Swinburne Students Learn from Industry

Published on Monday, 11 July 2011

Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne has Bachelor and Graduate Diploma of Digital Media Design courses, and a Bachelor of Film and Television.

 
Digital Media Design students learn technical skills for applications including web, interactive digital media, handheld mobile devices and digital film and television. Studying time-based sequence design also develops expertise in animation, 3D modelling, motion graphics, digital video, video games, audio media and communication design for electronic media. Opportunities such as study tours and international exchange programs can broaden your understanding of international design trends.

Software studied includes Adobe CS 5.5, Autodesk Entertainment Suite applications, Unity Pro, Final Cut Studio 3 and others. Anyone can use the free software tutorials and information for Flash, Web, Maya, Unity, 3DS Max, Photoshop and Illustrator at www.swinburne.edu.au/design/tutorials.

Industry Placement is an option. Students are placed in paid supervised employment for 24 or 48 weeks, relevant to their studies, and work under the supervision and guidance of professionals and an academic mentor. The experience combines design skills with an understanding of client, customer and team dynamics in the design process.
Graduates pursue careers in digital film and video production, website development and production, video game and interactive media, in design consultancies, IT companies, media and entertainment studios, advertising agencies, post production and special effects, animation and web design.
Last year, Whizkid Games was created by a group of final year multimedia design students from this course in collaboration with Swinburne's National eTherapy Centre and Bulleen Heights Autism School. Aiming to help autistic children learn life skills, it received the Premier's Recognition Award for 2010. Two other Third year Digital Media Design students completed a practical industry liaison project producing short ident animations to feature on pay TV’s The Comedy Channel, called ‘Poker Machine'. They found this experience showed them how to pitch and refine their concepts to industry standards, and gave them useful feedback and tools. They learned new 3D modelling, animating and lighting techniques, and tips on how to save time.  They also have a very high standard piece of work, playing on national television, to add to their show reels.

The Bachelor of Film and Television provides the creative and technical skills and theory to produce cinema, TV and digital media productions including narrative film, documentary, music video and TVCs. Students collaborate to make films through research, screenwriting, direction, project management and production skills from cinematography to sound. Some study options are study tours and international exchange programs.

Digital filmmaking students work with video and HD cameras, industry standard digital audio recorders and mixers, and in post on Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Compressor and Adobe CS 5.5. Industry Placement is also available for this course. Beyond careers in cinematography, directing, producing, graduates find roles in scriptwriting, editing, sound production, commercials and video games. They can also seek production roles in film and TV, broadcast film and video post-production. Other opportunities exist in advertising agencies, games development and animation companies and television studios.

Five submissions by Swinburne students received awards at WorldFest Houston 2011. These were ‘Settle Down’, a music clip, a claymation ‘Good Morning’, ‘Break’ a film, and ‘Walk with Them’ in the Shorts category. WorldFest Houston also requested to publicly screen ‘Break’ and ‘Good Morning’, a special honour. Dr Jeff Bird, Lecturer in Cinematography at Swinburne said the university emphasises production processes currently in use and enlists the support of people working in the industry. DP Edward Goldner who shot ‘Walk with Them’ said, “To be part of an international festival like WorldFest means that you’re putting your work in front of other film makers and opening opportunities to work overseas in the future.” Jeff Bird is also pursuing digital television broadcasting at Swinburne, encompassing digital television, interactive television, HD television, and HDTV content acquisition. 

Associate Professor Stephen Huxley is the Director of Swinburne School of Film and Television and Digital Media Design. Stephen’s background as a designer and creative director ranges from print and television commercials to exhibition design and motion graphics. In 2010 Stephen was awarded the International Council of Graphic Design Associations Achievement Award for his contribution to the profession. He is interested in how we communicate through language, images and motion and developing digital technology to achieve this.

Lecturer Steven Murdoch teaches introductory and advanced units covering areas including 3D media, animation and multimedia design. He is also a main contributor to Swinburne’s growing online learning resources. Steven has previously worked as a freelance designer in Melbourne’s film and television industry developing video and interactive media. He recently started his own private practice producing 3D visualisations, VFX and interactive websites.
www.swinburne.edu.au