ENGLISH

SEMESTER 1 JOURNALISM EXCURSION

On Tuesday 9 May, the Year 9 students studying journalism at East Campus took an excursion to RMIT University and ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). This excursion was valuable for us as, during the last couple of weeks, we began learning about broadcast media and television news. This excursion enabled us to further learn about these topics and gain insight into how TV news has developed over the years and try our hand at creating a radio show. 

The classes took the train to Flinders St station and, upon arriving at RMIT, we participated in making our own radio show. Everyone discussed different topics, like what you would hear on public radio stations. Our discussions were interesting and relatable, touching on high school friendships, the new snapchat AI feature, and plenty more. 

Having the opportunity to make our own radio show helped us to understand the different steps needed to make a successful show. Recording our radio show was a great experience since we learnt tips and tricks used in the broadcast media industry, such as how to properly talk into a microphone and also understand the different signs used in the studio. Here’s the link to Ms Walker’s class’ show if you’d like to hear how we went.

Next, we headed over to ACMI, where we discovered more about the history of film culture. There were many exhibitions, some being interactive. One that particularly interested me was a zoetrope, which produced animation using a sequence of figures on a spinning cylinder. Another favourite was the ‘arrival of TV’ exhibition, where mini panorama living rooms from different decades with little TVs were on display, showing the evolution of media and television in the home. 

Going to ACMI was an amazing experience to understand how television news and film has evolved over time. Through different displays we saw the evolution of television news, video-games and the film industry and also the different elements in these industries. It truly allowed everyone to appreciate the progression of technology. 

Overall, this excursion was a wonderful experience for all of the Year 9 Journalism students. We would like to thank Miss Walker, Ms Ozcagli, Mr Gledhill and Miss Catterall for coming with us. We would also like to thank all the lovely staff at both RMIT university and ACMI for being so welcoming and teaching us all about these valuable topics. 

Maleesha Dharmadasa and Sapphire Thomas-Sam