Back in the Nineties, I was a bit of an Acid Jazz freak.

Dig was one of my favourite local groups.
Recently they played at the Darling Harbour Jazz and Blues festival in Sydney.
This is a video of them performing Dreamtime.
I remember this song being a lot more 'pumped' ;-)

Dreamtime

AFTRS Open Day

The ‘all encompassingly’ christened Australian Film Television and Radio School had their Open day on Saturday.
I went down and had a stickybeak.
This is ‘the’ school for anything audio-visual in Oz.
They recently decamped from the creative wasteland of Sydney’s ‘bible belt,’ and moved the whole shebang down into the middle of Syn city.

This school has government funding so they have the best of everything.
The building was built by a bank at no cost to the tax payer. WEIRD! I wonder how many souls are required to burn in hell to repay that curtesy???
The facilities are bloody amazing! Latest gear, full wardrobe and props departments, offices for student productions to camp in, industry standard Post and CGI.

I had discounted this school as in the past they have only taken students from the industry, who wish to hone or add to their skills.
Next year the school starts something new called a foundation diploma, which covers everything from story development to video games, and is available to anyone who has the chops to be accepted (subject to a portfolio submitting process.)

So now I have two options.
One school I need to prove to the facility that I’m good enough, and the other I can buy my way in.

The Cemetery

More duck please...

Also Zen Duck

Shattered bus shelter

Why the video of the ugly bird?

So why have I been posting strange little YouTube videos for the last couple of years?
I’ve been practising.

White Ibis

I’m planning on ‘chucking’ full time employ, and doing a film coarse next year.
The mid-year intake Open Days are currently being run so last weekend I attended the Sydney Film School Open Day to check out a potential option.

The school fills out a converted old ware house in the middle of the city.
I could see students cutting up strips of film on editing desks as I entered the common area.
The building didn’t seem overbearing or pretentious and I instantly felt comfortable.

Documentary and drama production are taught. The school has the belief that good films are made by good teams

Drama students start with film, and then move them onto digital. The school reckons that learning with (old fashion :-) film builds good discipline.
Doco students are digital all the way through.

It’s a private school, and the only entrance criteria are that students pay the tuition and that their personalities ‘fit’ with the place. That entails and interview with the staff.
Last year a hundred student short films were produced, and in four years forty three films have screened in film festivals round the world.
They believe in a broad training in a variety of disciplines rather then train specialist directors or sound guys.
Strong affiliations with international schools.

I liked the vibe of the place. Vibes are important. It’s your sub-conscious elbowing you in the ribs and wiggling its eyebrows.
I really liked their emphasis on collaboration, and they are actively trying to build a larger film community in Oz. This is important to me as unlike a doctor or a teacher, I don’t NEED to go to school to get in the industry, but I’m looking to find a community to slot into.
If there is one thing I’ve learnt in life, it’s that connections are more important then qualifications or talent.

Last of the cloudy graves