A video with a symmetrical shooting style not dissimilar to the works of Wes Anderson is spruiking the breadth of Ballarat’s arts community.
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Showcasing Federation University’s arts cohort, the video was produced by Ballarat multimedia firm Mass Motion over a week in winter.
Depicting artists in their natural environments – as well as out in nature – vocals reverberate down Nimmons Bridge, strains of piano scatter in a green paddock, a ballerina stretches on one of Ballarat’s heritage stages.
Mass Motion director Luke Keys said it was a group effort from his team and the university to create something beautiful and resonant.
“If you create these vignettes, these little scenes of artists going about themselves and so involved in their moment, that would really connect with other students or potential artists to go, ‘wow, Ballarat maybe is this thriving hub of artists’,” he said.
“It’s not so much in the classroom or a classic situation, it’s more about begin out and about, and depicting Ballarat differently.”
Illustrator Travis Price, featured in the video, completed a design course at the university in 1997. He said it taught him everything about “typography, print and design” before he circled back to his passion in his 30s.
“For me, design and the course were a stepping stone,” he said. “I wanted to be an illustrator when I was 10 years old, and I hit VCE and was probably told that it wasn’t financially viable to have that dream.
“It’s one of those things, whatever you’re into, you’re naturally going to end up heading in that direction … but the design course meant that I’m actually pretty self-sufficient.”
With music composed by Dr Richard Chew, FedUni’s Arts Academy interim director, the concept was inspired by a passage from William Shakesperare’s The Tempest about being “free to create”.
“I wanted to create something that wasn’t a talk fest,” Dr Chew said. “It captures the essence of what goes on here every day.
“We’re ultimately looking to be the destination for new and exciting Australian work.”
See it at facebook.com/the.massmotion.