JMC students recorded musics in an outside broadcast in conjunction with themusic.com.
Students at JMC Academy are gaining hands-on industry experience and insights as they complete formal studies in film, television, audio engineering and sound production at the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane based campuses.
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, employability often comes down to experience of the applicant, and JMC Academy are taking strides in making sure their students are well equipped before stepping away from the classroom.
Film and audio students from Melbourne recently had the opportunity to visit the themusic.com.au headquarters to record, film and interview a number of working artists including The Temper Trap, the Preatures, Youngblood Hawke, The Milk Carton Kids and Beth Orton.
Participants were mentored by academic staff including Melbourne Head of Film and Television Peter George as they produced short interviews, which were edited and uploaded live to the website. ‘It’s a good thing for our students to have that on the CV as they’re launching into industry. It helps students get recognised for film and television work beyond JMC,’ said George.
Students were also recently invited to participate collaboratively during an outside broadcast of the Face The Music conference, facilitated by JMC Academy, The Push and themusic.com.au. Held at Melbourne’s Art Centre complex, the two-day live event featured presentations, discussions, networking opportunities and music-making workshops.
Audio-visual students worked alongside film students in a multi pronged approach, which included live event coverage, camera operating, vision switching and production of media interviews with renowned music journalist, Michael Gudinski from themusic.com.au.
These interviews were later edited and uploaded to the website that evening in a fast turnaround matching the deadlines and demands of live content production.
George said these professional opportunities have given students practical experience across the five areas of directing, technical directing, editing, producing and camera, which are all key to the successful delivery of a live event. ‘The focus for me at JMC [Academy] is very much about students really presenting themselves once they leave university and are no longer a student, in that they have a body of work under their belt and can say I’ve already been a director, and that actually helps them get jobs.’
‘Students coming into the industry as graduates with very little projects besides the student work they’ve developed in house are typically still characterised as a student. Whenever you mention student it immediately seems like it is someone inexperienced, so my whole focus is getting [students] as many professional opportunities possible within reason. It makes them stand out from the back,’ he said
‘What we do is try to get the students to get engaged in as many practical applications and projects during their time here, so that they have that ability to go onto industry jobs more readily, more efficiently, with hands on experience.’
Applications are currently open for February 2014 course enrolment at JMC Academy, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
