Why Labsome Honours?
A combination of reasons came together toward the end of last year and over the summer that made honours @ rmit something i really wanted to do and really should be doing. Completing the undergraduate BComm Media was pretty relieving, although in the final semester i also really saw alot of my ideas and what i had been doing in the previous three years (apart from wandering around aimlessly) come together in ways that i saw directions forming. For most of the undergraduate degree i kinda drifted, picking up bits of everything but never really settling on any one medium or being completely dedicated / driven toward a certain area (i.e. film). Scriptwriting was my strongest area, and i was also good at new media stuff and my politics major. I tried doing a film production, it didn’t work. Sometimes i feel constrained by large collaborations for a heap of different reasons, which can probably be read about in previous semester reflections that are still on here. Anyway i ended up doing a comic book production for my final year project using the same script i wrote for my short film i was going to make. It also turns out this was a really good idea as the collaboration process and the production process was far more enjoyable and satisfying than any other i have had working on short film or tv productions, which really just frustrate me. I like writing for film/tv aswell, just as long as i don’t have to be involved in actually making it afterward. I also get the impression your script gets screwed in film/tv, theres a pretty sweet quote somewhere ill post when i remember it. Soooo at the end of my final year i found something i enjoyed doing, and it would really have been a waste of three years if i didn’t use the direction i found and go further with it. I need more resolution to my undergraduate degree because at the end of the initial three years i really think i needed more to be able to do what i wanted to do.
Honours gives me a structure around which i can build a folio and move further beyond undergrad toward the writing areas i would like be involved in professionally.
Also i’ve been at school/uni nonstop from prep until now, and i have to wait until mid-year before i start my latest world tour. So really i prefer to be studying something rather than doing full-time work, i’m too young for that. I think i like the stability and direction of uni because subconsciously i’m constantly trying to go against these things, i know that makes no sense but those are the words that came out.
What do i hope to achieve as a result?
By the end of my honours year (or two years if i defer mid-year which i havent told adrian im thinking of doing yet but im probably going to do anyway, surprise adrian!), i hope to have built a folio of my writing/productions, mostly in comic books as this is the best area for me, but also in film/tv (to a lesser extent). I hope to have a number (around 5, one per quarter depending on page length) of completed comic book productions published online that either i can use to get paid work in the industry, use to apply for further postgrad study and/or just something cool people can read and appreciate. I also hope to be able to improve my web design and graphic design skills, which are key elements linked to my writing i need to develop further. Mostly i want to feel as if ive come out of this degree with a clear folio of work and a clear ability to work professionally in the area, even if producing free independent work online. I’d also like to do an internship somewhere if its possible, but thats more of an if the planets are aligned kinda thing.
What don’t i know about this year that i would like to?
I think i know most things about this year as i did the undergraduate course leading into it. But then again i think i know most things about everything and that doesn’t always work out. Most things i want to know are really just project parameters, “what is expected of the projects?” really. Just little bits around exactly how our work is expected to take form, most of which will be discussed as we frame our topics i assume, and from experience it should be pretty flexible and no problem.
What are you afraid of this year?
Taking too long to get into things and having a huge amount of work to do at the end. Not living up to my expectations of myself which are usually really high and ending up producing work i don’t think is the best it could be. I just typed a whole other bit here that was about 500 words long that when i finished typing it i realized was completely unrelated to honours, it sounded really insecure so i deleted it.
What are you looking forward to?
Making stuff, having something awesome to show for it. The whole honours setup, i like the whole creative lab style, and working how and when i want to. The people should be cool aswell
Decide if you think this should be a blog entry?
I don’t see why not … blogs became pretty central in Bcomm Media so i dont really think about it. I guess it depends how personal my thoughts are on the subject, but i’m pretty cool with it being public … it holds me accountable. Plus ill just delete it later if i decide i don’t like it. And “Decide if you think this should be a blog entry?” isn’t a question.
Posted by Nicko Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:08:00 GMT