ACMI entering a new world: the launch of Screen Worlds and Australian Mediatheque
By Kate Ravenscroft
September 2009
(Feature Image: Rolf de Heer and David Gulpilil in the Spotlight on Rolf de Heer and featuring the original canoe from Ten Canoes)
Last week ACMI tore down the billboards and dusted off the remains of months of industrious labour to unveil two brand spanking new spaces dedicated to the moving image: Screen Worlds, their sprawling, interactive and immersive exhibition on the history of the moving image, and the Australian Mediatheque, a cosy series of lounge suites offering unparalleled access to Australia’s two biggest screen archive collections.
The culmination of years of planning and preparation these two new offerings mark ACMI as the destination in Australia for exploring and interacting with screen culture in all its guises, past, present and future, and across all mediums: film, television, games and digital. Innovative, accessible and a hell of a lot of fun, this new ACMI promises to be an extremely valuable and entertaining addition to Australia’s moving image culture.
Screen Worlds: a brand new way to experience cinema history
From the moment you step onto the lawn-like green carpet, Screen Worlds: The Story of Film, Television and Digital Culture inducts you into the magical and marvelous world of the moving image. A celebration of screen culture, from its inception in forms like shadow boxes through to some of its latest, innovative incarnations like the ‘time slice’ and the ‘zoetrope', Screen Worlds is an engrossing and novel way to experience the moving image, in all its diversity - over time, medium, genre and location.
Split into three major sections the exhibition takes a broad and expansive look at screen culture. We enter at the beginning with "Emergence" from which we are taken on a step-by-step evolution of the moving image from its earliest pre-cinema days, through the introduction of television, gaming, the electronic age and finally through to digital. Great clips from some of cinema and television's most iconic moments sit alongside models of the various technologies which have brought us these entrancing and unforgettable moving images.
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Next up is the "Voices" section, which focuses 'spotlights' on key creative talents both in front of and behind the camera. This is our chance to get up close and personal with Australian screen legends including actors Cate Blanchett and David Gulpilil, directors Dr George Miller, Rolf de Heer and Baz Luhrmann who sits alongside his partner and costume designer Catherine Martin, editor Jill Bilcock, cinematographer Christopher Doyle, TV entrepreneur Reg Grundy, animator Yoram Gross and writers Sue Smith and John Alsop. In each spotlight display you can view personal memorabilia donated by
the participants including annotated scripts, original props and costumes and award statuettes. But most interesting are the revealing and intimate interviews, commissioned by ACMI and screening in each cubby-hole, where these internationally renowned artists unpack their creative choices, delving into the processes by which their hard work, passion and creativity become the on screen magic that so captivates us.
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Adam Elliott, Christopher Doyle, Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush admiring Doyle's spotlight.
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(For an exploration of just one of these 'spotlights', on internationally renowned editor Jill Bilcock, scroll down)
As Cate Blanchett remarked at the exhibition's opening, these spotlights make very clear the extraordinarily rich contribution by Australians to the global history of the moving image, not to mention the incredible depth and breadth of the skill base in the Australian screen industry. From cinematographers to editors, from filmmakers to journalists, from costume designers to writers, and of course actors, Australia has made an indelible imprint on the world stage of the screen industry.
The final section of the exhibition is "Sensation", a hands-on exploration of the various elements that go into making the moving image such a sensual and affective experience. Here there is a focus on colour, time, shadow and sound and this is the part where you can get your hands dirty. Whether it be recreating the famous bullet-dodging sequence from The Matrix, mixing your own sound design or playing old-school Pong off against its contemporary equivalent, the Wii, this is interactivity that's undeniably great fun.
Ambitious, original and entertaining, Screen Worlds is an unforgettable exhibition that you'll want to return to again and again to explore in detail the magic and wonder of the moving image.
What’s a Mediatheque?
Settled in your own booth on a comfy couch with a touch-screen hosting endless hours of viewing choices you could be forgiven for thinking you'd passed over to silver screen heaven. Encompassing screen culture with an amplitude that extends from 100 years of film history to extensive TV archives, sporting footage, documentaries, video art, digital projects, student films and, before long, AFI Awards footage, Australia’s new Mediatheque offers entertainment and education in a scope never before imagined. Delivered jointly by the NFSA and ACMI, the Australian Mediatheque
represents a great new resource for serious researchers and committed screen buffs alike, not to mention anyone with a spare hour or two to pass in Melbourne's CBD…
This new custom-built space, nestled in between the ACMI shop and the lounge, promises to be an easy and truly inclusive way to get access to resources never before offered so liberally to the public. You don't have to book, you can just walk in and settle onto a couch as if it were your own lounge room. And no need to search for the remote; much of the content is literally at your fingertips, to be commanded at your whim on big, glossy, new LCD touch-screens. That said though, if the content there isn't enough you can request from the archive, where thousands upon thousands of titles,
collected by ACMI and NFSA over decades, are just waiting for your perusal. You can even search for your next title right there, just bring along your laptop and tap into the free wi-fi.
With friendly and knowledgeable staff from both institutions on hand to answer questions, help you dig up content and even to accept material donations, it’s never been easier to access the multitude of titles held by the NFSA and ACMI. And then there's the enviable list of content partners including AFI, ABC, SBS, Seven Network, Nine Network, Network Ten, Australian Children’s Television Foundation and Foxtel all opening up their vaults to the public. So, what are you waiting for? Wander in, take your pick of the dozen custom-designed, ‘mini lounge rooms’ and settle in
for an afternoon (or two or three…) of viewing like you've never known it before.
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More information and links
- Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) is located in Federation Square, Melbourne, Victoria and is open every day from 10am to 6pm. For more info visit their website.
- Screen Worlds Orientation Tour
If you're not sure where to start your Screen Worlds experience, take a free guided tour to help you on your way. Daily at 11am and 2.30pm, tours are approximately 30 minutes and are open to all.
- Australian Mediatheque information can be accessed from both ACMI’s website and NFSA’s website
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An interview with Jill Bilcock at the opening of Screen Worlds
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Filmmakers the world over, from Sam Mendes to Baz Luhrmann, clamour to work with her and now ACMI are shining a spotlight, in their new permanent exhibition, on award-winning editor Jill Bilcock. From Australian classics like Dogs in Space, Strictly Ballroom and Muriel's Wedding to major Hollywood films like Elizabeth, Road to Perdition and The Young Victoria, Bilcock is an extraordinarily diverse talent. A member of both the Australian and American societies for editors (ASE, ACE) and a multi AFI Award winner, BAFTA winner and
Oscar nominee, Bilcock is highly sought after the world over.
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Jill Bilcock in her 'spotlight' at ACMI
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However, due to the often misunderstood and generally unglamorous perception of editing, she isn't very well known outside industry circles. This may all be about to change, though: Screen Worlds provides unprecedented insight into her work, her creative processes and her passion for film. Audiences can hear straight from a master what the craft of editing is all about, even watching Bilcock in her editing suite, making the crucial decisions that will turn raw dailies into the polished final product.
At Thursday's opening of the Screen Worlds exhibition, the AFI was lucky enough to grab a few minutes to speak to the 1995 Byron Kennedy Award winner Jill Bilcock as she explored her spotlight for the first time.
Interview by AFI editor, Rochelle Siemienowicz
RS: Is this the first time you’ve seen your Spotlight exhibition?
JB: Absolutely, but I do know my own material! It’s fabulous. There’s Cate again! (looking at Elizabeth). That Cate’s in everything!
RS: Now you’re one of the world’s most sought after editors at the moment, do you have a special commitment to working on Australian projects?
JB: Absolutely I love Australian projects. And I always try to work out of home if I can, so you know I often go away on a big movie. I do love going to weird locations – as you probably notice if you look at the photographs around the room. I’ve always been one to travel. So when I’m not filming or working on location on films that are exotic, like Mexico or South Africa, I’d much rather be at home. Melbourne is home. Brunswick. In fact I cut Romeo + Juliet in Brunswick East in my front garden. I’ve got a studio that I put there. And it got so big that
we spilled into the lounge-room and up into the bedroom and all over the house. There were just people everywhere. Nobody in the neighbourhood knew. They just used to see about eight odd people walking down to Merri Creek for a break, down towards the Russian church. And then back to work, and through to midnight. We had a lovely time doing Romeo + Juliet in Melbourne. So shooting in Mexico and posting in Brunswick. I always like to do one film away from home, and then one back at home if I can.
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Deborra-lee Furness and Harrison Gilbertson in Blessed
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KR: You’ve edited a lot of really iconic Australian films over a long time. How do you feel that the Australian film industry has changed?
JB: It’s grown and I think there are more stories out there and not enough money to make them. But fabulous stories. And I think this last year has shown an incredible diversity of filmmakers and stories. It’s wonderful.
RS: Yes there are 26 feature film contenders this year and some very amazing films. Like Blessed, for instance, which you worked on.
JB: I loved working on Blessed. I think it was such a nice solid story, and details that you don’t often see in Australian films. This year has just been a wonderful year in Australian film. I wouldn’t like to be anybody judging this year. A fantastic year for talent, in all areas.
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RS: What do you think is the thing about the editor’s role that is the least understood?
JB: I think editing is probably THE most unglamorous job. That and probably sound design. They get left to last and people don’t tend to understand what they really do, but editing actually is the third draft of the script and the final draft of the story you are telling, so you need to get it right. The script does change a lot on the way through. Whether it’s on the written page, through to how it then gets shot, then the interpretation the director brings, and then the final editing process.
RS: And do you have a particular process you work through with a director each and every time?
JB: Every film is different. Every film is terrifying. Every film is a new experience and you have to go into it to try and find how that director would like to express themselves first before you start adding your own bits of information or style or ideas. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. And I still do. I’m doing my first horror film – Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. We’ve got another week to go. So that’s a new experience. I like a challenge! To go down another direction – comedy, thriller – if you look at my work it’s very
varied. I like it that way. It’s something to get up for in the morning. I’ve got Young Victoria out there at the moment, so I’ve obviously got a bit of a thing for Queens!
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