PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS

INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED

The Script Hothouse

Develop your ideas for your short film project through an intensive three-part workshop that explores approaches to generating the ideas, what it means to tell a story through pictures, editing the script and re-writing – a veritable hothouse of ideas, development and insight into the secrets behind writing and refining a short script.

Includes a series of screenings of short films and insights from a number of nationally renowned scriptwriters and editors as well as intensive one on one script editing. An ideal opportunity for script preparation for upcoming state and federal funding opportunities.

The Director Workshop

Two days of intensive director masterclasses and seminars featuring the state’s top filmmaking talent.

A hothouse of people and ideas come together for one-on-one masterclasses, seminars and group exercises aimed at facilitating emerging directors to develop tools for directing actors, action, drama, comedy and engaging audiences.

An immersive experience for up and coming directors. Participants will develop strong connections with other South Australian directors, as well as developing their own vision.

Entry to this course is competitive.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Dance on Film

As part of the Reeldance International Dance on Screen Festival 2008, the Media Resource Centre will host a dedicated dance film workshop with renowned dance filmmaker Sue Healey.

The workshop will cover film techniques that enhance and alter movement, 3-D to 2-D perspective control, the relationship of the viewer to movement, mise-en-scene, and choreography for the camera. The workshop will also cover basic editing techniques and consider the overall approach of the dance filmmaker to movement and the opportunities that the screen can offer.

Participants will have the opportunity to work with pre-choreographed movement and shoot sections of the work, and participants will then contribute to a live rough edit of the resulting material.

INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED

Mike Leigh Process

An intensive five day workshop for actors and directors on using the Mike Leigh Process. The workshops will be presented by Robert Marchand. Marchand is nationally recognised as the leading proponent of the Mike Leigh Process and has run this workshop throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Mike Leigh has been responsible for a remarkable output of films and television plays. Leigh starts without a script, he spends time with each actor creating a unique character. As details of the character emerges, the actor researches the background, class, work situation, home life and any other relevant aspects. Their research, observation and experience form the basis for improvisation, which starts with the simplest of activities and ends up with complex human inter-reactions with other characters. In a sense, Mike Leigh writes through the actors. The unique process used by Leigh has applications across all aspects of drama film-making.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Producing Short Film

So what does a producer really do? This one day workshop delves into the sometimes mystical nature of the role of the short film producer.

Covering all aspects of the producers role, from financing to marketing and distribution, the workshop will feature masterclasses throughout the day from feature producers in South Australia and be led by MRC’s creative producer, Louise Pascale (Swing).

This course will provide a clear road map for entry to emerging level producers seeking to streamline and clarify the production process.

BEGINNER - ADVANCED

Location Sound Recording

This half day workshop will be an introduction to the process of achieving high quality location sound recording for films and documentaries. This workshop aims to introduce you to the techniques of recording sound on location and extend your previous experience, developing your knowledge of equipment and techniques.

The course is aimed at professionals who need to develop their skills in sound recording in the field and at emerging practitioners who wish to refine their sound recording skills.

The course will cover the use of various microphones including radio mics, acoustics and problems of sound pickup, mono and stereo techniques, portable mixers, recording formats and a brief overview of sound transfer, editing and post-production.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Timelapse Photography

Timelapse is a popular technique for a wide variety of productions ranging from music videos to documentaries. This course covers timelapse technique from the elementary to the advanced level using digital still cameras. It will provide an in depth understanding of the various techniques that can be used to create professional timelapse clips.

This is an intensive course over one day covering equipment, techniques, practical experiments and post production.

Come and join award-winning timelapse photographer Nick Graalmen to look at the entire timelapse process as you photograph and produce your own timelapse photography. Participants will leave with a timelapse piece that they have created within the workshop as well as a host of handout material on continuing to develop their work. Experience is not a prerequisite.

DOCUMENTARY

BEGINNER - ADVANCED

Digital Storytelling

We all have stories about the events, people, and places in our lives. Digital Stories are short, personal, multimedia tales told from the heart and anyone can make them.

The materials that people will work with are everything from memories, family photographs, home movies, filmed footage, songs or whatever the participant feels to be important. Participants are led through the process step by step – previous computer knowledge is not necessary to create a digital story.

People can make digital stories about anything – love, work, hopes, fears, the past, even the future. The story doesn’t need to have a beginning, middle and end. What’s most important is that it shows the creator’s point of view.

At the end of the workshop, when the stories are presented, there is a bit of magic as the fruits of everyone’s labours surprise and inspire.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Documentary Essentials

Documentaries can be passionate and inspiring works of art, thrilling audiences with unique subjects and inventive forms. This course explores the persistence of vision that is required to turn documentary into an art and gives you the essential tools to create insightful and engaing documentaries.

This course is a highly interactive combination of information (tutor lectures plus handouts) and practical exercises. Participants will devise, shoot, and edit a group minidocumentary over the course of the weekend – a case study that will provide a step by step blueprint for future projects. All participants will receive a DVD of the final project as well as an accompanying DVD of all the resources required to continue creating documentaries.

INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED

Digital Storytelling: Train the Trainer

Digital Storytelling: Train the Trainer workshop is designed for those who wish to facilitate their own Digital Storytelling workshops.

Participants will produce their own digital story as a way to step through the process, philosophy and technical and media management requirements to deliver digital storytelling workshops in community.

The Train the Trainer workshop is suitable for those who have completed the three day MRC Digital Storytelling Workshop or those who’ve experience working on community media projects.

All participants will leave with a clear lesson plan to facilitating Digital Storytelling workshops in their own communities or in partnership with the Media Resource Centre.

POST-PRODUCTION WORKSHOPS

BEGINNER & INTERMEDIATE

Final Cut Pro Workshop
3 Workshops

This intensive workshop offers an introduction to Final Cut Pro.

The workshop covers digitising, batch capture with time code, working with wide screen, editing footage and sound, creating titles and effects and outputting the final product to videotape.

With a maximum of five participants and the luxury of your own work station you have the opportunity to learn at your own pace.

Workshops can be booked for interested groups and we can come to you as well.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Avid Media Composer Workshop

Avid is currently the screen industry standard for digital non-linear editing platforms. The vast majority of television shows, feature films, commercials, and music videos are made using one or more Avid products. Having knowledge of Avid increases an editor’s professional opportunities, as 90% of Australian feature films are edited using Avid products.

If you’ve mastered Final Cut Pro and are looking to upskill or if you are curious to sample the difference, this intensive weekend course offers hands on tuition from experienced Avid editors covering the fundamentals of Avid Media Composer.

With a maximum of three participants and your own work station, you’ll be able learn at your own pace.

BEGINNER - ADVANCED

Composing for the Screen

Part art, part artifice, a great movie score can give a picture a larger than life quality that elevates both the senses and the cinema. A score can impose or betray emotion, build tension or even create character out of a previously flat performance!

Subject to the vagaries of whimsical producers, ham-fisted editors and tone deaf directors, composers are often at the end of a long production process. However a great composer can re-define the audience experience of a film – think of Ennio Morricone’s virtuoso scores for Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns, or Bernard Hermann’s suspenseful music for Hitchcock’s thrillers.

Composing for the Screen will feature a number of Australia’s best and brightest film composers dissecting their approach to screen composition and offering some insight into the production process.

BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE

Pro Tools & Sound Design

Pro Tools is the screen industry standard for post production sound design. This day-long workshop will cover the basics of Pro Tools – from simple professional setups for home studios and recording, to more advanced editing techniques.

The workshop will also delve into the art of sound design, featuring some of South Australia’s best sound designers and mixers who will talk about creating sound for film.

This course enables you to acquire knowledge and skills to help enter real-world working environments and to complete a project using Pro Tools as a tool for creativity and expression.

The workshop will hold small group demonstrations of the Media Resource Centre’s new Pro Tools mixing suite.

YOUTH WORKSHOPS IN CONJUNCTION WITH CARCLEW YOUTH ARTS
Youth Workshops    AGES 14 – 18

Film Maker’s Bootcamp

An intensive five day hands on introduction to filmmaking.

In five days participants learn the basics of filmmaking from idea to screen and then go out and make some films!

The final films will be screened at the Mercury Cinema and each participant will take away a DVD of their finished work. All equipment and mentor support will be provided by the MRC.

Community Workshops
We Come to You!

The MRC also runs community workshops across South Australia aimed at fostering access for new practitioners and the development of new stories.

These workshops take a number of forms and are customised for the needs of the community. Popular workshops include Film Maker’s Bootcamp and Digital Storytelling.

If you would like the MRC to visit your community in the future, please contact us on (08) 8410 0979 or email info@mrc.org.au for further details.