The 2007 World Olympiad/Media Studies

The 2007 World Olympiad

Pictured left to right: The Australian Olympiad Team; Alex Matthews, Chris Chen, Tracey Reid, Australian Ambassador to Croatia, Jack Murray and Angus McInnes Two Year 12 De la Salle students took out medals at the World Infomatics Olympiad held in Zagreb. Jack Murray took out the Silver Medal and Angus McInnes took out the Bronze Medal as part of the four-member team representing Australia. They competed with students from around the world. “Infomatics” is all about numbers and essentially is the basis of computer science. Both Angus and Jack developed a love of numbers at a young age. Their parents and primary school teachers nurtured this interest from the very beginning. Jack and Angus’ interest in computers continues and both include them at the top of their interests outside school. While Jack’s hobbies also include piano and archery, Angus spends most of his time involved in computers in one way or another. The boys aim to pursue Computer Science at university when they finish Year 12. Given the collective talent of Angus and Jack, we may one day see the likes of another John Dethridge, an Australian who has carved out a reputation as one of Google’s top computer scientists.

Media Studies

Friendship, heartache, ninja killers and heavy metal are some of the themes of this year’s Year 12 Media class’ final projects. Most students produced short films as for their final projects with three students choosing the print medium. The films, which ranged in length from 4-10 minutes, featured many De La students acting in a variety of roles. Strong narratives and atmospheric locations were a strong feature of the 2007 final projects. The 2007 Year 12 Award for Best Year 12 Media Student went to Joseph Billings whose film, If Looks Could Kill, was shot in the tradition of film noir. Using Melbourne’s seedy back lanes as a backdrop of a classic “gum shoe” tale of intrigue, Joseph’s film was beautifully scripted and shot and represented an extremely high standard of work in the subject. Other films featured many stylistic elements of a range of genres including, romance, visual diaries, comedy and suspense. Another film worthy of note is Tim Maya’s film, Humans Can Lick Too, which used skilful continuity editing to reveal a suspenseful Hitchcock inspired tale. Dom Meehan’s beautifully scripted, yet untitled film, reveals how a simple misunderstanding between two people can go horribly wrong and lead to tragedy. The three print projects included a Melbourne Pub Guide, and two magazines. The final projects are the culmination of the year’s work by the Year 12 Media Class 2007 and I congratulate them on their efforts. Ms Kerry Martin