even involved in that Southside Serpents stuff- why did she suddenly appear there?
And then there's Veronica- I feel like the writers tried to make her be all 'relatable' and 'likeable' but tbh, it just seems like she tries too much to be sassy. Being savage is lightly insulting someone in an almost-joking situation, not saying stuff like 'Be the Jay to my Bey?' That's basically the writers being like 'Oh look, these kids love Beyonce so let's include some pop-culture references.' Just no.
I can go on forever about this lol.
10/04/18 - 13/04/18
Subject of the week: Screen Business 1
It would seem very appropriate to do an update now after I just submitted my pre production documents a few hours ago and I can now relax until the next flood of assessment due dates comes in three weeks.
tuesday, wednesday, friday
I'm not gonna update yall on what happened specifically on each day as all my three uni days felt so similar. This was the first week at uni I felt that I actually learnt something for once. It's gotten to the point where my brain started throbbing during class and I had excuse myself from class to go on a stroll around AFTRS just to clear my head. This week put a lot of emphasis on what producers do, the pre production process and all the goddamn paperwork that goes behind the scenes. I've learnt about shooting schedules, budgeting (I haven't done maths since my HSC exam so this part confused the hell out of me quite a lot) and risk assessments. A lot of the stuff we did in our workshops involved a shit ton of paper work. I literally haven't written this much since my paper two exam. Think I might stray away from pre production for the rest of my life thanks
play it, sam
It's actually quite interesting how the emphasis on censorship in the Hollywood studio system and the events of the Second World War had affected the ending for the film 'Casablanca'. During our screening analysis on Friday, we watched the film. The first hour confused me and I really wanted to drift to sleep (there hasn't been one screening analysis where I was fully awake. The seats in the main theatre are so comfy!) But then stuff got interesting in the second half and I sat right up in my seat the entire time. The ideal ending for Casablanca (spoilers ahead!) would've been Rick and Ilsa ending up together but since the Hollywood studio system did not tolerate adultery, they did not let that happen. The film could not keep Victor and Ilsa in Casablanca because that had meant the Nazis won and I highly doubt during the midst of WWII, America would let that happen. Therefore the most appropriate ending for the film, in order to satisfy the censorship rules and the American spirit during the war, was to simply let Ilsa and Victor escape on the plane. Fun fact: Kissing scenes during the Hollywood studio system could not go for longer than three seconds- it was considered immoral
the tale of bea and her pre production docs
So after starting my pre prod docs late, I surprisingly finished a day early. Once I got over the confusing doc templates on Moodle, I was ready to go. I did my risk assessment, budget and crew list as a producer. I did a shooting schedule, safety notes and tech recce report (discovered that this was just a fancy term for location survey report) as first AD. I did a visual treatment and an equipment list as cinematographer. I did an art department breakdown and a visual reference and concept art report as production designer. Last but not the least, I did a script and director's vision statement as writer/director (this is the role I want to be assessed on which is very fitting as it is my own film). I seriously cannot wait for the production block to see everyone's films come alive on the screen.
my acting debut
Very clickbait-y spoiler title but I got picked to play in someone's else film. I will play the girlfriend and I got one of my friends to play my boyfriend. I cannot tell you the plot of the film here as I do not want to disrespect the writer/director of the film. The shoot should happen on a day between May 31 to June 4. I haven't acted since I had a speaking role in a Year 6 production but this should be fun because I'll definitely be stepping out of my comfort zone. I hate being infront of the camera (hence why I'm studying film production) but it should be interesting...
fit hot guys have problems too
I decided to attend debating club this week because I felt bad for not attending the last one. Anyways, I was just expecting to watch people debate. But because there was so little of us compared to the very first meet up, everyone was forced to debate. My topics were 'Black and white films are boring' [negative] and 'good films and shows only have hot people in them' [affirmative]. I seriously did not have a proper argument for both topics (-even admitted it in my second debate), I just sassy strutted around the room and hoped my charm won the hearts of the judges. I kept ranting about 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'Riverdale' and surprisingly I won both debates. #blessed
We've got one more week of Screen Business left and I'm so excited because this subject is so content heavy ahhhhh and it hurts my brain and I just want it out. I still have to study it in my second and third years tho (it's mandatory for all years I'm afraid)
17/04/18 - 20/04/18
Subject of the Week: Story 1
During this entire week, there was a HUGE emphasis on character, controlling ideas, the world and whatnot.
thanks for spoiling the sixth sense aftrs
Tuesday and Wednesday:
We began the first workshop of the week by eating fortune cookies and trying to apply the fortune to our character for our script. Then we had to create to write our own fortune that applies to our character so I wrote “You must accept the present in order to move on from the past”. After our workshop, we had a three hour screening of the film ‘The Turning’ which is basically a series of short films based on Tim Winton’s book of the same name. We got assigned a short film each and had to present our findings the next day. I shit you not, I had the second most confusing short film and practically had to bs my presentation and analysis. I really love how chill the culture is at AFTRS because even though I openly admitted that I had no idea what the hell just happened in the short film, my tutor was completely fine with it. I even included this screenshot in my presentation where I tried to ask for help in my cohort’s facebook group.
Thursday:
So I booked a mentoring session with the Head of Character & Performance (directing) and she helped me how to direct people for my upcoming film ‘Memento Mori’. She was heaps helpful and challenged my views on what directing actually was. “It’s not about bossing people around. It’s about putting your actors within the present time”.
Friday:
We had a lecture about Indigenous people within Australian cinema. For our screening analysis we watched Warwick Thorton’s ‘Samson and Delilah’ which was I thought was a refreshing film to watch because it was nice to see another culture being portrayed on the screen. We then had a seminar about how the audience’s background can influence how they interpret a film. Lastly for our reflection, our class we were given a scenario and we were assigned different parts of the scenario to write a script on.
It was a bit disheartening when I got my mark for my Story Development Portfolio because I was really hoping for a HD or at least a D. I spent so much time working on it and really thought I had it in the bag. Probably more than my other assessments combined. But I ended up getting a C and I was like NOOOOOOO!!! Anyways, I got my shit together and ended up writing a decent first draft in the following week which I’m really proud of. Still currently awating feedback from my tutor.
23/04/18 - 27/04/18
Subject of the Week: Image 1
This week was a bit weird because my days got shifted because of Anzac Day. So I had Monday and Tuesday on, Wednesday and Thursday off (Anzac Day and SDL Day) and had Friday on.
really busy week
Monday:
Our lecture was basically about a character and their world, so there’s was a lot of talk on production design. We even got a guest speaker who’s a costume designer herself from Hollywood and has worked in films like ‘The Dressmaker’, ‘Lawless’ and ‘The Road’. For our workshop, we just made mood boards based on descriptive extracts that we were given.
Tuesday:
Today we messed around the green screen and lights today. We were expected to do a double exposure ‘portrait’ of us and do VFX to make it super artsy and stuff. I ended up doing the ‘You’re Watching Disney Channel’ which took WAYYY TOO LONG to edit. Adobe Premiere Pro was completely fine but it was just Adobe After Effects that was being a little bitch to me. I could not for the life of me export the damn file. Took me about 45 minutes to render and export the damn edit. I didn’t know whether or not my tutor was impressed by it because I didn’t follow the criteria but o well.
Wednesday and Thursday:
On Wednesday, I headed off to Cockatoo Island to film my one minute short for my Image 1 artefact. Filming took longer because there were so many freaking people on the island (as it was a public holiday) so we timed it so there weren’t any people in the shot. I finally figured out the meaning I wanted to do with my film and it’s basically about internal conflict. Whilst on Thursday, I finished my parts for my Screen Business pitch, my script for Story and edited all the possible angles for my Image one minute short. It’s scary how fast I’m progressing with my assessments. I’m genuinely concerned. I also got my mark for my Image Contextual Analysis report and got a D yyeeeeee! It was essentially a report about any artist and an analysis of one of their artworks which was exactly just like HSC Visual Arts.
Friday:
We had our production check in instead of our usual screening analysis. We literally spent three hours on everybody’s risk assessments for their film which was a bit of a drag ngl. My tutor told me that my risk assessment lacked detail and was terrible ahah so I have to redo it before the shoot starts. I had my first brief with my actors in regards to my upcoming short film which went terrible than expected :( For our seminar, the topic was ‘Should we separate the art from the artist’ which is SO relevant in today’s film industry especially with the #MeToo movement. Our edits from Tuesday got screened in the main theatre in front of the entire cohort and people laughed at my Disney Channel edit ahahaha. Lastly, for our reflection I did a quick presentation on Billy Elliot’s costume in the film. Afterwards, it was my friend’s birthday celebrations and it was perfect because it was a great way to end two hectic weeks.
01/05/18 - 04/05/18
Subject of the week: Screen Business 1
cultural competency and whatnot
Pretty much for the entire week, there was so much emphasis on cultural competency and diversity which I LOVE! This has been my favourite week of Screen Business so far because I can relate so much and it bring me hope that the industry will be inclusive and diverse in the future and that’s a workplace I would love to be in. We had to do an informal presentation in groups and we were assigned the Ghost in the Shell whitewashing controversy. It felt so good knowing that my opinion, as an Asian female living in a Western country, mattered the most. My voice was being recognised for once and it was so fucking refreshing. We watched the Australian film ‘My Brilliant Career’ which everyone ended up hating and our lecturer was so disappointed aha. We had a seminar on ‘gender matters’ and learn that Screen Australia (main funding body for film projects in Australia) will only fund films if at least 50% of the key creative team are females. Bonus points if they come from a minority background. It was nice learning this because at least I know there’s a good chance I will get funding in the future. We ended the week meditating on the front lawn.
08/05/18-11/05/18
Subject of the week: Story 1
goodbye story </3
I was so sad coming into the last week of Story because I love love love this subject so much and I admire my tutor and I will miss her. This week we focused on adding more depth to our five minute screenplay. We got paired up with another person in the class because we need to do a peer script report as apart of our assessment. This week has been a creatively draining week for me because I hate receiving feedback from other people but of course I’ve learnt that people will criticise my work and that’s ok. From this, I was able to create my screenplay much more dramatic. My script even had a table read in my class and hearing my script come alive felt so cool! I've also come to realise that I have this emotional attachment to my script which is bad. I've also learnt last week that I need to separate my emotions to my art in order to progress.
click me!
INT. BEA'S BEDROOM - NIGHTFADE IN.BEA, a film student, is typing her new entry for her university journey journal on atarnotes. She's got her headphones in. Her phone next to her. BEA is reminiscing the past.BEA (CONT'D)
So it’s been about two and a half hours since I submitted my script and I’m starting to miss it.
She looks at her script. A melancholic look clouds her face.BEA (CONT'D)
But I need to learn to let go. Goodbye script. I don’t know when I’m ever gonna see you again.
A tear falls down her cheek. BEA (CONT'D)
(is lowkey sad)
But wherever you are, hope you are doing well.
FADE TO BLACK.
My short film: an update
memento mori progress!!!
So I had my first blocking meeting with my two actors and I seriously could not stop laughing. I think it was because I was uncomfortable with directing them not because their dancing was funny. They’re picking up what I want really quickly which is good. But I’m still worried about timing and all that. AHHH. Production is so close. My film shoot is on May 26 and I’m both nervous and excited all at the same time.
Visual Storytelling - Production Block: A Review
We had our production block from May 26 to May 29. We have been asked to write/direct our own 1.5-2 minute films but as well as to work on your group members’ films in roles such as cinematographer, production designer, first assistant director and producer (rotated each round). There has been a lot of sweat and tears put into pre-production and I just can’t believe production just flew so quickly.
May 26:
the sugar plum fairy and ed sheeran on loop
Production Designer:
Was in charge of creating a Christmas-Office space for a lovely Christmas film. There was tinsel everywhere, fake snowflakes hung up on the wall and a Christmas tree in the corner. There’s a part in the film where one of the elves had to knock over the Christmas tree but in some takes, the tree either went off the opposite direction or just disconnects completely aha. It was fun resetting the set every time. I was also in charge of handing over the milk and cookies to one of the actors. Overall, it was a super fun film to work on.
Director: (my own film: Memento Mori)
Honestly biggest regret of saying I wanted to get assessed on this role because I was just too shy as a director. We had a slight problem with my actress’ dress ten minutes before the shoot and ended up spending $20 on the day to get it fixed. This cut time into my shoot. We also had problems with my location as well so this cut more time. Though my actor and actress were heaps chill and flexible which was nice. My crew could tell that I was so nervous and shy so they gave my actors suggestions and I just went along with it. I’m a very flexible director. Once my actors got the timing right, the shoot was smooth from that point on. We were super ahead of schedule so we decided to play random songs to get the actors into a different mood. Surprisingly the take where we played ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ from Lion King, was actually my favourite take. Lessons learned from this: 1) make sure you do a dress rehearsal before the shoot. 2) don’t direct anything ever again.
May 27:
8:30 crew call :(
Actress:
Was technically supposed to be my break from the shoot but my group mate approached me weeks ago if I could act in his film and I was like why not. All I had to do was sit in his car and look at the figure outside the window. Heaps easy. It was also the shoot where one of the tutors visited us and observed our crew. He said that we were super professional and even better than the second years if he says so himself ;)
May 28:
the time i was a glorified runner *not clickbait* ;)
Producer:
Technically in the real world, producers don’t go on set just because they’re more focused on pre production stuff rather than production. But we had to go anyways for the sake of the task. Since the shoot was in a small bathroom, there was no space at all for all crew members. They could only fit the director, two actors, cinematographer and first AD in the bathroom. The entire shoot I was just chilling with the production designer outside aha. Though I did go on a coffee run so that my cast and crew were alive during the shoot.
Cinematographer:
As it is a very small production, camera operator and cinematographer essentially became the same thing. Since the director just wanted a static, symmetrical shot of his film (dining scene between a couple) all I had to do was press the record button ahaha.
May 29:
so much love in the air
First Assistant Director:
Probably my second favourite role (just below production designer) because I was able to boss people around on set ahahah. I was in charge of everyone’s safety on set (got myself a first aid kit the other day) and had to do a safety induction as well. As it was a small production, the role of first assistant director and second assistant camera (aka the clapper loader/slate person), was amalgamated. It was so fun doing the slate for every take. This film was so cute to watch as well as it was very bubbly, so joyful, so pure and had so much love in it (it was a proposal scene) and I’m not ashamed to admit that I nearly cried during the first take.
Overall thoughts:
read if you want lol
- Production block went better than I expected. Shoots go by so quick it’s ridiculous!
- I’m considering being a first assistant director at some point in my (hopefully) film career. Creating the call sheets and shooting schedule made me oddly happy for some reason?
- I really shouldn’t be harsh on myself about the whole directing thing. But hopefully once we learn directing next semester, I should get better.
- Production design is also another area that I would like to be in as well.
- This production block was just so fun!!!
I still technically have other shoots to work on (ie; acting in two more films. Just acted in one after the shoot where I was first AD.) Will be working as first assistant director on a third year shoot next Tuesday and Wednesday which should be super exciting!! (we will be in the studios). Will also work in the post production team for a second year film.
Until our next production block which will be in mid October :)
Semester One reflection:
So we finally reached the end of semester woohoo! Still can’t believe I made it through my first semester of university. It’s funny looking back on my earlier entries and seeing how much I was worrying about not being able to make friends and not thinking I was as good as the other people in my cohort. After going through my grades, I think it’s safe to say that, yes, I do truly belong at AFTRS and I deserve a spot and I shouldn’t put myself down too much (wow Bea you’re getting too cheesy stop ahaha).
June 15, 2018 (last day of semester)
93 short films!!!
So we started the day with watching everyone’s 2 minute films in the main theatre. We had to vote either HD, D, C, P or F for the films. There were heaps of fantastic films and I gave out a lot of HD’s and D’s. The voting process took forever so we had to continue watching the rest after lunch.
We watched the rest of the films in the lecture hall. Though there was a problem with the screening because the film sizes were too big so they had to render and compress the files. Whilst they were doing this, the course leader gave us a rundown for production for next semester. I’m SO glad we get to pick who we want to work with and there are more assessable roles this time round (editing here I come!!!).
We broke off into our reflection groups afterwards. Our tutor could not get anything out of anyone in the class so he started picking random people ahaha. About an hour later, we headed back to the lecture hall to watch the rest of the films. My film was finally screened and at first I could not look at it. Then I heard people going ‘oohhh’ and ‘ahhh’ and that’s when I started watching my film. I’m super glad that I got an audience reaction for ‘Memento Mori’. If you haven’t seen my film yet, feel free to watch it
here.
When all the films were finally done (93 short films later
holy shit), everyone headed off to the end of semester party.
Grades
!!!!!!
I think in terms of my grades, I’m pretty satisfied with them. My grade averages for Screen Business, Story and Image are within the Distinction range which is super cool and I’m so happy!! Not quite sure with Visual Storytelling/Production just yet but am hoping for a distinction too. I’m surprised that my university assignments have been less stressful than my high school assignments and exams. It’s probably because I enjoy doing them so much that it doesn’t feel like I'm doing a uni assignment.
Lil rant
bea gets super cheesy here lol
But in seriousness, I have to say that I LOVE university so much. I did enjoy high school too but there’s just so much freedom at university. I’m studying film and I love seeing my creativity grow as an artist. It’s AMAZING!! I love pushing my boundaries and seeing how far I could go with my art. Seriously cannot wait for next semester where we learn Character & Performance (directing), Rhythm & Juxtaposition (editing) and Sound. I also read my letter to my future self that I wrote back in O-Week and past Me was so optimistic. Bless her.
What now?
time to rest i guess
To make this one month semester break as productive as much as possible, I’m planning on purchasing the Canon EOS 80D camera and try and make some shorts/docs. I’m also going to work heaps at my job to earn back the money I’m going to spend for the camera. And of course, catching up with high school and university friends and family.
Two things from today!
1. So the tutor I had for my first ever short film course (at NIDA) back in 2016 was our guest lecturer today for directing! It was so cool seeing him again after two years. He was the main reason why I really got into film. I talked to him after the lecture today and showed him the picture of us from the course. He said congrats on getting into AFTRS and it's crazy to think how much of an impact one person could make!
i'm gonna spoiler this just cos-
And 2. We were asked to read this one page script in our workshop today and one by one we had to give a two minute director's pitch of how we wanted to block the actors scene, the mood and the coverage and all that jazz. I disliked the script so much which made it harder for me to do this two minute pitch on the spot! I could not envision this script whatsoever. I bullshitted my way through and my tutor thought that my vision was very clear (despite having no preparation beforehand). Although for the feedback part, I kid you not, she gave me the same exact advice as my screenwriting and cinematography tutors gave me back in semester one which was basically 'Bea you need to believe in yourself more and own it! You need more confidence' and that my friends- I discovered my character flaw that I need to overcome during my degree. My tutor asked the class if anyone else had feedback for me and literally three people repeated the exact same words she said.
I just need to be more confident with my craft and myself goddamit!!!! Why is it so hard :/ This is the industry I chose. Being shy will get me nowhere.
That's all :)
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.
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!
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 ;D
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 :)
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 :D I don't know if you've covered this in past posts (oops and sorry if so :P) 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 ;D
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...
I thought Year 1 was a great year. I was so wrong. Year 2 is so much better. Semester One was pretty amazing but Semester 2 was by far the greatest semester at film school. I really enjoyed Semester Two because I pushed myself to do the impossible and managed to achieve it.
Here’s an overview of Semester Two. We focused on episodic content which is my favourite type of content in the screen industry.
Screen Business 2B:
Spoiler
I really enjoyed this semester for Screen Business. We kinda moved away from the typical business side of things and moved towards social media stuff. It was interesting learning about multiplatform content and how that can help build an audience. The group presentation was quite food as well as I was with a good group (which is very rare). We also had a workshop where the tutors rotated in between classes and talked about their areas of expertise in screen business (ie budgeting, pitching, marketing etc.) which I thought was very useful and interesting. Also wanted to mention all the tutors for Screen Business were female which was super cool and badass (warms my heart that there’s female representation in the field)
Final mark: 78 (Distinction)
Story 2B:
Spoiler
Probably one of the few subjects that I didn’t enjoy this semester. I do enjoy story in general since writing stories and planning out stuff is something I enjoy. The lectures were great since we learnt about returnable elements in popular television content. It was just the workshops that ruined the subject for me (which sucks big time)
Final mark: 79 (Distinction)
Image 2B:
Spoiler
I think what made Image so interesting this semester was two things: 1) learning about rules and guidelines you need to consider when doing episodic content and 2) actually learning about production design (finally). My tutor was AMAZING and was so passionate about production design. It was interesting to hear how production designers work with cinematographers and vice versa. We had an activity in our final week of Image where our lecturer assigned us to re-create ‘The Amazing Race’. We were given activities to do in our groups of four. Two people would do the challenges while the other two would film them. We just had to make sure the camera didn’t stop rolling and predict what people would do next. I hope I make sense ahahah.I really enjoyed the assignment as well.
Final mark: 81 (Distinction)
Character & Performance 2B:
Spoiler
I really despise directing. Even though I said Semester two was great, this was honestly the worst subject I have studied. I didn’t see how my lectures and workshops correlated with directing within the episodic landscape. Our workshops consisted of reading long scripts and trying to figure out the character’s motivations and stuff. We literally did this stuff in first year so I was disappointed that we were just doing the same thing in Year 2. The assignment was terribly confusing and my marks clearly reflect that.
Final mark: 66 (Credit)
Rhythm & Juxtaposition 2B:
Spoiler
Fun fact: My original tutor for this must’ve been on industry leave or something because he didn’t turn up once! But that’s ok because we had recent graduates teach us how to edit. We pretty much spent all our workshops doing our assignment. We were given 3 scenes from ‘Rake’ and had to edit them into a 5 minute sequence. We were also introduced to VFX this semester which is so bloody interesting (not sarcastic). This lecture was run by my editing tutor from last semester (he’s the best tutor I’ve met at film school so I was super excited to see him run the VFX lecture)
Final mark: 76 (Distinction)
Sound 2B:
Spoiler
Sound 2B was a literal carbon copy of Year 1 sound so I don’t really feel like I learnt anything at all in this subject. Learning to record sound on site was alright. Very disappointed with how post-sound was approached and I hope that part of the Sound curriculum improves for the next year.
Final mark: 76 (Distinction)
Episodic Production:
Spoiler
This was the subject that really made the semester and made it the best one. Episodic production was very different to other productions I’ve had so far. Other productions = some writer/director pitches their short film idea and they get a crew of 8 ish people to make it happen. Since we’re doing episodic content, the school gave us two briefs to work on and we had to make the new season for the shows. Since we had to make five episodes, there had to be at least 30 crew members on board. We had to get interviewed for the role that we wanted which was super intense.
I applied for the role of ‘Series Producer’ for the reality TV dating show brief (called What’s Your Flava?- feel free to watch Season 1 on Youtube), which is basically the biggest role on the show. What’s your Flava? is a reality dating and cooking show for bisexual people and we had to make the second season this year. The role of the Series Producer (on a dating show) besides producing the show also included figuring out how to twist the original brief, getting cast, doing the paperwork, writing the challenges etc. I said ‘why not. I enjoy producing. I want to get assessed on producing. If I don’t get the role then it’s not meant to be’. I was up against 10 other applicants which was hectic. I was so terribly nervous during my interview and my glasses kept fogging up ahahaha. I pitched my idea on how to mix up the new season, why I would be a great producer and referenced successful dating shows in Australia (I believe our show can go viral) I waited a day to see if my interview was successful and it was. I was hired with two other Series Producers and thus began this amazing production for the rest of the semester.
It was crazy trying to handle a crew of 30+ people. I was so used to handling a crew of 6 people. Communication was key as a Series Producer so we had to hire heads of departments to keep the communication alive. It was sort of like a pyramid. Series Producers at the top. Directors, cinematographers, sound, prod design underneath and assistants of those said departments.
I spent so many days, nights, weekends, before and after school hours, in class hours even, trying to get cast, sorting out transportation, revising the budget, keeping crew together, holding meetings, attending meetings, doing mentoring sessions, doing risk assessments constantly and so much more. There were so many times where my brain felt so damn numb. It was to the point where my co-producers saw how I loopy I was becoming at meetings and have told me to leave ahahha.
But this whole experience is so so so worth it. It was worth the lack of sleep. Worth the stress. Worth the highs and lows. Worth all the paperwork. We shot the show in four days back in October, went through two weeks of post production and delivered our product in mid November. We got so many positive feedback for the show and I just can’t believe I helped create the product. What I’ve said about production is just the tip of the iceberg and I have so many more stories to share about it.
I would like to thank Episodic production for teaching me everything I needed to know. I have created stronger bonds with my crew members and have learnt to improve my problem solving skills and communication. I am so so grateful that I have experienced being a Series Producer- as well as working within the reality TV landscape whilst still at film school- because it is such a rewarding experience. I hope that we get approval from my film school’s selection committee for official release on Youtube next year.
Final mark: 86 (High Distinction)
Now what?
Spoiler
Year 2 was great and I want to keep working. Though I know I must take a break, which is why I’m going on a holiday with my parents very soon. However, this is what I’ve got planned when I come back from my holiday before Year 3 starts. I would like to re-edit What’s Your Flava? With the post team and start creating social media content for the show as part of the lead up to its official release (if it does happen but I hope it does!)
Year 3:
Spoiler
Year 3 is my final year of my degree and I am so nervous and excited at the same time. We get to work on long form projects this time. Honestly, not a huge fan of short film production BUT I am excited to hear people’s ideas for their graduation projects. Since it is my final year, we get to do our electives next year. I will be doing editing, motion graphics (VFX) and production design. On top of that include mandatory courses such as Screen Business, Creative Development and of course production. It’s crazy to think that I’ll be done with my degree in a year’s time ah!
See you guys soon!
Here's a quick update from me!
I've definitely gotten used to the online classes ever since my last entry. Putting Zoom on gallery mode made the lectures and workshops a little less lonely since I was able to see everyone in the class not just my tutor.
I've finished most of my subjects for the semester besides production which is happening right now. Screen Business went pretty well and was probably one of my top subjects in my degree in my opinion. Really loved how practical the assignments were because they're helping us build our brand and find potential collaborators. For instance, we had to make a website (essentially an online portfolio) I'm pretty proud of it. We also had to do faux job interviews over zoom and I think that went pretty well.
Motion Design class was definitely in my top five subjects in my studies because I've learnt so much, not just about animation, but also the industry and life in general. It was refreshing to have a tutor who didn't insist too much on finding our creative voice. Rather he said just work on projects that are realistic and can pay the rent for the week which was really refreshing to hear. I'm super glad that I'm more confident with After Effects now yay! I'll post the animation I did for my assignment over on my other thread very soon.
Editing class was somewhat a disappointment. It's sad because I want to be a picture editor sometime in the future. But this class was just so disappointing. Made me hate the process of editing a lot more which is bad. My tutor was lovely don't get me wrong. I think I was just frustrated because we were doing storyboarding instead of actual editing. I understand there's some benefit to it but the class wasn't what I had expected.
Soooo we're in production now. Well. Not exactly production since Covid's a bitch and decided to turn up and shut down my film school. We can't go on set obviously. Not even sure if we can go back on set next semester for our graduation projects. Although, at the same time- the new brief for production isn't too bad. We have to create a pitch deck for the projects that we're on. There's so much emphasis on development which is a more realistic reflection of the industry. You don't just whip out a short film in a matter of months in the industry. Development takes years before production can even begin. I'm being assessed as a producer and my goodness- out of all the roles for production- this is the hardest. We have to write about our target audiences, how we plan on distributing our films, the timeline for development, a risk assessment. It is so hard but honestly kinda rewarding at the same time. I'm really getting into the nitty gritty of the industry with my research and all.
The semester ends in two weeks which is exciting. I just can't wait for the break where I will try to catch up with as many as possible (while socially distancing of course) before our graduation semester begins in August. Hopefully we're back on campus by then.
My 3rd year goals- an update
- Work on films and projects that speak truth to me and have a personal connection with the director.
- Produce a great film with an amazing director.
- Edit a docco (if someone does end up directing one); if not, I'll edit a drama film
- Production design a cool film
- Kickstart my website
- Build my brand name @editedbybea
- Do more mentoring sessions (1 on 1 with my tutors)
- Apply for an internship or at least apply for something in preparation for next year
- Work with different directors
- Attend the after school film club more
- Attend more networking events
- Attend masterclasses when possible
- Learn how to properly cook so I stop spending all my money at my film school's cafe
- Make the most out of my electives and actually ask for help when you need it (rather than sitting back and doing nothing in class)
- Don't go on social media during lectures and workshops ahaha (this has been an absolute fail)
... and most of all
- Really make the most of my last year at AFTRS and build strong connections with people
Last time I wrote in this journal, I just finished the first semester of my graduating year. Now- I've finished my degree. I won't do a super long ramble how my final semester went but I remember it being quite stressful and also eventful at the same time. I had learnt so many things about myself, my chosen industry and my future during my last semester.
I was fortunate enough to attend classes on campus- although wearing a mask in the building was a bit of a pain (especially when you're running late for lecture ahah) My subjects for my last semester were Creative Development, Production Design and Graduation Production. I learnt about career stuff in Creative Development (how to write a resume, a cover letter and a portfolio) This subject also taught me how to find my own brand and voice which is beneficial to your career journey. Production Design was such a cool subject to do! Our final assessment included designing a set and filming a short film in our designed set. We did an old mouldy bathroom and it was really fun finding old bathroom furniture around Sydney and ageing them with using an array of materials.
I also applied for some internships. I applied for three but only got an interview for two of them. Unfortunately, I did not get any of the internships but it was a good experience to practice my interview skills.
As for my Graduation Production, I worked on two projects as a producer and as an editor. I produced a short drama film which took up so much of my time but was so worth it at the end! I also was the production designer for the film too. I also edited a short documentary for graduation as well which was super fun to do! Due to covid restrictions at the time, we couldn’t screen our films at our film school. Instead, our tutors rented out a cinema where everyone in my year, tutors and significant staff members could all fit (whilst being 1.5m apart from each other of course). Our screening was meant to start at 9:30am but it was delayed until 11am due to really bad traffic in the area (there was a police parade- I don’t know why but there just was one) It took about 6 hours to screen all our films, pilot episodes and all. And just like that our degree was over. Everyone headed to the nearest bar for pre-drinks before heading over to someone’s house for the final party of the degree.
I guess it hadn’t hit me at that moment that my degree was completely done because our graduation ceremony isn’t until May. But I did get a bit sad knowing that I’ll never see the same people in the same room ever again.
I did return two weeks later to complete an extra course (it was rescheduled due to COVID) It was a three day course on AVID (industry standard editing programme) and it was HECTIC. I could not comprehend what was going on because it was all so confusing so this definitely steered me away from pursuing editing as a career. But it was nice being back on campus for that extra three days. A week later, I went away on holiday up north NSW and it was a nice break from how hectic my last year of my degree was.
Came the new year and I only still had five months until my graduation ceremony (which is in person thank god) I’ve been keeping myself busy with finding jobs in my industry. It’s kinda funny because I’ve been offered jobs but the employer never followed up or hired someone else instead (I was close to working with a famous director which I’m still sad about) :( I did get offered a full time office job but I declined it because I believe I was too much of an early career individual to be pursuing a high ranking job such as this. I lectured for AN for the January lecture block and also did some teaching back at my high school.
I was fortunate enough to have been offered a contract job at a major television broadcaster (can’t say the exact broadcasting centre unless you stalk my LinkedIn) to work on a Docuseries. I worked on the Docuseries for three months where we shot interviews, wrangled paperwork and did some editing at home. I’m very grateful for this experience and lucky enough to have been able to work with this well known television broadcaster. Now that my contract has ended, I’m now just focusing on writing, doing some online courses, moving out and working on a secret project. I have also updated my website wooo which is beatricetekiko.com (shameless self promo lol)
I look back on my studies at AFTRS and think to myself how lucky I am to have been able to study at the national film school. 16 year old me fell in love with its facilities when she took a short holiday course back in 2016. She swore that she would get into AFTRS and nowhere else. Just AFTRS. I still remember the exact day when I got my offer. I still remember O-week, all the parties, all the lectures (and me skipping lectures woops), all the Zoom classes and the productions I work on. But more importantly, I am so grateful for all the lessons that I have learnt, for all the connections I have made and all the people I have met.
I’m really proud of all the things I’ve done during my time at AFTRS. I think the thing I’m really proud of is getting my projects distributed by the school- it’s very rare that they pick up Bachelor projects (they prioritise the Masters students) so I’m quite happy about that. I graduated with a Distinction average- this doesn’t really matter in my industry but I’m still happy with my final grade.
I also have AN to thank for allowing me to share my tertiary studies journey on the forums. It’s great that I am able to look back on my experience at film school for years to come.
That’s Bea buzzing off. Thanks for reading :)
My 3rd year goals- an update
- Work on films and projects that speak truth to me and have a personal connection with the director.
- Produce a great film with an amazing director.
- Edit a docco (if someone does end up directing one); if not, I'll edit a drama film
- Production design a cool film
- Kickstart my website
- Build my brand name @editedbybea
- Do more mentoring sessions (1 on 1 with my tutors)
- Apply for an internship or at least apply for something in preparation for next year
- Work with different directors
- Attend the after school film club more (covid ruined this so no)
- Attend more networking events (again covid ruined this so no)
- Attend masterclasses when possible (do I even need to mentioned who ruined this??)
- Learn how to properly cook so I stop spending all my money at my film school's cafe
- Make the most out of my electives and actually ask for help when you need it (rather than sitting back and doing nothing in class)
- Don't go on social media during lectures and workshops ahaha (this has been an absolute fail)
... and most of all
- Really make the most of my last year at AFTRS and build strong connections with people