VIDEO
CAPTURING A MOMENT
Video editing has always been a huge passion of mine. I have been filming and editing my own footage for the last 7 years. I like to film moments in time that I wish could last forever, even things as simple as the light shining through an apple tree can have serine beauty. My camera is an extension of myself as it drives my creativity and reveals the world to me in a new light.
FREELANCE
THE URBAN LIST
I have worked as a Freelance Digital Designer at Urban List on & off for the last 2 years. I would edit content for the Melbourne, Perth Brisbane & Sydney agencies. I had so much fun creating bright and inventive videos for each cities audience. I worked with clients such as Bank Australia to create a video campaign for their new Clean Money Movement, which is a cause with which my views align. Having the creative freedom to create meaningful content made Urban List a joy to work for.
PERSONAL
THE WORLD AROUND US
What started out as hobby soon became the basis of my career. Filming and editing video opened me up to the world of design and I wouldn't be the person I am without the films that inspired me. Over the years, I have played around with many genres of filmmaking but I have always had a soft spot for nature. I am constantly amazed with how beautiful the world around us can be and I can only try to capture it.
SHORT FILMS
ASK ME ANYTHING
Jeff Williams is my dads cousins husband, basically my uncle. He used to be a fruit wine and liqueur producer, located in Elmore, Farmland Bendigo but moved down to Mornington to live a comfier life. He started attending life drawing classes in his spare time and fell in love. He developed his skills despite being in the late stages of muscular dystrophy, a muscle wasting disease he was diagnosed with at 16 .
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Beyond all expectations his work continues to get better and better. ​ I have always wanted to make a short documentary about Jeff. He has the best charisma and such an interesting past. Even though he isn’t the most experienced artist, his artwork means so much to him and it comes from a special place. Each piece is inspired by some memory or feeling and comes alive when he paints it.
This task gave me the opportunity to interview one of my biggest idols and allowed me to learn more about his life and his artwork. What I wanted to create was an intimate and laid back interview which asked simple questions that allowed Jeff to explore deeper answers. Since he is within the older generation, he gave insight into what life is really like with art and how it’s not always a possibility, but when you come back to it, there’s always a painful relearning. I also felt important to include his sketchbook from his life drawing classes, which he explained is the practice before the concert. I choose Jeff as my subject mainly because I admire him but also he speaks so well and engages with everyone.
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The tone is calming, with the help of Norah Jones’s - Sunrise (as requested by Jeff) and I think Jeff is also very inspiring, proving no matter what age, what disability, anyone can create art. The editing went as planned and I’m happy with how it turned out, the only thing I wish I had included was the whole process he goes through to paint on his 'Franken-easel' , however I needed to cut down the run time.
'I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER' WIN
First things first, I am not a Serial Killer is a book by Dan Wells, not a statement by me. Now that that's clear, let me tell you how a 50 second trailer made on my phone ended up winning second place at a Penguin Book Film Festival. ​ I had been seeing this ad on Facebook for weeks for a book trailer competition called Paper Cuts. It didn't appeal to me at first cause I thought I wouldn't stand a chance against what other people are capable of making. However, it kept popping up and ideas started coming to my head of what book trailer I would make 'if' I entered. My favourite book at the time was 'I am not a serial killer and I couldn't get the ideas out head, there were so many scenes in the book that would look great in a trailer. ​
So one weekend, I put aside my self-doubt and filmed a couple clips, edited them together and did a 15 year old American-boy voiceover myself as the main character (if I'd had known over 2,000 would listen to that voiceover, I wouldn't have bloody done it), and I entered the film. ​ Next thing I know, I get invited to the event at Penguin Books Building, red carpet and all as a top 10 finalist. I was so proud of myself and my media teacher was ecstatic. Late in the night, we sat down to watch all the finalist and that's when I got to see what I was up against. I was blown away by what some kids did, who were even younger than me. I accepted defeat and was more than happy to take-away a participation certificate. They begin announcing the 3rd place winner and I'm clapping along with everyone else. The boy goes up to accept his award and is asked if he wants to do a speech but he's too shy to and returns to his seat. Then they announce 2nd place and I continue clapping, then the row in front of me turn and smile and clap at me. I did that thing in movies where I looked behind me to see the person I thought they were clapping at, but no it was me and only then did I look up at the screen to see my name. I could not believe it. I stand up and walk over to the front of the room, I thanked the announcer and she hands me the microphone. ​
I've never been great at speeches cause my nerves alway overtake my tongue but this time, I was so thrilled that I just went for it. I talked about the book and what it meant to me and discussed with the judges why I chose to show certain shots and what was my reasoning behind the quotes I used in the voice-over. I chucked a couple of jokes in there and made the crowd laugh, and that today is still one of my proudest memories. The fact that I just went for it and entered this competition and coming out of it with second prize (which was $250 worth of Penguin Books, so I was pretty happy), ah it was just such a great feeling. ​ ​
YEAR 12 MEDIA FILM 'BINGE'
So I made this film during my final year of High School during one of the busiest periods of my life. I tried balancing a part-time job, a musical, SACs and a film production. In hindsight I think definitely but off more than I could chew and was trying to make something I didn't have either the time or effort to create, so when I look back on this film, I'm still proud of it but see so many little things that could have been loads better.
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The star of he film is Kyle McDonald, one of the chillest people I have ever met, whom was also my co-worker at the time at Grill'd. He was such a good sport putting up with reshoots, constant line changes and gave me some great advice throughout the production. The same can be said about my Ass.Director Fiona Sanderson who was the only one who kept us on schedule, and checked of each shot on the shot-list. Absolute legend.
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EXCERPT FROM FOLIO
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"Binge is a comedy/ mystery/ thriller hybrid film. It is a cross between ‘Gone Girl’, a David Fincher masterpiece which is a thriller, mystery hybrid, and NBC’s ‘Community - Episode 9 Season 2: Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design’ which is a comedy/ mystery. The relation between the two is that both of these projects look at relationships and what goes through peoples minds about the ones they love when they are in a stressful situation.
They both follow the protagonists as they both try to get to the bottom of a mystery. They also similarly share a plot twist ending which is unpredictable and shocking. “Community” is renowned for having wacky episodes that are comically dramatic and over the top with characters that have wild imaginations and personalities. It’s highly entertaining and is very original. Each of these products have different aspect that engage both my primary and secondary audience for different reasons. Thus, because my audience likes these products they will engage in my film more."
YEAR 11 MEDIA FILM 'MIDNIGHT MUNCHIES'
Okay so for this being my film ever film, I’m pretty damn proud of it, not to say that there are many flaws with it. From the get go, I was really focused on lighting and using colours and costumes symbolically instead of writing a really good script. I never really gave myself enough time on set and was fighting the sun, cause my actors were sometime sonly available during the day. The reason that the film is very dark can be blamed on my complete lack of knowledge of how to use my sisters camera and how to change settings.
More things that went wrong were, forgetting to buy prop milk, script rewrites on set, actors forgetting costumes, accidentally throwing away red cellophane filter and not recharging my camera battery. In hindsight however, I’m still proud of the film and when I first showed it at my schools media gala, it got an amazing response from the crowd, they were laughing and coming back to rewatch it, it was such a great feeling. Even though I can’t watch it cause it’s so cringe now, I glad I made it.
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I have to say a huge thank-you to my actors who put up with my frantic filming and terrible script, and Fiona, my assistant director is to thank for the whole thing actually getting done. She keep us on track and made sure I followed the shot-list.
