2008 Conference Papers

Edited by Leo Berkeley

Since it first began in 2004, the ASPERA Conference has been a forum for Australian screen production academics to present research relating to film and television production, highlighting this field as an emerging discipline with the higher education sector. The 2008 Conference was titled Sharp Images/Blurred Boundaries and sought to develop the three central themes of ASPERA's activities: research in screen production, learning & teaching, and the relationship between the higher education sector and the broader screen production industries. The refereed papers published here were all presented at the Conference and convey the diversity of ways in which Australian screen production academics are engaging with these themes.

Nicholas Oughton's paper A General Safety Induction ‘Blue Card’ for the Queensland Film, Television and New Media Industries presents his research investigating occupational health and safety issues in the screen production industry and argues for the need to raise standards in relation to this important issue. He proposes the introduction of a safety induction Blue Card as a practical means to achieve widespread improvements in the industry's management of occupational risk.

Kathryn Millard's paper Writing and Improvising the Digital Essay Film: The Boot Cake reflects on her experiences making her recently released film about Charlie Chaplin impersonators in India. Chronicling the challenges she faced trying to combine a creative practice in filmmaking with an academic career, the paper explores the possibilities for a more personal, reflective cinema in this context, as well as making some more general reflections about practice-based research in the screen arts. We recommend this paper be read in conjunction with a viewing of the website for the film at www.thebootcake.com.

The tensions between theory and practice often encountered when teaching film and television production at university level are explored by David Carlin and Paul Ritchard in their paper Encouraging Critical Practice in Media Students: The Digital Dossier Initiative. The authors have written about their initiatives in resolving the theory/practice divide through the use of a 'digital dossier' that encourages students to critically examine their assumptions about practice and contextualise their work with reference to a broad range of excerpts from exemplary and innovative films.

Pat Laughren's paper Talking With Dinosaurs? Some Reflections on the Role of the Documentary in Screen Production Education considers the history of documentary education in Australia and how its traditional role within film & television courses is changing, in response to changes in both the screen production industries and the educational environment. In an increasingly crowded curriculum, where there is less time for reflection and a focus on digital technologies and new media, does the enduring value of the documentary form and what it can offer developing screen practitioners need to be given more attention?

Leo Berkeley's paper A Good Take - the process as a site for screen production research raises issues about the challenges involved in developing screen production as a distinct field of academic research. Drawing on his experiences making the film How To Change The World, he argues for a focus on the production process as a site where screen production research can both define itself as a distinct field of study and produce knowledge that is of relevance and value to the screen production industries.

Other Conference Proceedings

Powerpoint files and additional information about a number of other conference sessions are available here.