A Good Take: the process as a site for screen production research

Leo Berkeley
leo.berkeley@rmit.edu.au
RMIT University

Please Note:

This paper includes video clips, so is only published in full online. It is available here. The Pdf download includes a still image rather than the full video clip being discussed in the paper.

Abstract:

Screen production as an academic research discipline has struggled to establish itself, both within the broader higher education sector and in relation to the film and television industry. The lack of conceptual and analytical frameworks with which to understand screen production and which resonate with the experience of professional practitioners contributes to this. This paper will argue that a focus on the production process may be the best chance for screen production research to define itself as a distinct field of study. Drawing on my experiences making a micro-budget feature film called How To Change The World, the paper will offer some examples of elements in the production process that reward close scrutiny and may have some wider application.

Bio:

Leo Berkeley is the Programs Director (Journalism & Media) within the School of Applied Communication at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He also has considerable experience as an independent filmmaker, having written and directed the feature film, Holidays on the River Yarra, which was an official selection for the Cannes Film Festival in 1991. More recently he has developed an interest in a new media form called “machinima”. A machinima work he produced, Ending With Andre, screened at the 2005 Machinima Film Festival in New York. In 2008 he has also made a micro-budget feature film called How To Change The World.