Arts Week Takeover

Lights, Camera, Montsalvat! Media takes the spotlight for Arts Week Takeover

What happens when you bring together an extraordinary location, a group of imaginative young storytellers and one ambitious filmmaking challenge? A day of suspense, creativity, collaboration and a whole lot of fun! 

As part of Arts Week Takeover, it was Media’s time to shine, with PVCC students heading to Montsalvat for 'Film in a Day'. Two Year 9/10 Media Elective classes joined Year 11 Media and Year 11 Theatre Studies students for an exciting on-location experience, creating thriller trailers and a true crime documentary. With ideas ready to take shape and talent on both sides of the camera, students embraced the opportunity to bring their stories to life. 

Montsalvat offered the ultimate backdrop for epic content. Its striking architecture, atmospheric buildings and beautiful grounds provided a wealth of possibilities for visual storytelling. For students exploring suspense and mystery, the setting was an invitation to think big: an intriguing doorway, an imposing building or a carefully framed view could become a powerful part of the story. The challenge was to look beyond the location’s beauty and consider how to use it deliberately to create mood, build tension and capture an audience’s attention. 

This was an opportunity to experience the full scope of production, connecting classroom learning with the practical demands of a location shoot. From initial concepts and planning through to performance, filming and editing, students worked in teams to make creative decisions and turn ambitious ideas into achievable productions. Every choice mattered: what to include in a shot, how a character should move, where to position the camera and how individual moments would eventually come together on screen. 

The thriller trailers challenged students to intrigue an audience without giving everything away. How do you suggest danger, establish a mystery or make viewers want to know what happens next? The true crime documentary brought a different set of storytelling considerations, including how to structure information and use images and sound to engage an audience. Across the projects, students had to think carefully about the relationship between their creative intentions and the experience of the viewer. 

And then there were the costumes! Students leaned wholeheartedly into dressing for their roles, bringing imagination, enthusiasm and a wonderful sense of fun to the day. Costume became another storytelling tool, helping establish character and making the fictional worlds feel more convincing. The involvement of Theatre Studies alongside Media created a fantastic opportunity to combine performance and screen production skills, with students supporting one another to make the most of each scene. 

Behind the footage was another equally valuable story: the development of skills that students can take into further study, work and everyday life. Communication, teamwork and compromise were central to the production process. Students needed to explain their ideas clearly, listen to different perspectives, negotiate decisions and share responsibility for a common outcome. A strong production depends on people working well together, and filmmaking gives those skills a very practical purpose. 

Creative and critical thinking were equally important. Students had to imagine what was possible, then assess how to make it work with the time, space and resources available. When an idea needed adjusting, the challenge was to find a solution and keep moving. Learning to adapt, solve problems and balance individual ideas with a team’s shared vision is a powerful part of an experience like this, and one that extends well beyond Media. 

We were especially fortunate to have the support of Media alumni Kynan Mason and Mabel Macmillan, and almost the entire Sutherland family, including another Media alumni in Isobel Sutherland who returned to share their skills and support the next generation of PVCC Media students. There is something particularly special about former students coming back to contribute to the learning experiences of those following in their footsteps. Their involvement brought an extra layer of encouragement and connection to the day, showing the value of a creative school community that exists well beyond leaving the College. 

A heartfelt thank you also to Andrew Leslie and Despina Kantzidis for attending with me and helping make this on-location experience possible. Opportunities of this scale rely on the support of staff who help create the conditions for students to explore, collaborate and make the most of their learning. Film in a Day showcased what makes Media at PVCC such an exciting place to learn. It gives students opportunities to be creators, performers, collaborators and problem-solvers, to take an idea seriously, develop their own creative voice and discover what they can achieve together. 

With Montsalvat as their backdrop and Arts Week Takeover as their platform, our students embraced their moment in the spotlight with energy, imagination and ambition. One location, one big day and an abundance of creative possibility. Media’s time to shine certainly gave us plenty to celebrate! 

Hollywood at PVCC: Walk of Fame Day

Lights, camera, action! Hollywood came to PVCC for Walk of Fame Day, as our community embraced the chance to celebrate artists of all kinds with creativity, enthusiasm and a little red carpet glamour.

The “celebrities” turned up in style!

Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones, John Lennon, Ziggy Stardust, and Alvin and the Chipmunks were among the famous faces making an appearance. Our students went above and beyond, bringing their chosen icons to life with imaginative costumes and a wonderful willingness to go over the top.

We were overwhelmed by the support for this celebration of the arts. The effort and enthusiasm of our students made the day special, showing how much joy there is in coming together, expressing ourselves and celebrating creativity.

Thank you to everyone who joined in and helped bring Hollywood to PVCC. Days like these build our College culture, strengthen our sense of community and give us shared memories to treasure. Our students truly were the stars of the show!

Annelie Zuccolo 

Head of Media Studies