Bee(a) buzzing through film school

[Bri MT]

I start my last year of my degree tomorrow! Crazy to think that I'm in my graduating year. Time flies so so quick. It was just like yesterday when I was getting my ID and student handbook on the first day of O-Week. I've written myself a list of things I would like to achieve this year. Not sure if I'm being realistic with my goals (lols) but hopefully I am able to achieve most of them by November.

- 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

... and most of all

- Really make the most of my last year at AFTRS and build strong connections with people

Out of these goals, which one is most important to you?


It doesn't feel odd to me that it's already 3rd year but maybe that's also because I've still got another year of uni? I feel like so much has happened in the past 2 years compared to high school that if anything it should've been more time passed between getting my student id & now.

[beatroot]

Out of these goals, which one is most important to you?

Think out of all goals, the "Work on films and projects that speak truth to me and have a personal connection with the director" has to the most important one for me. I've spent my first year and half of second year working on projects that really didn't connect to me personally and I struggled creatively and mentally. In Sem 2 of my second year, I worked an amazing project that I really loved and was super passionate about. I put so much effort into it because I loved it so much and the hard work paid off because we managed to get our project distributed and released to the public.

Now that I'm in my final year, I will put my effort into projects that I am passionate about, those that speak truth and have a personal connection with the director. I don't want to work in projects that have stories that have no connection to the director because that doesn't feel real. I want to work on projects where I can see a part of the director in the story because I care about telling raw and authentic stories and stories that are worth telling in this oversaturated market.

Today I signed up to produce my friend's short film. I've been pitched ideas by 6 other people (producers are really rare at my film school!) and I didn't really like their ideas as much (they're good ideas but I just didn't connect to their ideas personally). I'm very glad that my friend trusts me to produce their film. It's going to be really great!

Edit: Realised that it's been 3 years since I signed up for AN!

[beatroot]

So I started my final year of film school three weeks ago and ... we're starting our online classes next week yikes. Before I discuss my thoughts on the online classes, I'll discuss all the face to face teaching that happened before my film school has shut down.

It was really lovely to see everyone again. It's weird because I spent a whole month before the academic year re-edtiting and making social media content for the release of What's Your Flava? 2020 and film school was empty during that time (as it was obviously the holidays). But it was so nice to see the foyer filled with people from my year again and basically just film school getting back to action.

Our focus for Screen Business is very practical as we're being taught about the long form industry but most importantly, we're also being taught how to create our personal brands and how to get a job in the industry. Our assignment is quite overwhelming because we have to write about our career plan and it's just crazy to think that we'll be done by November and actually have to try and get a job in the industry next year. My tutor for the subject was my tutor for production back in Year 1 so I was super happy to see her again. She's so lovely, so inspiring and so insightful- I couldn't have asked for a better tutor to have for Screen Business.

Since we're in our final year, we get to choose our electives. My first elective choice was 'Editing'. We learnt about movie trailers and its history in our very first lecture of the year. It's actually crazy to think that there's a whole industry dedicated to just movie trailer editing. In our workshops, we've been slowly taught Avid- which is the industry standard programme for editing. It is so different to Premiere Pro. Avid is so intimidating and so confusing all at once. I lost my timeline in one workshop and that really stressed me out, b don't worry I found my timeline in the next workshop. Our first assignment for editing is actually pretty cool- we got assigned different films to edit into a trailer- I got given Pitch Perfect. We also have to use the opposite genre for the film for our edit. Since Pitch Perfect is a musical rom-com, I thought a mystery thriller would be the opposite genre for the film. I actually finished my second draft for my edit yesterday and I am very pleased with it.

I was really looking forward to my second elective 'Motion Design'. Before we even started the week, my film school had announced that they were going to stop face-to-face teaching and move to online classes. We came back to school for one day last week to be debriefed on online classes and had our last ever face-to-face class. We basically had this super heavy 2.5 hour lecture since my tutor tried to squeeze all the lectures for the week into one day. It was actually a very insightful lecture. Motion Design isn't just graphics. Motion Design is the utilisation of graphics to add more meaning to a work and adding purpose to a purpose. We got taught some basic stuff on After Effects including rotoscoping and adding animation to text. The assignment is lowkey confusing but I just need to find some inspiration to really get started. My classes for the week got cancelled since my subject is too practical- other classes trialled their online classes. Since my class got cancelled, this got added on at the end of semester to make up for the lost time.

For Production this semester, we're focusing on Long Form production. We have to create a trailer for a long form idea- this can either continue onto grad next sem or just be a crowdfunding video to use outside of film school. I've signed myself up to work on three different trailers- I'm producing, editing and production designing this sem (how exciting). I was gonna stick with producing and editing initially but I realised it was my last ever chance to expand onto production design before grad so I said "why not?". We also had to pitch ourselves infront of the entire cohort and the production tutors. So many people were planning on writing and directing so I knew I had to pitch myself as an editor and find the perfect director to work with. I decided to make my presentation very meme-y and laidback so that it would stand out from the others... and it did ahahhaa. I got a lot of offers to edit people's films- I wanted to be super picky because I have been burnt by some directors in the past before.

Now here are my thoughts on the online classes...
Obviously there's nothing I can do about it. But I am very upset about it. This is my final year at AFTRS. My final year to have unlimited access to the best equipment, labs and studios at the school and I don't have access to that anymore. It really really sucks. But again, there is nothing I can do about it. I'm just really concerned that I'm not gonna make the most out of my final year and that I'm not gonna get the experience and material for my portfolio for me to get a job next year. We haven't been told if production has been moved or cancelled this semester but I have a feeling it'll be cancelled because there's so much at stake if we had cast and crew on set in June (who knows what's gonna happen in June??) It would really suck if we can't even have production because that means next time we're in production mode will be for our grad projects and I don't think I'm ready for that without any recent on-set experience. We also had a quick orientation for Zoom today and it was just such a weird experience.

My course is such a practical course and it's just gonna be so weird having my practical course being moved online. The only thing I'm technically losing is some expensive programmes (ie Avid and Pro Tools) and the editing labs. It also sucks not being able to be in a classroom environment- I'm very scared that I won't be as productive at home since my home is where I just relax, therefore not really making the most of my degree. Again, nothing I can do about it but just needed to vent my thoughts out. People are even planning on deferring til next year which is fair. The idea of deferring and graduating in 2021 sounds like a good idea but I really want to graduate with the people I started this degree with. I can't imagine having to start fresh with a new cohort. Plus I really need to get started my career in the industry at a young age so that I am able to get to my end goal quicker.

We're on a break this week and we're starting our online classes next Wednesday. These online classes are going to be really interesting... I'll let you know my thoughts and my experience with the online classes.

PS: Hope everyone's staying safe during this hectic time! Remember to wash your hands!! The only time I can leave the house is when I go to work. My work is considered an essential service so I still have to go to my casual job twice a week. Although, not gonna lie I do feel anxious everytime I go to work now because I'm interacting with so many customers each shift and they don't know how to practice social distancing my gosh (and please stop using cash when paying for something)

[beatroot]

Hello so I haven’t done a journey journal update in a while but here it is. (PS: I tried doing speech to text for this entry and the editing process took longer than I expected. So if I come off very casual in this entry, this is why)

Online classes were a bit weird definitely in the first week cos like when I had my very first online class it was for editing and my goodness that was absolutely horrendous. It was fine for the lecture but for our workshops, we kind of got sent to do everything on our own. I thought that was a bit lonely because I was in my room editing like cos if we were back in the labs we would actually be next to each other. Our tutor would be floating in between people looking over their edits but since we have workshops online we have to log off. Personally I have to log off Zoom because my computer keeps heating up when I've got Premiere Pro and Zoom running at the same time. I just get so lonely in editing class.

This is basically the same for motion design class which is just another branch of editing which involves stuff like visual effects and animation. With our class initially it started with live tutorials and then our tutor realised it wasn't as feasible because you know people have different laptops, people have different paces, etc. So he just posted video tutorials online on Moodle and we had to follow those. It was a bit lonely just having to edit stuff the entire day in my bedroom and it didn’t feel like a class because it wasn't collaborative at all. But then again can post production really really be collaborative?

But when it comes to screen business- it’s a compulsory subject for everyone so basically everyone in the year has to do it. It was just nice to see people again just in one space even if half the people didn't have their camera on. Personally, for me I did have my camera on so I am more engaged in class cos if I don't have my camera on that basically gives me the opportunity to not take any notes and not pay attention in the lecture. But at the same time I end up just looking at myself in my zoom box thing and that's not good. Our screen business lecturer is so lovely- she’s always trying to cheer us up. Then we go into our workshops and the lovely thing about our workshops is our tutor really encourages in-class discussions. I really hate breakout rooms because it's so awkward- it’s just you and two or three other people and then your tutor randomly pops in and out. Seeing everyone in the entire class makes it feel like a classroom environment and it makes sense- because screen business to be a subject that has heaps of class discussions.

For long form for production obviously we can't go and set anymore because of the new rules which makes sense. But it sucks because next time I'm going to be on set it will be for my grad project and that scares me. By that time I go on set in September/August this year it would have been 9 months since I've been on set.

Is it just me or online classes are going a bit quicker than I expected? I wake up at like 9, go to class at 9:30 and then I finish at 4:30. I really do think they go quicker than I expected, maybe that's because obviously I don't have to wake up early- you know to eat and to travel to campus. Like I can literally eat while I'm in a lecture and they don't mind us eating. In fact, I always get asked what are you eating for breakfast and I'm like yeah I'm just eating dumplings cos I'm craving for dumplings in the morning.
One thing, I would like to comment is the fact that s zoom backgrounds are getting very old nowadays. Like when we were in the first 3 weeks of online classes, people had funny zoom backgrounds. Even I managed to distract myself in every single class by just picking the best doom background. People message me privately on Zoom like ‘funny background... where did you get that from’. Or I would message other people asking ‘hey where’s your zoom background from’

Good news apparently we might be going back on campus next semester. I really hope. I really don’t want to spend the final year of my bachelor’s degree attending online classes.

[beatroot]

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

[beatroot]

The semester ended just nearly a week ago for me and I'm still processing it. Still can't believe that the semester's done and that I only have 1 semester left before graduation. I shall reflect on this semester now.

Even though COVID kinda ruined the semester, it weirdly enough made it good as well? Yes it sucks that I wasn't able to go on campus but my sleep schedule has been so good. The best sleep schedule so far in my degree. I also liked how people were alot more flexible (since no one can leave their house) and I was able to have heaps of production meetings- whether that'd be with my tutors or my peers. There was just so much emphasis on development this semester that it made me realise that you have to remember to build a great foundation before making a product. Without a good foundation, the product won't be as good?

Anyways onto my subjects- I've already mentioned before but Screen Business is great, Editing not so much and yes yes yes to Motion Design. However, Long Form production was probably the most fulfilling subject out of them all because it was such a wonderful experience. I was able to work with a director (as a producer) who really valued my input, my efforts and my advice which I have never experienced at film school before. We made an amazing film and I'm so proud of the work we did (especially with the circumstances that we were in) I also undertook editing and production design which were also interesting to do under these restrictions. (*these restrictions included not being able to go on set due to social distancing guidelines)

I'm one of the few lucky ones to return on campus next semester as my third elective is a practical one (practical electives get priority) I shall be doing production design which I hope to be a delightful experience.

My plans pretty much for this semester break includes pretty much continuing development for the short film I'm producing for next semester. A wise man once told me "a producer's job is never done". I know I should be taking a break during this semester break but working is just so fun!! Especially when it is for a project that you're so passionate about.

This reflection is actually super trash so I might make another one during the break. Maybe a video one so I can actually express what I want to express?

See y'all soon!

[beatroot]

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

[Bri MT]

Massive congratulations!!

Woo!!!! Really happy for you!

Love the minimalism of your website btw