Melbourne WebFest Interns

Follow the internship adventures of La Trobe students working behind the scenes at Australia's international web series festival. latrobe.edu.au/webfest

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The faces of the festival!

Every festival needs a strong and mighty public relations (PR) team to get the event off the ground and be the face of the festival. La Trobe strategic communication student, Alana and journalism student, Ethan tell us what it’s like being part of Melbourne WebFest’s PR team!

So you work in the PR team for Melbourne WebFest, can you tell us a little bit about what that involves?

Alana: So some of the things we do in PR is on opening night or on our launch – we had the program launch a few weeks ago and what we had to do was sort of man a gust list and make sure everyone’s attending and giving out free drink cards – so we were sort of like the face of the festival. Greeting people, which was good. We write letters to companies asking if they’re interested, so sort of just to promote the WebFest because it’s still so young. We need as much people to know about us as possible to build it.

Ethan: Mostly it’s just about being the face on special nights.

Have you found that nerve racking?

Alana: A little bit, but you know once you practice, I’m sure by the third night of the festival we’ll be pros at it – people will know who you are.

What’s the most challenging thing do you think about working on WebFest?

Alana: Probably starting off, like getting the hang of it – you kind of just get thrown into it, especially in the PR/marketing, not everyone’s done that stuff before. So that was a bit scary. The thing I was most scared about was we had to call hotels and get contact details.

What do you use the contact details for?

Alana: So we wanted to get hotels to get special rooms for our guests and stuff and we had call and get phones numbers and it’s so scary when it’s the first time you’re doing something like that and that was a bit nerve racking but you know you’ve done it now so like anything can be easy after this.

Why did you choose that course to study at La Trobe?

Ethan: I was interested in the media and I had a look at the strat comm and the media courses and just thought [journalism] had the best set out and most interesting out of the three.

Alana: Yeah I like strat comm because it was journalism, media and public relations as well and I wanted to PR, so it was exactly what I wanted to do.

How do you think your course has helped you prepare for what you’re doing on the ground at WebFest?

Ethan: Well I guess I sort of know what people would be looking for if they were going to write about the festival and I think I also have learnt a little bit about how to get in touch with places like through trying to wrangle up interviews and that kind of thing. So sort of finding the right way to go by contacting organisations and that sort of thing.

Alana: I’ve done the marketing, the PR side so how to address journalists – I have to write to journalists so learning how to write – we didn’t really do media releases but letters to corporations and things like that. And the marketing side, which we did earlier on so that helped.

How has it been working with the other interns? How have you found being part of this great team?

Alana: Yeah we haven’t really had a lot to do with the other areas – just sort of ours. Which has been good it’s only a small team. We are the smallest out of the other two – there’s only three of us, I think there’s like six or seven in the other team. So it does kind of make it hard for us and put a bit more pressure on us but we kind of know each other so we work well together.

What kind of job do you think you’d like when you finish at La Trobe?

Ethan: Preferably something in the media, where I can get experience and just to take me to start off anyway.

Alana: I don’t know exactly what kind of PR I want to do yet because there’s so many but I want to try to experience as many different things before while I can.

So, what’s the best thing about working at WebFest?

Ethan: Probably the experience I’m getting and everyone is really friendly.

Alana: Yeah definitely the practical experience and at the WebFest we got to meet series creators and some of the actors in the web series, which was fun. Like there was a few Australian celebrities there. It’s really lucky that we got to meet them.

Great chatting to you guys! Thanks for sharing your Melbourne WebFest experience!

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Watch this! Melbourne WebFest presents showcases the festival and some of its key players. The video was produced, shot, edited and presented by the La Trobe Uni interns. It was even featured on Fed Square’s big screen! Watch the rest of the vids here.

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#melbwebfest Some stills from the last day of Melbourne WebFest 2015 last Sunday! Such a fantastic night! Here’s to the next amazing year~! =D #melbournewebfest #melbournewebfest2015 #webseries #webfest #webfestival #festival #melbourne #australia #film #camera #bondihipsters #auntydonna #deakinedge #event #comedy #goodtimes #bts #behindthescenes

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The La Trobe AV team get a pic at the gala awards night!

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Getting ready for the gala and what do we see?! Melbourne WebFest Presents! This video piece was made by La Trobe's A-team of interns to showcase the festival and now it's on the big screen in Fed Square!

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#melbwebfest Bondi Hipsters presenting at Melbourne WebFest 2015’s opening night! Here’s a little bts for y'all ;D

#melbwebfest2015 #melbournewebfest #melbournewebfest2015 #webseries #webfest #webfestival #festival #melbourne #australia #film #bondihipsters #auntydonna #deakinedge #event #comedy

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Re-grams for all at Melbourne WebFest opening night!

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The hardworking and talented La Trobe interns get a special mention at the Melbourne WebFest opening night! Go team!

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#melbwebfest Melbourne WebFest has officially begun and opening night is tonight at 7PM! It’s going to be a fantastic night do come on down and enjoy the festivities! Reserve your tickets now @ http://melbournewebfest.eventbrite.com xD

Program info here ;D: http://www.melbournewebfest.com/2015-program/

#melbwebfest2015 #melbournewebfest #melbournewebfest2015 #webseries #webfest #webfestival #festival #melbourne #australia #film #bondihipsters #auntydonna #deakinedge

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La Trobe students head to the heart of Melbourne’s CBD for the chance to meet creative professionals at WebFest’s industry development day. Tiyana shoots some behind the scenes snaps of the interns in action at the La Trobe City Campus!

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The La Trobe interns are driving coverage of Melbourne WebFest this weekend!

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Hosts with the most

La Trobe Journalism students Maddison and Tiyana have been putting on their game faces and getting in front of the camera for Melbourne WebFest. Find out what it takes to be ready for the big screen and the red carpet!

Why journalism at La Trobe?

Maddison: Mine’s a bit of an interesting story. I started out in a psychology course… I lasted about three weeks so I deferred and I didn’t know what I was going to do, so I went and saw a psychic who actually picked up for me to do journalism, but it’s always something that’s kind of been there. I was always really science-y at school but English was something that came really easy to me so I enrolled into it and haven’t looked back, I love it!

Tiyana: I’m a mature aged student so I’m 27 now and in my third year. I just started working when I finished high school. I didn’t go to uni, I didn’t go to TAFE and after about five years of working I was an online manager and I just hated it. I hated going into a job where I had to do the same thing every day and there was no diversity. I was tossing up between interior design and journalism so two completely different ends of the spectrum… I quite enjoy photojournalism and creating documentaries so I’m still trying to incorporate that creative element in my journalism.

You both have really interesting stories! So, what are you guys doing at WebFest?  

Maddison: I’m the host so Tiyana joined me in doing WebFest Presents but on the launch night and on the actual weekend of the festival I’m the presenter so I’m interviewing everyone on camera.

What kind of people do you get to interview?

Maddison: Content creators, the judges, special guests, I interviewed Steinar and some of the people running the workshops.

Do you like that part of journalism?

Maddison: Yeah, I want to do broadcast so that’s why this internship worked out really well because I think we only get two subjects in our entire degree doing broadcast, so I’ve had that little extra bit that I can add to a portfolio to send off when I’m done.

You could use WebFest your work for a showreel!

Maddison: Yeah, exactly! I’ll have some good pieces on camera to add to that.

Tiyana: I just auditioned for Melbourne WebFest Presents because I thought it’s something I’ve never done before. I’d like to at least try it so that I know if I hate it and then I won’t do it again. It was so much fun doing it!

Maddison: Yeah, I think we worked well together!

Tiyana: I had a blast, broadcast is really fun but it’s high pressure. I do photojournalism and I love creating documentaries and stuff so I’m really comfortable on the other side of the camera… It was really fun and I think I’m good at it but it’s not my passion, I find that really good because now I know that I’ve done something that I can rule out.

If you’ve been in front of the camera you can take what you’ve learned from that experience and bring it over to what you do behind the camera

Tiyana: Absolutely. The other thing with journalism is it’s just so broad, there’s so much you can do and there are so many avenues you can take. I think it’s really important to cancel out the things you may not be passionate about.

What’s been the most challenging thing for you working on WebFest?

Maddison: I think it’s different because this is kind of our first real job. With assignments if something falls through we can always ask for an extension and then get the assignment done but with WebFest it’s a job and people are relying on us for something that’s not just for uni. It was an eye opener because it gave you a taste of what being a real life journo would be like.

Tiyana: I’ve been in the workforce before so that wasn’t too different for me but I think it was actually just trying to please Steinar! He’s great but he’s very specific and I really like that because the way he does it is quite constructive. I like the constructive criticism, it’s really good to know that someone can not like something you said and help you work on it.

It must be great having someone like Steinar to mentor you

Maddison: Yeah, especially because he’s a professor and he was teaching us both for a subject as well as WebFest. I think it kind of takes away the teacher role of him and turns him more into a friend that you do feel comfortable to go up to. If I had a question about my subject I felt more than comfortable to ask him a question about it and get him to help me. WebFest is definitely a contributor to that.

What’s been the highlight of WebFest for you so far?

Maddison: WebFest Presents! Just the fact that we’re going to be on Fed Square’s big screen, that is definitely something I’ll tick off my bucket list!

Tiyana: My head’s already big enough, it’s going to be huge on the big screen!

Have you got a bloopers reel?

Maddison: There would be a lot on there!

Tiyana: We should!

Any advice for wannabe journalists?

Maddison: Any opportunity that comes just go for it because you don’t know what you like until you do it. Like (Tiyana) you didn’t think that you’d enjoy being in front of the camera and once you did it, as much as you say you’re not comfortable, you still enjoyed it. It’s just stuff to add to your resume.

This is the first internship that I’ve done with La Trobe. I’ve done a couple on the side but just to have something where I’ve done it for six months, I get to take away a letter of reference, I’ve got stuff to add to a showreel.It’s stuff like that you can’t get anywhere else. These types of opportunities aren’t offered a lot to uni students.

Tiyana: I think it’s really important for young journos to explore the environment that they work in and especially themselves. You change from year to year, I’m so different to what I was when I was 21 so just getting out there and understanding what the job’s about. It’s quite surprising because you might think that something works a certain way but it’s just totally different to your expectations.

Thanks for the chat Maddison and Tiyana, see you on the big screen!

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Had a fantastic day shooting another segment for Melbourne WebFest 2015~! It’s so good to be back working with the gang =’) #film #camera #goodtimes #festival #lightscameraaction #shooting #video #recording #studio #tv #bts #behindthescenes #friends #fun

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Team AV!

La Trobe Uni media students, Phoebe and Tom are audiovisual superstars working behind the camera and in the editing suites for Melbourne WebFest. We sat down with them to find out what it’s like interning at Australia's international web series festival.

How did you get onto the Melbourne WebFest internship?

Tom: WebFest came about when Steinar came into one of our classes and let everybody know it was happening and we could apply for an internship which was great. One of the main reasons I picked this course was because I knew there was an internship option in the third year. I thought that was a fantastic opportunity and I was really keen to do it!

How’s Steinar to work with?

Tom: Steinar’s great, I’m a big fan of Steinar! So are Aunty Donna!

Phoebe: Start a Steinar fan club! We mostly work with Alex, the AV director of Melbourne WebFest and Steinar. We’ve probably all up spent more time with Alex on the projects we work on. But Steinar’s always there too. He pops in when I’m doing editing sessions and stuff like that.

What are your roles at Melbourne WebFest?

Tom: Camera work and editing, at least on my part. Most of the time I’ve been the cameraman. Yesterday I did boom pole and sound work and other than that it’s mostly been editing.

Phoebe: We’ve mostly been working as a rotating crew on all the video packages they’re pulling together for pre-festival. I guess it’s kind of like promotional advertising and getting people to know about it. We did a segment on the guy that designed the trophy and we’re pulling together a half hour programme called Melbourne Web Fest Presents which airs at Fed Square.

Your work is going to be in Fed Square?!

Phoebe: Yeah! I’m curious to see if people will stop and watch it! I really want to go there and stop and watch people and see whether they watch it!

You should get a crew of friends together!

Phoebe: Like rent a crowd!

What’s been the best thing about working at WebFest?

Phoebe: I’ve met some really interesting industry people. When I went to the program launch I wasn’t even thinking about anything else other than we’ve got to film some stuff and then I got there and realised there were industry people there and I was like, ‘oh! We’re actually around these people!’  

Tom: Meeting new people has been really good, I’m a big fan of that! I also like all the practical experience, it’s always good to handle equipment, film and create.

What’s been the most challenging thing?

Phoebe: Finding the white balance button on the camera! I forgot about the white balance button on our Sony NX5’s and I was like something’s not right, it’s not working! But we figured it out! Deadlines are a challenge as well, we’ve had a lot of editing things to get done and they’ve given us just a few days to do it which hasn’t been a huge issue. Some people find it time pressured but it’s good real world practice.

Why did you guys choose La Trobe? 

Phoebe: I’ve basically wanted to go to LTU since I was about 6 years old. I know that’s really strange! When I became interested in media it kind of worked out well because I wanted to do a degree that had practical elements but that I could also do other arts subjects in as well. I like the campus as well, a lot of the other campuses are really spread out and you don’t feel like you’re in a uni where as to me this feels like an actual university.

Tom: You’ve really hit the nail on the head! I like the balance between doing technical and hands on work and theory based school work as well. I like that mix, it’s what I really wanted.

Do you have any advice for young(er) film makers or students wanting to come and study at La Trobe?

Phoebe: Do it!

Like Shia LaBeouf!

Tom: Just REALLY do it!

Phoebe: Don’t expect yourself to produce the best thing you’ve ever made the first time you do something. I’ve often got caught up in that cycle of thinking, ‘this isn’t good enough, I can’t do this or I don’t have access to that’ and you just have to accept that it’s a progression and you do what you can do at the time. Every single time you get a little bit better and you have a few more resources available and it just grows I guess, but be patient.

Tom: It’s a quantity over quality thing. Get as much off the ground and then really focus on doing more finely crafted stuff. 

Phoebe: Compared to what I was doing in Year 12 I’ve definitely learned a lot and I’m definitely a lot better, then I look at what people make who are five or six years older than me and I think, ‘oh my gosh! I’ve got so much to learn!’ You’re always going to feel like that I think.

That’s such a great advice! Thanks guys, have a great Melbourne WebFest!

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Quiet on the set! La Trobe media student and A/V intern, Tom Edgoose gets behind the camera in prep for Melbourne Web Fest.

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Lights, camera, action! The team head down to La Trobe Uni’s studio to film segments for “Melbourne WebFest Presents”, a video series highlighting the best bits of the festival. If you’re in Melbourne's Fed Square come down and check it out on the big screen during Web Fest.

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Melbourne Web Fest Director Dr Steinar Ellingsen and the team up their selfie game in the studio!