Back to the studios!

I think the three of us have very different and contrasting styles to doing work. It's funny how when three people get together attempting to do 'work' all sorts of funny stuff ensues.

I'm here to give a good rundown on my, at the risk of giving away my bisexuality but what the hell I'll use the word anyway, fabulous group workers. It's nothing that has already been said, but I have to reiterate my points again as this semester would have been a disaster had it not been for them.

Alex

I worked with Alex last year for Broadcast Media and I knew she's a good girl to work with. I mentioned in a previous post that she even turned up as host when she was clearly feeling under the weather. That's devotion for ya! She has a good attitude, always turns up looking like she's dressed for a dinner-and-dance and speaks her mind. During editing she's completely switched on and hogged the fucking mouse for most of the editing period. She's too polite as well, as during our interview with Robert she clearly was trying to make Robert feel at ease and agreeing with everything he's saying when she clearly didn't care about what Robert was saying. Haha.

Alex has a very good family upbringing and it rubs off on me. Very proper and not loud. But she knows how to have fun and let her hair down. Wonderful. Let's do another documentary Alex. You're a star.

Bree

Bree's the gravy to Alex's mash potato. Bree is very breezy, very easy and nothing really fusses her. She's amazing to work with and is quite a clown at work. I think we'd have gotten our editing done a lot quicker had she (and Alex) not clowned around so much. She got all the stuff organised i.e interviews and time to film as her mom works in CAE. She only knew the FCP stuff that I had no clue about. The pre-existing relationship between Bree and Alex helped as well as they both worked together in the previous semester. And they both smoked. Haha, that's not relevant but hey I used to smoke so I know how smoking helps bonds and pulls people closer together as you waste your life away over nicotine. :O

And perhaps editing wouldn't have been so much fun had Bree not brought booze everytime we came to edit. Okay, not all the time, but enough times.

Bree's 'can-do' attitude also rubbed off on me, as I came to editing each day with joy. I genuinely looked forward to each session as I knew it was never the same, never dull, and always happy.

Me

I guessed my contribution were more obvious during the earlier part of the semester. I was more concerned about getting good shots, the technical aspect and filming everything right. As I had my own camera, I knew I owed it to myself to get some good footage for the team effort. Before we decided to use Robert as our protagonist, I had a rough idea on how the documentary will look. I'm not expert with shot making, but I think our final cut turned out quite bloody nice.

I didn't end up editing as much as I'd like as both the girls were keen on it. Having spent the entire semester editing my TV Journalism stories on FCP, I was really quite over editing so I was happy to let the girls handle it. I was more concerned with turning up and voicing my opinions about various footages as either of them would consult my opinion before a decision was made. As I was always in the CBD - despite moving to Sunshine - I ensured the three of us always had sufficient editing time by overbooking the studios and making sure we have access to Building 24. Haha.

I'm pleased with my contribution this semester. I could not have done any better than I could and I won't lie to give myself a better mark.
--------------------------------------------------------

As this is my final semester, I write with a heavy heart as I know this is probably one of the last, if not last bit of academia bit I have to do before I graduate. I'm glad I hooked up with Bree and Alex as they've made TV2 so much more fun. Unlike in TV1, where the group was seperated by trust and idea issues, the three of us were like a family.

This really is a semester of transition for me. In hindsight, I'm glad I only had to complete TV Journalism and TV2 to complete my degree. I had to juggle a lot of 'adult stuff' in the last 14 weeks and I probably wouldn't have done as well had I been working on four subjects instead. I've purchased a house, sorting out my immigration and am planning to get engaged soon. I am 28 years old and I cannot believe how lucky I am to be in this position, a position of wealth and joy. I will have a degree soon and I can start out afresh in this new country. But all this would not have been possible without all the wonderful people in RMIT and Melbourne.

And two of them are right here, close to my bosoms. Thank you girls, for making my final semester such a joy.

Egghead

It's almost the end of the semester and clearly I'm the fucking biggest dickhead of the Media course. Obviously I havn't been paying enough attention in class as I still do not know how to set the scratch discs. I've lost over two hours of editing time because I:

a) do not know how to set the fucking scratch discs
b) asked people the day before but forgot the process by the time I went back into the suite the day after
c) and this happened not once, but twice.

OMG I'm pretty decent with FCP, but the fucking external HD is killing me.

I feel like I've let the team down somewhat. Everyone's on equal footing and plays their part. I might be in the editing suite doing actual work, but I have nothing to show for it.

This is embarrassing.

Re-filming

In our rough cut screening the class and Paul himself thought that there wasn't enough focus i.e the documentary was crying out for a protagonist. The class had about 12 people and between throwing shots of the mob laughing and cutting to another shot of the girls sharing some biscuits it's rather dis-orientating. I do not disagree with them.

In hindsight, I remember suggesting right off the bat in week one or two to focus on just one character. I don't know why we went off-kilter and decided to focus on the entire class instead. But I'm not blaming everyone. It's a team effort, and Bree and Alex are just awesome.

Deciding on a protagonist wasn't going to be difficult. The only student who really warmed up to us was Robert Davies. He's always the friendliest and had a ready smile for us. I'm too polite to ask him what his learning difficulty is or what his disability is as he's VERY normal. If anything, he can pass of just as another university student, walking around campus with a group of friends.

So we schedule the interview with Robert on a day where he had classes. Pauline, the lecturer, was so nice and allowed her student time to 'cut classes'. Now that's one lecturer I'd like to have more often than not!

The interview was conducted in a quiet part of the school; Pauline had arranged a room for us to film Robert. As Bree had to work in the morning, it was up to Alex and I to conduct the interview. I really didn't do much preparation in terms of questions; Robert has always been really friendly with us and the ice was broken a long time ago. Alex and I just drew up a rough template of questions to throw to Robert five minutes he walked in. I knew it was going to be easy.

And easy it was. Robert was rather shy in the beginning, but as the interview went on he warmed up to us and opened up. I was afraid we'd have to ask him a lot of questions but he went on and on about his life. I didn't know what the structure of the documentary was going to be, but as Robert went on his spiel he began to talk about his past and how he was bullied a lot.

I realised there and then that we have an angle for the documentary. Robert became so comfortable with himself he slipped into a 'chatting over coffee' mode. We wouldn't have looked out of place in a cafe sipping coffee.

Post-interview, I lined up Robert for a series of shots along Flinders Lane. Robert was obviously not used to be in front of the camera, and kept looking into it. I didn't like it at all but both Bree and Alex commented on how that's part of his goofy nature and appeal. So I stuck to it.

At the end of the day I'm just glad we chose Robert. We couldn't have chosen a better protagonist.

Now it's time to sift through more footage. God help us.

OMG the footage, structure and details

Between the three of us, we easily have in excess of six hours of footage. I don't know why we started, or suggested the idea of using three cameras, but I think we really wanted to capture every possible class detail. And making sure it's caught on camera. But in the process we made our editing so much more tedious.

I don't know what the other groups are doing, but surely we are the only group who're using three cameras. Paul has been very accomodating and has allowed me to use my camera, which is awesome 'coz I get to roam around the class with it and get good close-up shots of it.

I have no idea how we're gona sift through so much footage and make a 4-7 minute documentary out of it. I daresay we have enough for a 20 minutes documentary even.

I'm also beginning to find it really difficult to have a 'structure' (for the lack of a better word). In the first semester it was really easy as a short film has a start and an end. In a documentary however it's entirely up to the footage that we capture. That also hinges on the subject's willingness to open him or herself to the camera. I'm glad we have such a great class of students to 'study', as they're really chummy and have, after repeated visits, began to warm up to us.

I can't say I'm looking forward to editing, 'coz between trying to find a 'structure' and finding appropriate shots, it's gona be a lengthy process.

Editing

So you see, we don't really spend much time editing in V3 at all. Instead, we like to fool around. Or come to uni dressed in similar clothes. And sunnies. Shit we're like twins.





Clearly, she wears the pants in her relationship. *chuckles at his lame attempt at humour*







Then on other days, Alex decides to form the word 'YMCA' with her hands. The rest of us decided to get in on it.

Television Two & Television Journalism

Almost by coincidence, the only two subjects I have to exert my concentration on happens to be television-related. Which also means, camera-related. That also represents a large part of my uni hours interacting with Paul, who teaches and tutors both subjects. Hi Paul :O

One of the great strengths of a Prof Comm student is his/her cross-subject skills. By the time we reach third year, we'd have spent two years touching on cameras. In my case, I find my familiarity with Final Cut Pro, audio and camera work a boon as my team mate in Television Journalism has no background in it. While she directs, writes the news story and more often than not, learns how to shoot, I work on the camera troubleshooting, editing and sound/vision work. It's perfect. It might be more stressful if we were both Journalism students.

And, after spending two weeks in the Journalism editing suites working on our first news story, I move on to Television Two. The girls Bree and Alex have completely forgotten about the finer details of Final Cut Pro, so it kinda works out well.

I'll be spending the entire semester practicing my FCP skills, and having lots of usage with my camera as well. Which was the exact reasons why I joined TV in the first place.

Stranger things have happened. But I guess sometimes things do work out.

Dinner with three beautiful girls

Completely un-TV2 related. So yesterday, I had dinner with beautiful Alex, sexy Bree and sultry Stephanie over at Bree's place.

Too much food, good company and so many secrets. Oi what we said stays within those four walls ya?

Btw, still love that lingerie you were wearing Stephanie. Ooooh I wana change into my shirt and pants ensemble now.

Camera work in CAE

Alex and I both agreed that the night before the shoot on Thursday 6 September was a rather disturbing affair, as we were extremely concerned that things wouldn't turn out well. We were worried about the amount of equipment and setting up that we had to hook up. Generally, we gave ourselves no reason to be upbeat about the assignment as we dwelled to much on the negatives.

Turns out, the morning shoot was one of the best thing we've ever did since Week One. Paul dropped by - as promised (thanks Paul!) - and helped us set up the equipment and due to the way the classroom was set up, a sound mixer was done away with. That freed up a lot of our burden as sound is a rather complicated state of affair that I personally would not want to be involved with.

A slight setback in the guise of the wrong classroom notwithstanding, the three of us thought the morning shoot was an excellent session.

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief

One of the more defining moments of Japan post-WW2 is the extreme sub-cultures that broke out from the traditional, conservative and strict code of conduct that the Japanese culture is famous for. In the last 30 years Japanese culture has exploded; while manga and anime is more famous in Western parts of the world, East Asian societies have become obsessed with the fashion, style and hedonism that has defined the Japanese youth sub-culture.

While not completely oblivious, I do not profess an interest in Asian cultures. Mostly, they dull my senses and reminded me of the totalitarian government in Singapore. While channel-surfing on Friday night, I chanced upon the titled documentary on SBS. It was only five minutes into the documentary, but it got me hooked.



Nihilistic lifestyle

This compelling film explores the rarely seen world of Japanese host boys, men who are paid to entertain financially independent women in exclusive nightclubs. Almost but not quite gigolos - they are more akin to male geishas - the host boys of Cafe Rakkyo share their secrets with director Jake Clennell. The narrative focuses on 22-year-old Issei, Osaka's top host boy and owner of Cafe Rakkyo, but all the characters in this unique subculture are fascinating.

I felt deeply moved by the emotional and physical torture that these young men go through to pull in several hundred dollars a day. It's good money, but it takes an emotional and physical toll. As the documentary progressed, it became apparent that many of them do not like their job, as they often have to struggle with the damaging effects of lies, deceit, alcohol and relationships.

Theses are young men who have young women shelling out in excess of 1 million yen (A$10,500) a night for emotional company; they're never lacking female suitors, style or money, yet they are intrinsically unhappy at everything around them. Yet something about the job makes them come back night after night. There's an unspeakable allure of power and control that these men crave for. What most men wouldn't do to trade their lives with them.

In just an hour, my emotions went from a high enviousness to a low sympathy. These are bright young men who are trapped in their job, not because they can't get out of it, but because they know nothing better than this. Perhaps the much used cliche 'the other side of the fence is always greener' doesn't do Issei and Co. much justice, as what they have is rather green.



Frankness of the interviews

Rarely do you see the protaganist (or in this case Issei, his lackeys and the women around him) being so comfortable and upfront to the camera. There is absolutely no need for narration, as they provided all of it. There is something refreshing about the way Issei talks about his business and himself. In just an hour, I felt I knew him well enough to be a judge of his character. And because everything is unscripted, the conversations caught on camera are extremely powerful.

The host boys who work for Issei look and talk the part as well. I have no doubt that Issei have pre-empted them of Jake's prying camera, yet they didn't look like they were hamming it up for the camera. As mentioned above, everything was unscripted. The emotions, actions and physical pain that these boys go through is real. I felt like I knew them enough to want to reach out. They need help.

Style

There's something about the camera work that is unobtrusive, stylish and bloody effective. You can barely make out the interviewer's voice above the din of the loud music, karaoke, and sounds that reverberate throughout the claustrophobic and dimly lit rooms. Issei and the boys - when pulled to one side for a one on one chat - are honest about their opinions and do not waffle. The girls - mostly interviewed outside the confines of Cafe Rakkyo - are candid and upfront about their feelings and thoughts about their lifestyles and affections for the boys.

I'm also rather intrigued with the relationship between Jake/Translator and the rest of the cast. It's quite evident that Issei and Co. have never met the camera crew, yet the way they spoke to the camera, I felt like I was sitting intimately next to them, sharing a dark secret with them. If it makes any sense, they were speaking into the camera. That is incredibly haunting.

Thoughts and ideas

Jake Clenell's style of documentary is reminiscent of Nick Bloomfield's style of documentary from the digidoss. In both cases the interviewees speak directly into the camera, as if the camera was part of their everyday thing. The camera is unobtrusive, yet it captures a nugget of life that most people are completely oblivious about. Watching Nick's documentary has also given me confidence and faith for my own documentary Tell Me A Story as it involves a heap of camera work and equipment. Before watching them, I was skeptical of showing either Bree, Alex or myself on camera as part of the cut. I was also hesitant on our voice being heard as well. If Nick Bloomfield convinced me that this style of documentary-telling is right, Jake Clenell's take on a Japanese sub-culture has taken my hand and have me pointing at the right direction.

EDIT: I've found a link to the documentary from Google video. Oddly enough, this version has converted the yen to dollars. Perhaps an attempt to make it more palatable for Western viewers. Check it out.

Our Documentary Proposal - First Draft

Working title: Tell me a story
Director: Alex Todorov
Camera/ Sound: John Ng
Editor: Bree Pagliuso

The films main focus is about showing an inner world, far removed from most people; it is a small insight into significant lives. The conflict is between the learner and the learning process. I expect the film’s structure to be determined by the subject’s process of learning and their interaction with one another. Ultimately we want the audience to have an understanding of the personalities of the subject that may not be evident upon first glance as some can be quiet shy to begin with. The subject and point of view suggest the style that is unobtrusive, almost an intimate conversation with the subjects. “A fly on the wall” approach.

Our film focuses and follows a class of intellectually disabled students. The subject is “Creative writing and stories”. In this class the students vary in age and ability and of course in personality. Each bringing different elements to the class, and the overall learning process.

The class takes place on a Thursday morning from 9:30 til 11:30, at the CAE collage on Flinders lane. The class in run by Pauline Walker She has been a teacher for 15 years and specializes in teaching young adults with learning disabilities. The class structure includes group activities, watching films and television programs, writing short stories and discussing certain subjects of interest.

Most of the sequences will be observational, an almost “Fly on the wall approach” we believe that the best way to capture our subjects is to allow them to go about their learning in class in a natural way, as if were not there. Sequences within the film will include the students interacting with each other, sharing stories and experiences.

One sequence will take place on an excursion with the students to the Ian Potter art gallery. The exhibition currently ties in with what the students are learning, “Indigenous Art”.
Any symbolic imagery will come out of the process, we’ve chose not to predict what will happen, but let it come naturally. However if there is something in particular that catches our eye, we will follow it and use it. We hope to capture the differences in their learning ability to those of the same age.

The film will also include interviews with specific students, centring on their experiences in learning. Also including their hopes and dreams, and in particular why they come to class to learn. It will focus on their individual quirks and personality.
Shots included will be: close-up of hand, writing, facial expressions, through this we hope to capture the implications of their disability.

At this point in the process we are undecided on which characters to focus on, each student brings different aspects to our film. We are considering all students as main protagonists as we want give perspective of the class, and not single out anyone in particular until we discover each character in depth.

This will help us determine who want to focus on, and whether in fact we want to have a focus. Below is a list of the students.

Debbie - blunt, straight forward. Tends to shy away from the class, doesn’t speak unnecessarily. Wheel chair bound, uses a computer that is hooked up to the white board.
Carrie - Lyn’s best friend. Cheerful. A hobby is watching movies. Not afraid to talk in class.
Robert - Loud, extraverted, works part time as trolley boy at Safe way. Not afraid to voice his opinion, constantly talking over the teacher and other students. A ladies man.
Jenny - wheel chair bound. Quiet and shy. Only really interacts with the teacher.
Frank - class clown, blunt. Swears a lot. Comes up with great one-liners. Likes to be a smart-ally to the teacher.
Lee - nick name “Speedy” for riding his wheel chair fast. Works part time selling newspapers on the corner of flinders street. Loves “The Rolling stones”. The oldest member of the class.
Mark - Autistic, quiet and reserved. But very intelligent.
Danny - plays basketball, coy and shy. Sits next to Mark, pleasant and very polite.
Michael - working cleaning microphones in a sound studio. Loves music. Cheerful.
James - wants to be apart of the action, but is a bit reserved.
Lyn - has been studying of 15 years at CAE. Loves to talk and is more than willing to be apart of the film. Asks lots of questions. Takes on the mother figure of the group.
Martin - nervous, quiet, yet seemed interested in the filming process. Articulate. Works with his computer.

The conflict is between the learner and their ability to learn. From an outsiders perspective we see the struggle they face with simple tasks, which they themselves don’t recognize. What we’ve come to understand is that we are faced with the issue of being respectful and understanding of their needs. We don’t want to be patronising in any way. We have realised there is a fine line between using our subjects as experiments, rather we need to focus on their personalities and show they are humans and ought to be respected just like any one else.

This film will show, how there is no difference in people when learning is involved. We are all given the right to learn, no matter what our ability is. The core of our film is based on this premise. Everybody has a right to learn if they are willing to grasp the opportunity, no matter what hurdle stands in their way.

Our motivation comes from being socially conscious individuals, with a passion for learning and people. We each are interested in the individual and how and individual fits within a group of individuals. It is the communication and interaction between people, which our films focus, is on. We want to be responsible media practitioners portraying people in a respectful way. None of us suffer learning disabilities, and we have a passion to understand and learn about their hardships. It’s a window into a life that we are far removed from.

Our indented audience is anyone who is interested in the quirks of personalities and how learning affects and enlightens different people. There are no expectations from our audiences only that they are respectful of our subjects and their experiences. We can expect some negative prejudices regarding their disabilities. Yet in saying that, we know that our audience will find a positive from our film, they too will take from our subjects what we have begun to and that is, how a learning disability may shape your learning process but not the entire person. There is so much more to these people than their disability.

To camera Interviews
Were considering both Lyn and Rob to be our main protagonists, but as we said above we haven’t decided how were going to approach our main characters as we have twelve very eager participants with very interesting individual personalities and stories to tell.

Lyn - Has been studying for 15 years at CAE. Loves to talk amongst her classmates and is more than willing to be apart of the film. Asks lots of questions. She seems to take on role as the mother figure within the class. She studies three days a week. And lives in the suburb of Chadstone.

Robert - Studies three days a week on his days off he works part time as trolley boy at Safeway. He is loud and extraverted and is not afraid to voice his opinion in class; he is constantly talking over the teacher and other students. It is also clear that he is a ladies man.

Style
Our shooting style will be observational; we will be observing our subjects in their everyday lives. We will most likely use a hand held camera for a natural effect. Our interviews will preferably be an intimate conversation with subject rather than question and answer, and it’s less obtrusive and will allow for the students to express themselves at their own pace. Our hope is to feel as though we are part of the class.

Tone
The mood is light hearted, we are defiantly avoiding being hard going as were not physiologists or professionals or familiar with these disabilities and want to be careful with how we portray the students. We certainly don’t want to imply we are more able than our subjects. Our desire is to show the positives of their experiences within the class and outside.

Structure
We are still working on how we want to approach the structure, as we feel there is no beginning, middle and end to our story. However we’ve decided that the theme of storytelling, will tie the film sequences together, either through voice over, or with the students on camera reading their own story. We want individual introductions of the students but in an informal style.

The learning process and journey will structure the film. Important information will emerge through individual interviews as well as the interaction in class.

Resolution
There is no physical ending to our film, these are people’s lives and their learning will continue beyond our short film. Perhaps the only resolution will be our journey as film makers. We hope to continue our relationship and film with the students as we can imagine it as a full length feature.

The Center for Adult Education

Naughty Briana, Alex and I decided to cut Paul's tutorial yesterday and made a trip to CAE for some pre-shoot material. With the Draft Treatment (worth 15%) due today, we made an educated decision that we cannot write a three page draft without making a dedicated attempt to understand the subject of our focus: Intellectually disabled students.

First things first, hats off to the guys and spin doctors at CAE for coming out with that acronym. From where I come from, physical and intellectual disabilities are 'frowned' upon, as the Government only wants to create an army of robots who think and talk alike. So, a disability means you are imperfect. And thus, should you be going to school, the school will proudly display the 'Special' tag. But over at CAE, the name is respectable - while mildly misleading as I discovered later - and it does not undermine the students' determination to be treated like normal people. And that's the feeling I got when I first stepped into the building.



We spent about two hours with the students. Actually, I daresay the adults would not like to be called 'students'. After introducing ourselves and having gone through a round of introductions, the three of us sat behind the classroom and observed the proceedings. Some of the 'students' have been to CAE for over a decade. There must be something about the program that encourages the 'students' to keep returning.

After chatting with a few 'students', I realised that a lot of them return to CAE for the physical and emotional company. These 'students' do not have many friends outside their school, home or work network and return to CAE as the people here are 'similar' to them. I was struck with how the entire class eagerly responded to the teacher's questions. I couldn't help but feel drawn to the whole experience.


(Above): Bree with Lee, the oldest student in class. You might have seen him before, selling newspapers along Flinders Street.

My brush with disability came early in my life. Okay, perhaps it's not fair to compare myself with what I've witnessed yesterday, but I'm trying to put things in perspective.

I was born with a slight speech impediment - I used to stutter a lot. It was only in recent years that I have managed to control it. Speaking out in public and having the confidence to speak to people took me many years to overcome, but I'm mastering my own imperfections.

Also, I have an autistic cousin. I used to see her rather regularly in family gatherings, but since then the family ties had worsened. 'Generation problems', I'd like to call them. Stuff between my folks and their siblings. Whatever. So I haven't seen her for almost a decade now.

Many people live their entire lives without experiencing the pain or joy of someone's imperfections. What the 'students' go through, I can only begin to understand. But I felt their loneliness, as ostracism due to something that was beyond their control is unfair. I was in that position once, and I empathise.

Anyway, while the team has yet to decide what angle the documentary should work on, I am leaning towards showing the loneliness of these adults. At only four to seven minutes, there's really not a lot to capture, but I hope it gives people a brief insight to another world that most 'perfect' people will never experience.

The Documentary

Todorov, Pagliuso (that's Alex and Bree) and I have agreed to dig a little deeper with Bree's idea. She had suggested doing a docu on kids in Melbourne who learn English. The docu might possibly cover the teachers who give their time and energy to these wonderful and colourful kids.

I reckon we've got a gem here in our hands. But more on that soon when the team meets up tomorrow.

Sex with vegans docu

This should be interesting.

A documentary on why these vegans and vegetarians who're obviously off their meds have decided to forgo sex with humans who consume meat.

Well, let's just say they've discounted about 99% of the world population. Slim pickings indeed for them.

Looks like they'll be touching themselves a lot in the privacy of their own room.

Sex-less and loveless. Oh woe is you.

TV2 Groups

It's very important to have good mechanics with your team. The machine may not be well-oiled but if the parts are still in good condition, the car'll still run.

I've been paired (Okay, not really. Alex asked me.) with Alex and her smoking buddy Bree. For the lack of an operative word, smoking buddy will do for now. I haven't seen enough of Bree in campus in the last 12 months apart from fleeting glances at her.

I worked with Alex in Broadcast Media last year and I know she's a good worker. Reported to work in the cold, sick and couldn't give a rat's ass about the assignment yet she still put on a smile and showed lots of enthusiasm. Always turned up for lab work as well. Which scores high in my books. :O

Bree, I don't know. Easy on the eye, but comes highly recommended by Alex. So, I'm taking a leap of faith here.

Less people to work with this semester. But I already have an ally in Alex. Yay.

Docu Concept

"I feel slightly more empowered than most students as I’m a mature-aged student so I don’t have to put up with all the childish teenage ways that all adults had to go through. Teenagers are too fucking concerned about what people think of them to see what the fuck is actually happening. Because I’m past that stage, I have noticed lots of interesting facets of life that teenagers fail to see."

This is an area I'm really keen to explore. When asked to elaborate, I cited the rising cost of property prices in Melbourne and young Melburnians' apathy to their empty finance as a prime example.

I've spent the last three months looking for a house and find myself slapped in the face every weekend by the steep cost of property across Melbourne. I'm almost a decade older than all my uni mates, and I'm wondering how much they'll struggle to pay off their own homes in ten years' time.

Yet, alarmingly, these teenagers are completely oblivious to that, choosing instead to spend their hard-earned casual work money on booze and frivolous stuff. 95% of my uni friends under 20 have no money in their bank, with the other 5% more 'mature' ones having in excess of $10,000. Which is good. Pity there aren't more young Australians who possess that habit.

The idea is not set in stone. Perhaps I might focus more on the the activities adults my age USED to do and what they USED to believe was cool. When I look back at the stuff I've done, purchased or committed myself into, I laugh at my silliness. I'd like to use the documentary to give teenage university students an insight into what goes on in the mind of a mature-aged university student.

Couple of good ideas I reckon.

Integrated Media 2 LMFAO

Turns out, Media students this semester are playing a fucking free and bastardised version of The Sims in Integrated Media 2.

LMFAO. It's like Seth Keen and Co. can't afford to pay monthly fees, so instead of levelling up and spell-crafting in WoW, students now have to resort to short skirts and fake jobs to get their rocks off.

Seriously, WTF? This explains why all the Media students were talking about it last week. Cmon guys, I know the men have to suck in their tummies and the women have no boobs, but surely there're EASIER ways to score an easy fuck? And online??

Geme Neverwinter Nights 2 or Football Manager 2007 anyday.

Second Life. LOL.

Dear Christine R

"Hello Christine,

just wana congratulate you on your reference to Saturday's Stage 13's time trial of the Tour de France. Some of the hairpins were indeed slippery and the race leaders lost a lot of time. As a huge HUGE HUGE fan of the Tour, it's pleasing to hear it being mentioned in a lecture of all places. Music to my ears.

Been up every night watching it till 2am btw. Not good for the heart as I get excited and cheer for the riders. As a result I only fall asleep at around 4 as I feel like I just ran 10 miles.

Great lecture btw:O "

Lecture Two post-mortem

Christine R mentioned this today:
- Documentary is an intimate conversation
- Best documentaries tells you "This is the way I see the fucking world."
- To tell something original & unique

Well this is becoming easier than I had envisioned! Just do a documentary on myself! Seriously, I'm so bloody interesting. Here's why:

a) Mature-aged student with several years work experience. You 20yo kids wana know what the real world is like, flock to Big Brother here. There's a lot from where that came from.
b) Asian editor of a white people university magazine. Herro!? There's something not quite right there! Asians don't speak English!
c) Tactless - I say things that other people are too afraid to say. What're you gona do? Swallow your pride and take it to your grave?
d) I am extremely popular in campus. It's not who you know, but how much cock you've to suck. Okay don't quote me on that.
e) I collect action figures, quote Buffy lines, listen to dance music and shave my pubes.
f) I'm not gay.
g) If I were to be stranded on an island for a year and I was allowed to bring one essential along with me, it'd be moisturizer. Can't live with chapped skin.

With all these reasons above, I can think of so many permutations. Enough material for a three-season arc.

TV2 Errands Week Two Update

Ok. I've spoken to Paul and he's cool with me using my camera as it has widescreen and miniDV capabilities. Seriously, who would buy a 4:3 video camera!?

Also, I've attended the first two lectures with time to spare before Paul R, Dave C and Christine R started rapping their latest rendition of "Your Got To Fight For Your Right (To Party)"

Well-prepared & Punctual.

Fuck I'm good.

Theme for the TV2 Documentary is belief.

From The Free Dictionary:

be·lief (b-lf)

n.

1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.

2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.

3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

Belief is a word I hold very close to my heart. It's a word that has driven me to the ascending heights that I sit on today; without Belief I'd still be a boring Advertising Executive at the bottom end of the food chain in sterile and culture-less Singapore.

Here are ten things that I believe in. I live by it.

"I Believe..."
1) "...I have left a poorer country for a richer one. If I cannot exercise choice, there's no freedom."
2) "...I have witnessed the media manipulation by the autocratic regime. At least here in Australia, both parties get a fair go."
3) "...truth will always be a casualty in Singapore."
4) "...I can control my pursuit of truth. I can shape my own future, my own fame, my own accolades and my own destiny. All this in Australia."
5) "...I will not return to a country that practices meritocracy and considers anyone over 40yo as over the hill."
6) "...I can change the world 'coz I'm not in Singapore."
7) "...as a child, I was villified and heckled by other Singaporeans 'coz I am different. They're afraid of me. They're myopic and cannot see the forest for the trees. What do they know?"
8) "...I can practice my own beliefs, cultivate my personality, say what I want and not be afraid to be myself 'coz I'm not in Singapore."
9) "...I am fucking talented, in spite of my limited talent."
10) "...I deserve a chance to be here, 'coz Australia is my calling and I can make a difference."

"No hard feelings mate. i just thought the wrongs had to be made right again." - Lily Goh, 16 June.

None taken.

There were no wrongs in my post. All were assumptions, or has the vagaries of the English language gone out of your window lately?

Case(s) in point:

“As far as I know, ALL Prof Comm students are pursuing TV as an interest, but do not see TV as a career”

I represent all the Prof Comm students who have told me how challenging and richly rewarding it is to work with the Media kids as they get to see ideas and practices from peers. These are also the same kids who have professed no desire to work in the television industry, but only to learn the ropes. Having said that, you and I have not had enough conversations about what you - as a Prof Comm student - intend to do. Perhaps, if you spent less time knocking me for my beliefs (non-Christian, Asian racist or not), we'd be able to sort it out :) Nobody is right here, and nobody is wrong.

"...also do not find it difficult for any Prof Comm student to make input in discussions..."

You were speaking for yourself here Lily. How much feedback have you received from your fellow Prof Comm friends? As a member of the Student Staff Consultative Committees (SSCC) it is my job to check on my Prof Comm friends. I'm also speaking from the guy-about-town's opinion, as I'm quite the social butterfly in the Prof Comm circle. Or haven't you already discovered that? :O Well I'm glad that you and I do not have any problems with the Media kids. There are some out there who do. And I'm speaking for them.

"Lastly, i would just like to say that i think Bill is an amazing person and an amazing student slash team member..."

Not once did I mention Bill being egotistical male chauvinist who doesn't value Prof Comm opinions. What I said was "Perhaps he's an egotistical male chauvinist who doesn't value Prof Comm opinions..." I have not made any accusations nor have I put Bill up for slander. Look, I'm sure Bill is the bloody Messiah and the one to end all wars, but all I said was he has to put his emotions in check and realise that working in a team means to watch out for your team members as well.

Perhaps you have a counter-argument to mine. That's great. But do we need another Malaysia - Singapore spat here? Let our governments deal with that. Between the two of us, we have bigger fishes to fry :O

Looking forward to seeing you on Monday!

Yours sincerely,
John Ng
Catalyst editor 2007

Camera

Am all primed for the new semester. I can't wait to work with a new bunch of students. New ideas, new egos. Haha.

Having said that, I know I have to make up for the poor Credit for TV1. Armed with my miniDV camera - bought specifically to arrest any annoying camera borrowing debacle for TV2 - I'm ready to kick some arse.

Bring it on, documentary.

Credit

So I scored my credit for the semester. Am contented with the mark. No guilt, no need to lie through my teeth to justify a fake score. With the amount of work I've put in last semester across the board and working for a better resume, I'd say God Damn! the result was justified. Something had to give; can't be scoring four distinctions when you're the man about town aye?

Now, if only the rest of the students can justify their distinctions....what have you done to justify the score?

This Post Is Not For Assessment Paul! But read it as it has feedback:O

After viewing all films earlier in the evening with all TV1 students, I became acutely aware that there's a lot of talent among the students. Also, I can safely say that my group's take on Bloodhounded 2 is far, far superior to the other group's take. It's funnier, doesn't have those two lame Asians (Asians generally stick out like a sore thumb in a white-dominated media environment) who became the focus of the movie with their Asian stereotype looks, dressing and accents. For once I do not care if they are perfect casting for the movie; if you want to get an Asian, get a pan-Asian. Or an Asian who isn't an International Student. It's quite obvious those Asians aren't locals. The conventional Asian look simply distracts viewers.

But anyway, I meant to vent steam about how some of the Media students are far more advanced in technical abilities and knowledge. Paul, if you read this, remember that I have stressed several times (and I'm not the only one) that Prof Comm students pale in comparison to the Media kids. As far as I know, ALL Prof Comm students are pursuing TV as an interest, but do not see TV as a career. Many of the Media kids do see TV as an enviable career choice, and are fucking good at it.

I got home earlier and went through every student blog. Several Prof Comm students have their grievances about being paired with Media students as we are always outnumbered. And out-thought. And out-inspired.

I could be wrong, but most of the Prof Commers wish to pursue a career in PR, Marketing, Journalism or the likes, so none of us have the insane knowledge, expertise and craftmanship of the Bills, Matts, Lionels and Steves. And these people have their little posse of friends who worship the ground they step on, making it extremely hard for the Prof Commies to generate any input.

I felt extremely saddened that Ariel was told off by the Director of her group. Bill was in no position to tell her off this way. Perhaps he's an egotistical male chauvinist who doesn't value Prof Comm opinions, but no one deserves a verbal lashing. I know which day this happened, as earlier this week I saw an extremely upset Ariel in campus. She has been shedding some tears; I didn't know why then. But now I do.

I was lucky to have a group that was really friendly and chatty and had no airs about them. But towards the end differences in opinions and lack of communication soured the friendships and split the group dynamics into two, which was very obvious. And that makes me sad. I didn't come to uni after ten years in the workforce to see teenagers being bullied by other teenagers, or friendships ruined due to work differences.

Which makes me proud of the big brother role that I have been playing since Year One. Arbitrator is always better than Antagonisor.

I'm only hoping I have a great bunch of people to work with in TV2. Wish to graduate with a bang, with no enemies and lots of friends.

Have a great holiday everyone.

Looking at fine cuts

The team met up and discussed, dissected, chatted and edited the almost final cut of Hounded on Tuesday. We were extremely lucky to have Paul coming in at 10.30am in the morning to have a look as Alice (who was there first) experienced problems with the sound in our suite.

Paul ended up spending an inordinate amount of time in our suite and completely changed the structure of our film.

By the time the team (just Sam, Charlotte and I) left at 7pm, the version we'd submit for screening was vastly different from the version/s that we were all familiar with.

The team was very cut up about which version we'd love to submit. There are varying opinions on which version was best, but ultimately we decided on Paul's version coz if this is the version Paul loves, this is the version we'd submit. We were not about to submit something that Paul doesn't like just because we feel it's 'better'.

There are at least four versions of Hounded

1) Paul's version - scenes of the two boys were not as convulated as our version. Music was presented in a headphone-style way and utilised both the instrumental and rockish music.

2) Alice, Lily and John's version - this version utilised the instrumental music Lily's friend provided and scenes of the boys dressing up were short and staccatoed.

3) Sam and Charlotte's version - this version utilised the rockish vocal music that Charlotte picked. Scenes of the boys were almost similar to 2), but the music was drastically different. Paul made a comment on this version and said it looked and sounded like a Year 10 production and looked liked someone had just chucked in a track to expediate the process. I don't agree completely; the music is rather suitable, but I felt the music took focus away from the film.

4) The team's original version - In this version, the scenes were more like 2) and 3), but the music was the original track that Lily's friend provided. Lots of people liked the music and said it provided a lot of finesse to it. I felt the music was really good too, but some parts of the music didn't fit certain parts of the film.

In the end, the team was just extremely happy to have completed the assessment. It really has sucked the energy out of the team and I'm just looking forward to TV2 as we get to do documentaries on miniDV cameras.

I knew I bought my miniDV camera for a reason. :O

Baz Luhrmann's Australia

I've always wondered why the hell we've got to do so much 'pre-Action!' stuff before the directer screams 'Action!'. The team may have wrapped up production with Hounded and I am aware of the roles each member of the crew plays, but I still think it's unnecessary. Why can't we just say, "OK I AM READY! JUST FUCKING FILM ALREADY!"

Until I saw and heard this audio and visual reel from The Age. I'm quite a history buff, and old iconic scenes and wars interest me a great deal. So imagine my surprise when the reel took all my doubts away and convinced me that all the 'camera ready-slate in-bullshit' was really worth my while.

I know it's stupid, but hey it took something that interests me to be convinced about set etiquette. People learn things their own way and at their own time, and I've justified that reasoning.

Now, get the fucking slate in! LOL.

Off topic, I'm extremely keen on this movie. I'll be keeping a look out for the number of non-Anglos in the movie. Fast forward a century and a half, and Australia today still has traces of the White Australia policy in the form of white supremists. No doubt Pauline Hanson will be flocking to watch this movie.

Somebody needs to tell these people, that pre-2000 was all about colonialization and white people. Post-2000, it's the rise of the Asians. In several decades time the sight of an Asian man in a 'white' country would no longer raise eyebrows. No more asexualised Asian man in the media, and the Asian man will win the girl's heart.

Okay I really am straying away from this television blog.

Last Tute - I'll take the Credit

Have you ever had one of those days where you can't please anyone? I thought honesty was a much valued trait that humans honour; seems like people much rather lie through their teeth to please others or themselves. I just can't.

I cannot justify giving myself a Distinction. Then again, I don't know. I'm the only who gave myself a Credit in class, and I found some of the self-assessed marks from my peers rather suspicious. Some really do deserve their marks, no questions asked. But hey, such is life isn't it?

I've never felt so uncomfortable before. I'm always Mr Know-It-All in classes; TV1 just brought out the ugly monster in me. I could always go in a self-assessment tute and give myself a High Distinction with no objections. Just like how Matt did it. Confident, without blinking and cocky. But today, I felt objectified.

Strangely, I felt like one of those losers who don't turn up for all the lectures, all the tutes and relied solely on their project mates to carry their fucking ass to pass. One of my group mates in Broadcast Media last year comes to mind. Lecturer still passed him. Are you fucking kidding me?

Anyway, what's done is done. I have justified my score, but my actions and words are perhaps somewhat unwarranted. It just came out the wrong way.

Then again, how many International Students juggle a full-time load, maintain a Distinction average in the first two years and run a university magazine? Last I checked, it's just me. Seriously, try convincing a 19yo kid to do that, and he'll laugh at my face. Right. Coz wasting money on booze, casual sex and partying is more fun that going home, completely exhausted with uni work and magazine. If anything, I deserve a High Distinction for effort expended this semester alone across all four subjects.

LOL come to think of it that's pretty much what I do all day. I do need to devote more time next semester. Geez. I don't know how I'm going to pull that off. This semester corrupted my physical and mental health. But two semesters?

Might need a shrink.

Rough Thoughts on Rough Cut

'Sam' - Lionel, Jen, Brendon and Matt

- Remarkably clear and crisp visuals
- Liked the stabbing shot via reflection
- The relationship wasn't clear for about 3 seconds as the chick went on and on about this faceless picture
- Seriously, who sits on a chair when he's stabbed? <--- Okay, I'm not meant to do this, but lol
- THAT dolly shot (wow)
- Continuity with the blood on the mouth, I noticed it immediately
- Liked the way the focus was on the bloodied face, and everything behind was out of focus

'Pharmacy' - Susan, Gabrielle, Tim, Brett and Mr Harbour, eh, Marcus

- I c-o-u-l-d n-o-t s-t-o-p laughing. Hilarious
- It's just me and my chip on my shoulder, but I found the ninja reference rather racist, as it looked like it was directed at Ying Ma
- Gentleman who came (lol) is a crackup
- Who would go out with that chick anyway? She's quite hideous <--- again, not meant to do this
- While many struggled with the red heads and box reference, I got it immediately. I do think it has to be changed to something more tv/film generic so Random Joe can understand it
- I wasn't aware that the 'pharmacist' and Ying Ma were in fact looking at their script. I was wondering what they were looking at.
- Which justifies why the 'Gentleman who came' got so upset, as they were reading the folder but failed to find anything

'Hounded' - by my crew. Woohoo!

- I really like the music done by Lily's friend. Had a build up and mirrored the anticipated 'build up' of the date
- Something has to go between the build up track and the second track. Silence is too jarring
- Charlotte's music was great, but I felt it wouldnt go with the footage as people will be hard-pressed to focus on both lyrics and visuals
- It'll go really well in the credits
- I suggested this to Alice, that one of Charlotte's tracks go in right off the bat in the front. We might have to put in something cheesy like 'Miramax Pictures Presents' and some extra scenes, to justify the extra track as cutting it off too soon will spoil it

Last week of the semester

We received an email from Paul last week on reflections and self-assessments and I've decided to give it a go at answering it right now.

- SELF ASSESSMENT IN TUTE
In the tutes next week we will be doing your self and peer assessments. If you cannot attend could you contact your tutor beforehand and we will organise another time to do it.

I've decided to give myself a CREDIT. I missed a couple of lectures and only one tutorial and was always in class, learning and understanding the big bright world of television. I feel that I am far behind to many Media students who can see themselves as a Media professional in the years to come. I only take Media as a learning subject as I'm mildly interested, and my enthusiasm, while great, cannot compete or compare with the Media students' knowledge and expertise. Many of them have been dabbling with little tv projects since their Year 9 days. Geez.

Technically, I feel that I have learnt a lot in the last 13 weeks, even though most times I still feel like a tame little church mouse who asks too many questions. I cannot give myself a DISTINCTION as my group mates understand, did and performed better than I did, and it'll be unfair to myself or them.

- ROUGH CUT SCREENING IN TUTE
This is a really constructive preview screening. Each group will watch and critique each other’s rough cuts. Last year this proved to be an invaluable process. As you know it is easy to get yourselves in to a situation where you can lose objectivity. It is terrific to hear the great suggestions that your fellow students come up with.

Sam and Charlotte gave us a headstart and came up with a good rough cut of Greg and William, which laid the foundations for Alice and I. Which brings me to Alice.

She has been phenomenal in this aspect. The two of us met up on Friday for editing, and expected to stay in the suite for only two hours. But somehow the next class didn't turn up, we ended up staying past two hours and we spent a total of seven hours in the suite. Okay, I stayed for only an hour-and-a-half, but Alice was a champion. As we had the luxury of filming a week or two weeks before many other teams, we did not rush with our editing and were lucky to have booked in the editing studio with no one else in sight.

I really am glad that this team is dedicated and are keen to do work. So many horror stories have been heard and seen with dodgy group mates who do no work and expect you to carry their fucking asses (last year's Broadcast Media come to mind).

- BLOGGING ON THESE SESSIONS
These sessions should generate a reflective and analytical blog post on yours and your other tute members films.

I give myself a CREDIT for my blog (barely). I havn't been diligent enough to blog consistently, or talk about television aspects of lighting, scenes or things that interested me on film or television. Looking at fellow students' blogs - Lionel's come to mind - it's frightening how enthusiastic they are about television. Posts were regular and consistent and were always interesting (even though I had no fucking clue what Lionel is talking about some times).

I'm so blessed

I've spent the last 30 minutes looking through blogs of other students who haven't had the fortune of shooting their short movie last weekend.

Many of them are panicking, some have difficulties with casting. Others have not found the right location and more have all of the above problems.

If you walked into this mess on your very first day not knowing what to expect, you'd be very scared.

I feel so blessed to be part of a good team. Because the team took the initiative to do pre-shoots several weeks in advance and our actual shoot last weekend, we're using this week to catch up on other subjects.

Yes, we do have other subjects.

And in my case, I'm spending this weekend working on issue 4 of Catalyst. My only fear now is the actual footage isn't good enough. Namely, out of focus, bad lighting, sound's all awry. Eeesh.

Good luck everyone.

'Hounded' - Behind the scenes

I had to iron these two yellow tee shirts the night before. While everyone brought a heap of props, I was charged to bring these tee shirts and some other minor stuff.




On the day of the shoot, Big Sam picked us up at RMIT. As Charlotte made her own way to Brighton, she isn't in these shots.

Big Sam


Alice (eh, this shot lacks exposure :O )


Lily


We began to dress up the first bathroom and bathed it with every fucking red object that we could lay our hands on from the house and stuff that we brought.



Alice smudging the mirror with toothpaste. Coz real homes have smudges on their mirrors. Last I checked, my mirror doesn't have any smudges. Haha.



Red bottles. Red vials. Red, red, red!


Shooting's not yet commenced, and the Director's already monkeying around.


Sam taking a shut eye as Lily 'looks on', unimpressed.


The Chinese believe that the colour red bring luck and prosperity. If anything. this bathroom looks like it could scare any Chinese away.





We moved upstairs to a different bathroom and dressed it up in yellow this time.






Sam found a stack of National Geographic periodicals. We cracked up laughing. Charming, how yellow!


We didn't notice it at first, but Sam pointed out that the clown on the right's rather obscene.


Nothing was spared in our hunt for yellow products...


We even raided the musty-smelling storeroom for knick-knacks that may come in useful.


Our actors have arrived, and are busy re-reading the last minute changes that Alice had made. Alice was busy too, putting the actors through their motions.


"So, remember not to stand on this floor tile. It'll explode if you do."


"What was that again? I have to rinse my mouth with Toilet Duck!?!?"


In character


This is the only shot that John's in.


Sam brought this funky toothpaste and toothbrush holder.


"Do I put my hands these way?"


Paul and the tech staff told us never to leave the equipment lying around unattended. Yeah right.


Lily taking a rest, deep in thought.


'Greg' and 'William', taking a break.


Planning and planning and more planning...


"Cmon, we wana see your man muscles!"


Charlotte, looking like she's just about to strike Lily unawares. Scarrry...


A funny moment


Camera lying around unattended again...


Lily doing a good job dressing up our 'cinema staff'


We had to dress up the Kaleide Theatre too