VCE Media

VCE Media 2011

This year 27 students completed VCE Media at De la Salle College. The year’s films were once again showcased at the Media Awards Night in October, a highlight of the annual De La Salle Arts Week. With a diverse range of themes, this year’s films kept audiences wide-eyed and on the edge of their seats. Different aspects of teenage life inspired this year’s themes like domestic abuse, teenage peer pressure, relationships and addiction. Students were able to tell stories about the deeper issues of life as well as the details and obscurities that motivate people’s actions. This year, the Award for Best Film went to a deserving Chris Monger for Comuppance, a realist portrayal of the hardships of domestic violence. Patrick Randall won best direction for his symbolic depiction of a young man overcoming his dark past in Dusk Till Dawn. Best Comedy went to Ryan Hynes for his film Dictation Primary and Best Production Design plan went to Andrew O’Connor for his film, The Amazing World of Lego. Best Animation went to Dylan Jones for Pac’d In, a tribute to the iconic Pacman video game, created through the a meticulous process of “rotoscoping”, where each frame of footage is manually drawn to create the animated images. This year a special Award was presented to Jack Forbes for his untiring contributions to a number of the final films. His film The Gift was also a standout film with its clever portrayal of a young man who, when his girlfriend refuses to return his calls, decides to send himself in the mail to her. Strong themes and atmospheric locations were a feature of the 2011 films. Stuart Maddock’s film, The Mill and Nick Smith’s Before Your Eyes were both strong dramatic films. Grant Curnow’s film also drew on some strong dramatic elements. A romantic drama, Cameron Mason’s Just A Girl was a well- crafted tale of unrequited love with an excellent script and strong direction. With a lighter flavour, Aston Khanthakaew’s Grizzly Note impressed the audience with its brilliant cinematography. Other comedies included Ed Howe’s film, The Dangers of the Decibel, which hilariously followed the antics of a young man suffering from the effects of playing his iPod too loud. Similarly, The Henry Wills Story, by Luke Gersbeck took a light-hearted approach to binge eating with the comic wrinkle of Luke playing his mother. Documentaries featured again including the sophisticated art-house style film, My Guitar, by Jordan Smith. Similarly, Angus Cramp’s look at Melbourne’s coffee scene was a visual masterpiece. George Katheklakis, Australian Paramedics and Liam Sharp’s carefully executed exploration of role models in sport in, Crossing the Line were both well exectued. Chris De Grazia documented the evils of smoking and Stephen Mallas investigated the dangers of violent video games. An original soundtrack composed by his father was the strength of Jackson Shaw’s music video, The Music and Luke Dell’orso featured the life of local rap artist Pez. James Campbell Tennant’s film The Question borrowed from this popular genre made popular recently on social media. The length of the evening was a testament to the hard work and talents of the 2011 VCE Media class. Congratulations to them all.