September 2008 Archives
Straight after the Sci-Tech Animation Festival I headed down to Edith Cowan Univeristy to catch the 10th 4x4 Film Festival. This competion which is open to filmmaking students at the University requires a film that has only 4 characters, 4 locations and 4minutes in length. The theme this time was mocumentary.
The competion is judged 'Pop Idol' style by three judges who score the film and provide feedback. I have been a judge for the competion in the past and it's quite a fun experience, if you donlt mid sharing you opinions in front of a crowd of vocal University film students.
As I entered the Universities crowded tavern, three judges were discussing the fourth film of the evening. On the panel were Independent Producer Simon Stokes from Media at Work, Splif Curator Ivan Borgnino and Lecturer Andrew Ewing. Borgnino was not impressed with 'Where is Little Matt?' a film presented by third year students Ade, Erikson, Emily and Chris. 'Who directed this?" Borgnino asked, 'Are they here, I want to know what they were thinking?". If Ade, Erikson, Emily or Chris were present they were keeping quiet. Borgnino continued his tough love critique, "The guy who played the policeman, what can I say about the acting.... don't." Strangely this assessment fo the film just gave me a huge desire to see the film.
The films continued on, 'D-Grade' from Andrew Lane, juxtaposed Lecturer George Karpathakis singing the prasies of a group of filmmakers while in behind the scenes footage we saw how incredibly inept they really were. While there was a chance you got more out of this film, if you knew the actual filmmakers, it was still very funny and you felt that somewhere you had met a version of these filmmakers.
After the interval, the program continued with 'Brooke Forward's 'Mein Fuhere Mein Idol',a look into a man who idolises and dresses up as Adolf Hitler, the filmmaker tred a fine line of comedy with the subject matter and they pulled it off quite well. Stacey Northey's 'The Naked Truth' looked into nudism, but was critised by the judges for not having enough actual nudity. Luke Griffith's 'The Politics of Ectacy' didn't get great feedback from the judges, while mocumentary can be implausible, it usually is making a comment on something, nonone seemed sure what this film was really about. 'Frrr' from Phil Walker was a stylish film, a technically impressive, it looked at the world of people who like to dress up as animals, the judges noted that they wished that they got to see something of the people under the constumes. 'Accessories to Fame' from Craig Linke was the final film of the night - it was an impressive piece with great acting that looked into the children of celebrities and had a good does of controvertial content.
At the end though when all the scores were tallied the winner was 'D-Grade' and 'Mein Fuhere, Mein Idol' was the runner up.
If you ever get approached to be a judge on this competion, say yes, it's mountains of fun.
The competion is judged 'Pop Idol' style by three judges who score the film and provide feedback. I have been a judge for the competion in the past and it's quite a fun experience, if you donlt mid sharing you opinions in front of a crowd of vocal University film students.
As I entered the Universities crowded tavern, three judges were discussing the fourth film of the evening. On the panel were Independent Producer Simon Stokes from Media at Work, Splif Curator Ivan Borgnino and Lecturer Andrew Ewing. Borgnino was not impressed with 'Where is Little Matt?' a film presented by third year students Ade, Erikson, Emily and Chris. 'Who directed this?" Borgnino asked, 'Are they here, I want to know what they were thinking?". If Ade, Erikson, Emily or Chris were present they were keeping quiet. Borgnino continued his tough love critique, "The guy who played the policeman, what can I say about the acting.... don't." Strangely this assessment fo the film just gave me a huge desire to see the film.
The films continued on, 'D-Grade' from Andrew Lane, juxtaposed Lecturer George Karpathakis singing the prasies of a group of filmmakers while in behind the scenes footage we saw how incredibly inept they really were. While there was a chance you got more out of this film, if you knew the actual filmmakers, it was still very funny and you felt that somewhere you had met a version of these filmmakers.
After the interval, the program continued with 'Brooke Forward's 'Mein Fuhere Mein Idol',a look into a man who idolises and dresses up as Adolf Hitler, the filmmaker tred a fine line of comedy with the subject matter and they pulled it off quite well. Stacey Northey's 'The Naked Truth' looked into nudism, but was critised by the judges for not having enough actual nudity. Luke Griffith's 'The Politics of Ectacy' didn't get great feedback from the judges, while mocumentary can be implausible, it usually is making a comment on something, nonone seemed sure what this film was really about. 'Frrr' from Phil Walker was a stylish film, a technically impressive, it looked at the world of people who like to dress up as animals, the judges noted that they wished that they got to see something of the people under the constumes. 'Accessories to Fame' from Craig Linke was the final film of the night - it was an impressive piece with great acting that looked into the children of celebrities and had a good does of controvertial content.
At the end though when all the scores were tallied the winner was 'D-Grade' and 'Mein Fuhere, Mein Idol' was the runner up.
If you ever get approached to be a judge on this competion, say yes, it's mountains of fun.
Last week it was heaps of fun to go along to the 2nd annual Sci Tech Animation Festival. This year the competion had over a hundred entries from school students from around Western Australia who have been exploring every type of animation from stop motion to flash and 3D.
The submissions ranged from students in Year 4 all the way through to year 12 and there were some really great works amongst the finalists.
Some of my personal favorites include 'The Mushroom Man", "Castaway", 'Summer Break", "Sand Dune Erosion", "The fench Fry Invasion" and "A Normal Day for Josh". There were so many great and creative films. If this is the talent of the future, the future is looksing quite bright.
Take a look at 'The Mushroom Man", but be warned, you'll find yourself singing the tune for the next 24 hours.
The submissions ranged from students in Year 4 all the way through to year 12 and there were some really great works amongst the finalists.
Some of my personal favorites include 'The Mushroom Man", "Castaway", 'Summer Break", "Sand Dune Erosion", "The fench Fry Invasion" and "A Normal Day for Josh". There were so many great and creative films. If this is the talent of the future, the future is looksing quite bright.
Take a look at 'The Mushroom Man", but be warned, you'll find yourself singing the tune for the next 24 hours.
Stuart Cunningham, the Professor of Media and Commiunications at the Queensland University of Technology has a new book out, "In the Venacular: A Generation of Australian Culture and Controvery". You can read the first chapter online from the University's web site.
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the writer Aaron Sorkin and his TV shows 'The West Wing' - now Sorkin has written a new scene for the NEW YORK TIMES where Presedential Candidate Barrack Obama meets former President Jed Bartlett from 'The west Wing' for some campaign advice.
Politics aside, there are some great lines in this peice and the Bartlett character shines through.
Politics aside, there are some great lines in this peice and the Bartlett character shines through.
In the Adanced Diploma in Screen (Video Production) program at the Film and Television Institute we aim to tackle one of the biggest weakness that filmmakers face, the challenge of exhibition. Most of the time filmmakers just want to make films, as soon as one is finished they're often ready to embark on the next one. The whole business of exhibition, distribution and maximising the returns on your work is often overlooked.
To combat this in our program we have an assignment that is based solely sround exhibition and promotion. Each semester the class are given a challenge before they head of to make their major production. Raise more money for the budget of the final production by using your earlier film assignments.
This semester the class created the 'Future Filmmaker Showcase' which was a fun event this past Thursday night. They showed the documentaries they made earlier in the year plus some films some students had made prior to enrolling in the program. Tciket sales, together with a raffle and donations on the night allowed the crew to add over a thousand dollars to the budget of their next film.
Here's some photos from the event.
To combat this in our program we have an assignment that is based solely sround exhibition and promotion. Each semester the class are given a challenge before they head of to make their major production. Raise more money for the budget of the final production by using your earlier film assignments.
This semester the class created the 'Future Filmmaker Showcase' which was a fun event this past Thursday night. They showed the documentaries they made earlier in the year plus some films some students had made prior to enrolling in the program. Tciket sales, together with a raffle and donations on the night allowed the crew to add over a thousand dollars to the budget of their next film.
Here's some photos from the event.
Here's a great new website, The Art of the Title Sequence, that focusses on the very specialised art of creating title sequences.
I love it when people find their niche that they want to focus on, this site reminds me a lot Idents, which has a stong focus on station promos from around the world.
Source: Tama Leaver
I love it when people find their niche that they want to focus on, this site reminds me a lot Idents, which has a stong focus on station promos from around the world.
Source: Tama Leaver
MONDAY
TEN 8:30pm '90210', apparently it's not as bad as you would think. ARENA 8:30pm 'Project Runway Australia', it's amazing how well the Australian version works, tonight is the final episode. ABC 9:20 'Media Watch' could it feature a local newspaper? OVATION 10:00pm 'Clive James in the Library with', this time it's Director Terry Gilliam.
TUESDAY
ABC 8:00pm 'Roller Derby Girls' a doco about roller skating revivials, SBS 8:30pm 'I'll Call Australia Home', a look at refugees who settle in Australia.
WEDNESDAY
NINE 8:00PM 'Kenny' can the big movie hit move across to the small screen? SBS 10:05 'Kiki's Delivery Service'.
TEN 8:30pm '90210', apparently it's not as bad as you would think. ARENA 8:30pm 'Project Runway Australia', it's amazing how well the Australian version works, tonight is the final episode. ABC 9:20 'Media Watch' could it feature a local newspaper? OVATION 10:00pm 'Clive James in the Library with', this time it's Director Terry Gilliam.
TUESDAY
ABC 8:00pm 'Roller Derby Girls' a doco about roller skating revivials, SBS 8:30pm 'I'll Call Australia Home', a look at refugees who settle in Australia.
WEDNESDAY
NINE 8:00PM 'Kenny' can the big movie hit move across to the small screen? SBS 10:05 'Kiki's Delivery Service'.
It was a bright and sunny day yesterday and FTI was particuarly busy, filled with people. There were students from the T1109 Video Production class bring tested on their camera and lighting skills, members of the T1110 Video Production class were beginning to learn about editing with Steve Brown, Sound Expert Wendi Graham was here, Nick Dunlop was editing Paul Robert's upcooming TV series, people were learning about the art of developing their own creative business and students in our aniamtion program were enjoying their final day of study, plus the Making Movies Roadshow was getting ready for their next trip, it was just a jam packed day.
So we had a big saussage sizzle barbeque at lunchtime.
The filmming of the short film 'What You Make of It' occurred a few weeks ago on a cold and windy night, yet the crew were good spirits and battled their way through.
This film is now progressed onto the editing stage and will be premiered in a few months time at the students graduation screening.
This film is now progressed onto the editing stage and will be premiered in a few months time at the students graduation screening.
Last night the Australian Film Institute launched their annual awards season with a screening of the new Australian documentary 'Not Quite Hollywood'.
This documentary was a great choice for an opening night film, it highlights an often underplayed part of our filmmaking history - running through the sex comedies of 'Alvin Purple' and 'The adventures of Barry McKenzie' to the slasher and horror pictures of the 1970's and the 10BA bankrolled work of the 1980's. I was a amazed at how many of the films I had seen, a mispent youth of VHS rentals in the 1980's and late night television.
This is a great fast paced documentary and anyone with an interest in filmmaking should definately go and see it.
At the launch were Artemis International's Karen Williams, Liz Sward from Screenwest, Graeme Watson, Director Mark Hartley and Sara Horvat, April Steadall, Yvette Coyne, Graeme Sward, Chris Bendall the Artistic Director of Deckchair Theatre Company, Documentary Makers Kirrilly Brentnall, Janine Boreland and the rarely photographed Liz Sideris.
This documentary was a great choice for an opening night film, it highlights an often underplayed part of our filmmaking history - running through the sex comedies of 'Alvin Purple' and 'The adventures of Barry McKenzie' to the slasher and horror pictures of the 1970's and the 10BA bankrolled work of the 1980's. I was a amazed at how many of the films I had seen, a mispent youth of VHS rentals in the 1980's and late night television.
This is a great fast paced documentary and anyone with an interest in filmmaking should definately go and see it.
At the launch were Artemis International's Karen Williams, Liz Sward from Screenwest, Graeme Watson, Director Mark Hartley and Sara Horvat, April Steadall, Yvette Coyne, Graeme Sward, Chris Bendall the Artistic Director of Deckchair Theatre Company, Documentary Makers Kirrilly Brentnall, Janine Boreland and the rarely photographed Liz Sideris.
