One of the subjects offered at St Andrews College in Stages 5 and 6 is Industrial Technology. In 2018 we have fifteen Year 12 students studying this with a Multimedia focus. The course is designed to develop a knowledge and understanding of the multimedia industry and related technologies with an emphasis on design, management and production through practical applications.
As part of the Stage 6 Industrial Technology Course students are required to create a major project. From October 2017 until Thursday the 16th of August 2018, the fifteen Year 12 students studying Industrial Technology have worked tirelessly to create a multimedia production. This is a NESA requirement and makes up 60 of the 100 marks available for the HSC Exam. The major project is centred on the application of design, research and manufacture of a multimedia production and the related folio.
On Thursday the 23rd of August, all fifteen students showcased their productions at the Major Project Showcase. These students were: John Salazar (Oh My Doggo), Matthew Cruz (Euphoria), Jeremiah Coutinho (Pathways), Vishishta Ramananthan (Nola), William Villar (O.D), Audrey Jovero (Crossroads), Patrick Balilo (Dissonance), Jerico Tablizo (Home), Daniella Scott (Quando Crezca), Gabriel Felipe (I Just Want To Win), Steven Saros-Glinatsis (Shadow Division), Rencel Del Monte (Shooters), Dean McCoy (Life), Thomas Resenberger (The Protector) and Vincent Tran (Doggo).
As part of the reflection on their learning and achievement students were asked four questions:
a) What was the name of your project?
b) What was the storyline of your project?
c) What software did you use to create your project?
d) What did you learn from doing your project?
Below are some of their responses:
I have created an emotional short drama called 'Nola' which dwells on the effects of an old age home on a lonely grandmother, who anxiously waits for a son and his family to visit her. I had used Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Garageband 2017 to create the film and the soundtrack complimenting the deep emotion that I envisaged for the film. Through this, I had realised the true importance of teamwork, dedication and time management that is imperative in creating a major project. I also learnt the core factor of doing a major project is to enhance my knowledge in audio and video, and the unlimited extents of creating a flawless project, which I have yet to achieve.
Vishishta Ramanathan
The title of my project is "Crossroads" This title represents teenagers who struggle to make the right decisions in life, and for those unique people who struggle to allow other people into their life. My short film is about a young introvert who relies solely on earphones to block out surrounding noise. Upon misplacing the earphones, the young teen goes through an emotional breakdown. As an introvert, I tend to feel more at ease when I am alone. It's a way to say that "I am comfortable on my own. I am happy on my own". The software I used for my project was mainly using Adobe programs. Adobe Premiere Pro CC for editing my video. I also used Adobe Photoshop to create my poster. From this project, I came to a realisation that I need to work on my time management, not only for this project, but for other future works. Time is very precious and must be used effectively throughout life. I have also learnt that I should always seek others for help when needed, and to not try and complete everything on my own.
Audrey Jovero
For my major project, I intended on developing a short film around the concept of exploring momentary yet intense feeling of happiness for individuals which can’t normally be explained through the use of words. Extrapolating on this idea, I decided to name my film ‘Euphoria’, which embodied the nature of intense momentary emotions. The film was developed through Adobe Premiere Pro and exported through Adobe Encoder, for optimal quality. Throughout this project, I’ve realised the importance of time management, flexibility during complicated scenarios, and the prior knowledge of software and directing, along with the fact of improvisation and preparation. Throughout the course of my production, the abundant research contributed to giving me a significant insight into how to use materials and communicate with specific individuals within the multimedia industry. This film serves as an exemplification of what I thought happiness for most individuals was and also served as a final tribute to my friends.
Matthew Cruz
My short animation, titled “Dissonance”, was a short animation depicting the story of an individual who is addicted to technology, and how that over-dependence has isolated him and alienated him, forcing his emotional breakdown when he is unable to use said crutch. I used a cornucopia of software, including Adobe Animate, Encoder, Photoshop, InDesign and iMovie. Through the process of working on this project, I understood the necessity of hard work, maintaining a schedule and consistency. Taking this as a learning experience, the project as a whole will serve to help me as future reference for any similar projects I may undertake in the future.
Patrick Balilo
The short film that I have created is titled ‘Home’. There was no straight storyline/plot with my project. The main purpose of my film is to express the nature of what we think ‘Home’ is. Our idea of ‘Home’ is varied as we perceive things different to each other, however ‘‘it shouldn’t matter, because Home is everywhere’’. Through this, I used a voice over and a TedTalks to communicate the ideas I wished to be presented, drawing from ‘inspirational’ Visual Arts short films, and the TedTalks presentation. I primarily used Adobe Premiere Pro as the main video editing software, and Audacity to record and edit particular voice overs/sound. Additionally, I used Adobe Media Encoder (for exporting the Premiere Pro project to an mp4) and Adobe InDesign (for creating the documents and portfolio of the project). Through the creation of my project, I have learnt how to produce various products through the use of Multimedia aspects (video, audio, text, animation, image), and developed my skills in using the softwares and hardwares in creating the project. Additionally, the significance in developing synergy within your team results in a product that you can be proud of. “Home is everywhere”
Jerico Tablizo
The title of my short film is called O.D. there is different meanings to it, our demons and overdose. Our demons meaning that everyone has demons inside of them and they will do whatever it takes to get rid of their demons. The storyline of my project focuses on the downfall of a student when he first uses drugs, when he is at the peak of his school career (scoring high on tests). The softwares that I have used to create my project were Adobe Premiere Pro used mainly for editing my film as well as adding colour to one scene, Adobe Photoshop used for editing my photo cover of my film, Adobe InDesign used for recording my folio and making my folio look better in terms of layout (subheadings, title) and Adobe Encoder for exporting my film into a video file. Over the course of this major project I have learnt that I was not efficient with my time, as there was days where I could not film due to people not being available as well as not being able to access locations.
William Villar
My project is called "Doggo", it is a short video game that showcases the possibility of a RPG game revolving around a quadrupedal character, moving away from traditional humanoid characters. In my project the quadrupedal is in the form of a dog, specifically a Shiba Inu. For the creation of this project I used Blender for the creation of all 3D Assets, and Unity for the implementation of game objects and scripts. The completion of this project has been very eye opening for me as I have learned valuable lessons that would help me in future endeavours such as the importance of time management in projects. I personally have experienced the vicissitudes of life through the gruelling grind experienced in the last few weeks before the deadline.
Vincent Tran
"The idea of tomorrow is a reality for unorganised scums" The title of my motion picture is 'OH MY DOGGO', caps for effect. Fun, ecstatic, intense, hilarious, soulful and tearful. My film explores the length of human stupidity in a game-based reality that my main character ventures through. It is an artistic blend between filmmaking and gaming, reflecting on the subject matter of pop culture. In the curation of my major work, I have used Premiere Pro to stitch my film together and apply the needed VFX, and Encoder to export my huge project into a readable format. Through the overall creation of my major work, I have learnt to never lose hope, keep pushing with what you currently have made and that teamwork is the key to success! I have also came to understand that depression is derived from lack of organisation and sleep deprivation. You may view the film on my channel: www.youtube.com/c/JohnVisuals !
John Salazar
My movie trailer "Shadow Division" teases the story about a team who are sent into a Quarantine Zone after their Captain died alone on a mission in a zombie infested town. The rest of his team are sent in to finish his mission. But when they enter and witness everything that has happened and the horrors of this town their minds begin to become unhinged as the begin to turn on each other. This action trailer was created with the use of Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro. My project taught me techniques in post credit and making my effects look more cinematic. If you want to see my videos go to @ephstathios on instagram.
Steven Saro-Glinatsis
Pathway is about a boy that finds out that he has powers and ends up thinking it's a dream but in reality it's not, He faces people that are trying to capture him but using his powers he is able to escape. He wakes up from a dream and learns that he still has this powers. I used a Canon 750d and a rode video mic to capture the visual and audio for my film. When creating the effects for my film I used Adobe After Effects to create my energy ball and wind gust effect. To edit my film I used Premiere Pro this was one of my editing software that I used to create my major film. I used Photoshop to create my poster and title page for my MDP. I learnt a new skill sets that I didn't know at the start of this year like being able to create an animation for film.
Jeremiah Coutinho
The name of my short film is Shooters. In this film I intended to achieve a deep meaning of the struggle that happens to people who grow up in bad environments. My film also incorporates the bad influences learnt from physical hardships that encouraged people to do bad things. With this illegal activity and the temptations comes a story. With easy access to weapons and peer pressure a person can join the crowd and take part in illegal activities which happens through the contribution of crimes, such as the use of the weapons to either kill and shoot someone. Living in this type of community, some people don't really care it's happening around them since they assume its a normal daily occurrence, when living in a place that is bad. This bad living environment gives kids a limited source of pathways in life with poverty being a major contribution to their fate. I used Photoshop and Windows MovieMaker. I learnt that a major project needed good time management during production and I also learnt that working on the folios isn't for me.
Rencel Del Monte
My project was titled “I just want to win” and was an inspirational video that is to encourage others to do what they want to do and improve more instead of giving up.
Gabriel Felipe
My Project is a Short-Film Mockumentary titled ‘The Protector’. The name originally came from a joke that I had intended to include in my original idea for the project. When the idea was scrapped, the name just stuck and went with the overall non-serious tone of the mockumentary. As for the story, the project is divided into two major sections. The first is a dramatic rendition of what the protagonist does as a vigilante. He stalks a drug dealer before finally confronting him and beating him in a fight. The second half of the film is a mockumentary and involves the protagonist informing the audience of his nightly routine before actually going out to patrol the city street and eventually refusing to carry on with the production of the film due to a final altercation. For the majority of the editing stage, I used Sony Vegas Pro 14 to add clips together, insert text and apply the minimal number of transitions. Adobe Premiere Pro CC was used once to edit the basic gun muzzle flash effects in a quick scene. The final software I utilised for the production of my major project was Audacity, which was used to record the voice overs in the second half of the film, and to enhance some of the audio in the first half of the film. Looking back on the production of my major work I learnt that I much prefer the editing stage over the filming stage. This is most likely due to the stress I experienced when trying to order around my actors to perform and act out their roles. These orders most often resulted in complaining and arguing which lead to the low moral of everyone involved in production.
Thomas Resenberger